CrossCountry planning to reinstate additional services on key routes from May

CrossCountry is planning to reintroduce a number of services from May that were removed during COVID.

The operator is planning to reinstate extra services on the Reading-Birmingham-York/Newcastle and Paignton-Bristol-Birmingham-Manchester corridors, as well as extending some of its Birmingham New Street-Cambridge services back to Stansted Airport.

Industry consultation on CrossCountry’s (XC) plan, which is the second phase of its ‘Hydra’ project to reinstate its pre-COVID timetable, closed on March 3.

In its form to the Office of Rail and Road, CrossCountry says the extra Reading-Newcastle services will ‘reduce crowding and associated performance issues with long station dwell times’, adding: “There is a better industry business case by increasing the frequency of services on the Birmingham to Reading and Birmingham to the North-East corridors than by operating a single service per hour with a greater number of seats.”

The weekday services XC intends to reintroduce are:

• Two services from Reading to Newcastle (with one starting back from Southampton).
• Two services from York to Reading (with one starting back from Newcastle).
• One Reading-Manchester service via Stoke, Crewe and Styal (for route knowledge retention).
• One Manchester-Birmingham service to add an additional late evening service and balance the above service.
• One Bristol-Paignton service extended to start back from Birmingham New Street for an earlier service from Birmingham to Bristol.
• One Bristol-Birmingham additional service to plug a gap in the shoulder peak.

The Saturday services XC intends to reintroduce are:

• Two services from Reading to Newcastle.
• Two services from York to Reading (with one starting back from Newcastle).
• One Reading-Birmingham service (via Solihull).
• One Birmingham-Manchester service via Stoke, Crewe and Styal (for route knowledge retention).
• One Manchester-Birmingham service to add an additional late evening service and balance the above service.
• One Bristol-Paignton service extended to start back from Birmingham New Street for an earlier service from Birmingham to Bristol.

The Sunday services XC intends to introduce are focused on the Reading-Newcastle route and are:

• Three services from Reading to Newcastle.
• Two services from Reading to York.
• One service from Birmingham to York.
• One service from Reading to Birmingham.
• Two services from York to Reading.
• One service from Newcastle to Birmingham.
• One service from York to Birmingham.
• One service from Derby to Reading.
• Two services from Birmingham to Reading.

The May 2025 timetable also includes plans for one Plymouth-Edinburgh service in each direction to take over a path to Glasgow Central previously used by LNER, while it’s also intended for Voyager services between Birmingham and Bristol to call at Worcestershire Parkway.

On regional routes XC intends to reinstate hourly services between Birmingham and Standard Airport. Monday-Saturday changes include:

• The reinstatement in full of 0922 Birmingham New Street-Stansted Airport and return 1327 Stansted Airport-Birmingham New Street.
• The extension of five services from Birmingham through to Stansted Airport rather than terminating at Cambridge.
• The extension of four services to Birmingham to start from Stansted Airport rather than Cambridge.
• The reintroduction of a singular Stansted Airport-Cambridge service to balance the extensions.
• The timetable also included provision of a Cambridge South stop for trains heading to Stansted, however that station will not open until 2026.

XC also plans one late-night Saturday service between Cardiff and Bristol Temple Meads, with an early Sunday morning service in the opposite direction.