13 Facts About Arriva CrossCountry

1.

Arriva CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport in 2006, incorporating elements of both the Central Trains and the Virgin Arriva CrossCountry franchises, ahead of its invitation to tender on October of that year.

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2.

Arriva CrossCountry is one of only two franchised train operating companies that does not manage any stations, the other being Caledonian Sleeper.

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3.

Arriva CrossCountry's services have been periodically disrupted by industrial action amongst its staff, often due to disputes over rostering and pay.

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4.

At the commencement of operations, Arriva CrossCountry's rolling stock consisted of 34 four-car Class 220 Voyagers and 40 five-car and 4 four-car Class 221 Super Voyagers from Virgin Arriva CrossCountry as well as 11 two-car and 18 three-car Class 170 Turbostars from Central Trains.

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5.

Arriva CrossCountry has designated four stations as alternative changeover stations: Cheltenham Spa, Derby, Leamington Spa and Wolverhampton.

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6.

On 10 July 2007, the DfT announced that Arriva had been awarded the New Cross Country franchise, and that the services operated by Virgin CrossCountry would be transferred to CrossCountry on 11 November 2007, along with the Cardiff to Nottingham and Birmingham to Stansted Airport services from Central Trains.

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7.

From 15 June 2020, both passengers and staff on public transport in England, including Arriva CrossCountry services, were required to wear face coverings while travelling, and that anyone failing to do so would be liable to be refused travel or fined.

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8.

Arriva CrossCountry was one of several train operators impacted by the 2022 United Kingdom railway strike, which was the first national rail strike in the UK for three decades.

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9.

Arriva CrossCountry was only capable of operating a very minimalist timetable on any of the planned dates for the strikes due to the number of staff involved.

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10.

Arriva CrossCountry services are operated using diesel trains only, since none of the routes it operates are fully electrified.

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11.

Arriva CrossCountry inherited 34 four-car Class 220 Voyagers and 40 five-car and 4 four-car Class 221 Super Voyagers from Virgin Arriva CrossCountry as well as 11 two-car and 18 three-car Class 170 Turbostars from Central Trains.

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12.

Arriva CrossCountry stated this change would improve reliability and reduce maintenance costs.

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13.

In summer 2014, Arriva CrossCountry began removing the quiet coach designation from such vehicles across its Voyager fleet, believing them to be outdated and to take up an excessive amount of space on a four-car unit; however, it did retain the quiet coaches on its five HST sets.

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