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CrossCountry
The operator of Britain's longest-distance routes, which cross the country through Birmingham, from Aberdeen and Glasgow to Penzance and Bournemouth, without serving London. Arriva has run it since 2007. Its trains are all diesel: 70 Voyager and Super Voyager units, built by Bombardier in 2000–02, and 29 Turbostars on regional routes. It manages no stations of its own.
Facts
- Current operator since
- 11 November 2007
- Main stations
- Birmingham New Street
- Type
- Intercity and regional train operator
- Depots
- Central Rivers, near Burton upon Trent (Alstom, for the Voyagers), Tyseley, Birmingham (West Midlands Trains, for the Class 170s)
- Main routes
- Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow to Newcastle, York, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby and Birmingham, then on to Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth, with a few trains to Penzance; Newcastle and York to Birmingham, Oxford and Reading by Doncaster; Manchester to Birmingham by Stoke-on-Trent, then on to Reading, Southampton and Bournemouth, or to Bristol, Exeter and Paignton; and, with Turbostars, Cardiff to Birmingham, Derby and Nottingham, and Birmingham to Leicester, Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.
- Stations managed
- None: CrossCountry calls only at stations run by other operators
- Operating company
- XC Trains Limited, part of Arriva (owned by I Squared Capital since June 2024), under a National Rail Contract with the Department for Transport that began on 15 October 2023. Arriva has run CrossCountry since 11 November 2007, first as a franchise. The contract's core term ends on 17 October 2027; the government expects to have moved all the operators it contracts into public ownership by the end of 2027, but had named no date for CrossCountry by October 2026.
Routes 8 routes · 109 stations
Aberdeen – Penzance 52
Glasgow Central – Edinburgh 4
Newcastle – Reading 13
Manchester Piccadilly – Bournemouth 19
Manchester Piccadilly – Paignton 19
Birmingham New Street – Stansted Airport 19
Nottingham – Cardiff Central 22
Cardiff Central – Leicester 18
Schematic, not to scale. Ringed stations are interchanges. Each strip is one service route with its stops in order. Where fast and stopping trains share a route, the strip shows the one with most stops, and a route whose stops all lie on a longer one is left out. Station order from TfL open data.
| Station | Zone | Interchanges |
|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | ||
| Stonehaven | ||
| Montrose | ||
| Arbroath | ||
| Dundee | ||
| Leuchars | ||
| Cupar | ||
| Ladybank | ||
| Markinch | ||
| Kirkcaldy | ||
| Inverkeithing | ||
| Haymarket | ||
| Edinburgh | ||
| Dunbar | ||
| Berwick-upon-Tweed | ||
| Alnmouth | ||
| Morpeth | ||
| Newcastle | ||
| Durham | ||
| Darlington | ||
| York | ||
| Leeds | ||
| Wakefield Westgate | ||
| Sheffield | ||
| Chesterfield | ||
| Derby | ||
| Burton-on-Trent | ||
| Tamworth High Level | ||
| Birmingham New Street | ||
| Cheltenham Spa | ||
| Gloucester | ||
| Bristol Parkway | ||
| Bristol Temple Meads | ||
| Taunton | ||
| Tiverton Parkway | ||
| Exeter St Davids | ||
| Dawlish | ||
| Teignmouth | ||
| Newton Abbot | ||
| Totnes | ||
| Plymouth | ||
| Liskeard | ||
| Bodmin Parkway | ||
| Lostwithiel | ||
| Par | ||
| St Austell | ||
| Truro | ||
| Redruth | ||
| Camborne | ||
| Hayle | ||
| St Erth | ||
| Penzance | ||
| Glasgow Central | ||
| Motherwell | ||
| Doncaster | ||
| Leamington Spa | ||
| Banbury | ||
| Oxford | ||
| Reading | Elizabeth line | |
| Manchester Piccadilly | ||
| Stockport | ||
| Macclesfield | ||
| Stoke-on-Trent | ||
| Stafford | ||
| Wolverhampton | ||
| Birmingham International | ||
| Coventry | ||
| Basingstoke | ||
| Winchester | ||
| Southampton Airport Parkway | ||
| Southampton Central | ||
| Brockenhurst | ||
| Bournemouth | ||
| Weston-super-Mare | ||
| Torquay | ||
| Paignton | ||
| Water Orton | ||
| Coleshill Parkway | ||
| Nuneaton | ||
| Hinckley | ||
| Narborough | ||
| South Wigston | ||
| Leicester | ||
| Melton Mowbray | ||
| Oakham | ||
| Stamford | ||
| Peterborough | ||
| Whittlesea | ||
| March | ||
| Manea | ||
| Ely | ||
| Cambridge | ||
| Audley End | ||
| Stansted Airport | NA | |
| Nottingham | ||
| Beeston | ||
| Attenborough | ||
| Long Eaton | ||
| Spondon | ||
| Willington | ||
| Wilnecote (Staffs) | ||
| University | ||
| Ashchurch for Tewkesbury | ||
| Lydney | ||
| Chepstow | ||
| Caldicot | ||
| Severn Tunnel Junction | ||
| Newport (S Wales) | ||
| Cardiff Central |
Stations, zones and interchanges from TfL open data (2026-10-07). National Rail interchanges are listed where TfL groups the stations together.
TfL's data shows CrossCountry trains calling at Peartree, Barnt Green and Bromsgrove, which aren't in CrossCountry's timetable (May 2026); they're left off.
Fleet
| Class | Units | Formation and notes |
|---|---|---|
| Class 220 Voyager | 34 | Voyager, four-car (220001 to 220034), leased from Beacon Rail; being refurbished from 2026 |
| Class 221 Super Voyager | 36 | Super Voyager: 32 five-car and 4 four-car, run without tilting; 24 with CrossCountry since 2007 and 12 from Avanti West Coast in 2024–25; leased from Beacon Rail |
| Class 170 Turbostar | 29 | Turbostar: 7 two-car and 22 three-car, leased from Porterbrook; refurbished with standard class only from 2025 |
History 10
- Virgin Trains takes over the InterCity CrossCountry trains at privatisation.
- Virgin's Voyagers, built by Bombardier, are officially launched: the first new trains built for CrossCountry's routes. Tilting Super Voyagers follow from April 2002, and together they replace the locomotive-hauled trains and most of the HSTs.
- Arriva takes over a new CrossCountry franchise. Its trains via the West Coast main line pass to other operators, the Voyager fleet is split with Virgin West Coast, and CrossCountry takes on regional routes from Central Trains, to Nottingham and Stansted Airport.
- CrossCountry's last HST runs in regular service; Arriva had brought the type back to the routes after 2007.
- A National Rail Contract with the Department for Transport begins, running to 2031 with a core term to October 2027.
- CrossCountry announces 12 more Super Voyagers, 60 carriages released by Avanti West Coast, to join from June 2024, and the refurbishment of both its fleets.
- Deutsche Bahn completes the sale of Arriva, CrossCountry's owner, to I Squared Capital.
- The first refurbished Turbostar, 170101, enters service, with standard class only.
- The last through train from Aberdeen to Penzance, Britain's longest direct train journey, runs; from 18 May the train ends at Plymouth.
- The first refurbished Voyager, 220033, is unveiled at Alstom's Derby works: the start of a £75 million programme, paid for by Beacon Rail, to refurbish all 70 Voyager and Super Voyager units in two years.
Sources 29
- TOC key statistics: CrossCountry, April 2025 to March 2026, Office of Rail and Road, 6 August 2026 (2,710 route km, 40.2 million journeys, 2025–26; no stations-managed figure)
- Table 1410: passenger entries and exits and interchanges by station, April 2024 to March 2025 (with each station's facility owner), Office of Rail and Road, 4 December 2025 (no station has CrossCountry as its facility owner, 2024–25)
- Table 6314: rolling stock vehicles by traction type and operator, Office of Rail and Road, 20 November 2025 (CrossCountry's 332 diesel vehicles in March 2022 to 2024 and 352 in March 2025)
- XC Trains Limited 2023 rail contract, Department for Transport, updated 17 December 2025 (contract dated 19 September 2023, from 15 October 2023 to 12 October 2031)
- National Rail Contract: Cross Country (public register copy), Department for Transport, 19 September 2023, pp. 70, 74-75 (no stations or light maintenance depots without consent (clause 11.3); fleet: 7 two-car and 22 three-car Class 170s (Porterbrook), 34 Class 220s, 4 four-car and 20 five-car Class 221s, plus 7 five-car 221s from May 2024 and May 2025 (Beacon Rail); core term to 17 October 2027)
- Great British Railways and the public ownership programme, Department for Transport, updated 20 September 2026 (transfers to public ownership so far, and all DfT contracts expected to transfer by the end of 2027)
- About Us, CrossCountry (XC Trains Limited), accessed 7 October 2026 (part of the Arriva group; XC Trains Limited, company 04402048)
- XC TRAINS LIMITED, company number 04402048, Companies House, accessed 7 October 2026 (XC Trains Limited, formerly Arriva Trains Cross Country Limited (to 8 October 2007))
- Deutsche Bahn completes Arriva sale, Deutsche Bahn AG (investor relations), 3 June 2024 (Arriva sold to I Squared Capital, 3 June 2024)
- About Our Trains, CrossCountry, accessed 7 October 2026 (70 Voyagers (312 vehicles) and 29 Turbostars (80 vehicles); routes; refurbishment through 2026 and 2027)
- Timetable, 17 May to 12 December 2026: Scotland, the North East and Manchester to the South West and South Coast (Book 1), CrossCountry, May 2026 (the Voyager routes and their stations (route strips))
- Timetable, 17 May to 12 December 2026: Stansted and Cardiff (Book 2), CrossCountry, May 2026 (the Turbostar routes and their stations, including Audley End and Stansted Airport (route strips))
- Illustrated route map (XC0287), CrossCountry, November 2025 (the stations CrossCountry serves (route strips))
- Arriva awarded CrossCountry franchise, Railnews, 10 July 2007 (Arriva's franchise from 11 November 2007; West Coast routes transferred, Central services to Nottingham and Stansted gained; HSTs to return)
- Virgin CrossCountry, Wikipedia, accessed 7 October 2026 (Virgin's start in January 1997 (last resort))
- New Dawn for Virgin Trains, Virgin Trains (media room), 5 June 2001 (the Voyagers' launch, 5 June 2001; the first new fleet for CrossCountry)
- Class 220, SREMG (first Super Voyager in passenger service, 12 April 2002; the Voyagers replaced the loco-hauled fleet and most HSTs)
- Diesel Electric Multiple Unit, Class 220 'Voyager' - United Kingdom (project page, with technical data), Bombardier Transportation (archived copy), archived 27 December 2017 (the fleet split between CrossCountry and West Coast in 2007; maintenance at Central Rivers)
- Thousands raised as CrossCountry HSTs bow out, Rail Forum, 29 September 2023 (CrossCountry's last HST in regular service, 18 September 2023)
- CrossCountry announces expansion and train refurbishments, RAIL, 26 March 2024 (12 extra Voyagers (60 carriages) from June 2024 to May 2025; both fleets to be refurbished)
- Avanti West Coast announces final day for its Class 221 Voyagers, RAIL (David Stubbings), 5 December 2024 (CrossCountry taking 12 extra Class 221s (221107 to 221118); its 34 Class 220s)
- First refurbished CrossCountry Turbostar enters service, RAIL (David Stubbings), 5 March 2025 (first refurbished Class 170, 170101, March 2025; standard class only)
- End of the line for Aberdeen-Penzance service, RAIL (Rich Wilcock), 19 May 2025 (last Aberdeen to Penzance through train, 16 May 2025)
- CrossCountry confirms December timetable changes, RAIL (Rich Wilcock), 24 September 2025 (29-strong Class 170 fleet, refurbishment to 2028)
- 'They will make a huge difference': CrossCountry unveils first refurbished Voyager, RAIL (Rich Wilcock), 11 February 2026 (first refurbished Voyager 220033, 10 February 2026; 70 units, £75 million, Beacon Rail, Alstom at Central Rivers and Derby)
- CrossCountry eyes Scottish expansion as timetable rebuild continues, RAIL (Rich Wilcock), 16 September 2026 (talks on six more Class 221s; Craigentinny; fleet reliability)
- West Midlands Trains and CrossCountry sign new long-term maintenance contract, West Midlands Trains, 29 April 2024 (Class 170s maintained at Tyseley by West Midlands Trains, April 2024 to 2031)
- CrossCountry website (home page and style sheet), CrossCountry, accessed 7 October 2026 (brand red #CA123F)
- TfL Unified API: Line Route Sequence, Transport for London (Powered by TfL Open Data) (main stations: the stations most of its routes meet at, counted from TfL's route data)
unverified route strips: TfL's data for CrossCountry holds only its Turbostar routes. The Voyager routes are drawn from CrossCountry's May 2026 timetable and route map as corridors: every station shown has some CrossCountry trains, but not every train calls at each, and the Aberdeen to Penzance strip is a corridor, not one train. Left off: Crewe (a few Manchester trains), Worcestershire Parkway (not in TfL's data), and Newport and Cardiff Central, which the Voyager timetable lists for connections, route strips: TfL's data shows CrossCountry trains calling at Peartree, Barnt Green and Bromsgrove, and running Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central by Filton Abbey Wood; none is in CrossCountry's timetable, so they are left off, stations managed: none. ORR's 2024–25 station table names no station with CrossCountry as facility owner, and the 2023 contract bars it from running stations or depots without the Secretary of State's consent; ORR's key statistics give no stations figure for CrossCountry, Class 221s: 36 is CrossCountry's 70 Voyager units (312 vehicles) less its 34 Class 220s; RAIL counted 12 ex-Avanti units (221107 to 221118) joining the 24 it had. The 2023 contract's fleet table lists only seven of the 12, and ORR counted 352 diesel vehicles in March 2025, before the last arrived, RAIL (September 2026) says CrossCountry is discussing six more ex-Avanti Class 221s (221101 to 221106) with the DfT; EMR is also seeking them, the date Virgin took over, January 1997, is from Wikipedia, depots: Tyseley is under a contract from April 2024 to 2031. RAIL calls Craigentinny in Edinburgh 'its depot' for empty-train moves; it is not listed, public ownership: no transfer date had been announced by October 2026; Wikipedia and union timelines suggest autumn 2027, when the core term ends