UK: The Department for Transport has directly awarded Arriva UK Trains a National Rail Contract to continue to operate CrossCountry long-distance passenger services.
The contract announced on September 19 succeeds a unique Operating Cost Franchise Agreement which DfT entered into in October 2020 during the pandemic.
The NRC will run for a core term of four years from the expire of the current contract on October 15, and up to a maximum of eight years. It can be terminated by the Secretary of State with three months’ notice at any point after the first four years.
The new agreement will enable CrossCountry to undertake a full fleet refurbishment of its Voyager and Turbostar diesel multiple-unit fleets; the first major refurbishment of the Voyagers in 20 years is much needed after repeated refusals by DfT to allow work to be undertaken.
The refurbishments will include fitting CCTV, automatic passenger counting equipment, new carpets and LED lighting which CrossCountry says ‘are all designed to tackle long-standing pain points for our customers’.
There will also be enhancements to the timetable, building on the May 2023 changes. This will include a daily direct service between Cardiff and Edinburgh from December 2024, and exploring the reintroduction of services between Cambridge and Stansted Airport.
Concerns had been raised about a loss of capacity across the operator’s geographically spread network following the widely expected withdrawal of its small ex-British Rail IC125 HST fleet on September 18. It is understood that the new contract will allow CrossCountry to take on seven more Class 221 Voyager DEMUs when these are released by Avanti West Coast as its new Hitachi trains enter service.
While this suggests no additional capacity is being added in real terms, insiders have told Rail Business UK that DfT was initially reluctant to agree to any additional trains, despite regular reports of trains being full and standing on CrossCountry’s core network.
