Train operator CrossCountry will introduce temporary resource-led reductions to its timetable from Saturday 10 August until Saturday 9 November to address performance and reliability issues that have inconvenienced passengers with on-the-day cancellations.
Prolonged industrial action across the rail industry has meant it has not been possible to deal with the backlog of critical training days required by train drivers accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic – when social distancing restricted training taking place.
Reducing services on some routes over a 13-week period – while bolstering services with extra carriages wherever possible – will retain maximum passenger capacity on the CrossCountry network while working through as much of the necessary driver training as possible.
The temporary timetable will reduce numbers of on-the-day cancellations, which cause the most inconvenience to passengers. A similar approach was trialled over Easter which led to a 94% decrease in on-the-day cancellations.
By the end of the temporary timetable, CrossCountry will have more fully-trained drivers able to work across the network and will have reduced its training backlog – providing a more reliable service for customers, with fewer cancellations.
The route between Nottingham and Cardiff via Birmingham will run around two-thirds as many services as it does currently, and some services will begin or end at different stations. There will be minimal alterations to CrossCountry services serving Stansted Airport.
Additional trains will call at Wilnecote and Willington to balance the impact of the temporary timetable on customers using these stations.
Clare Shaw, CrossCountry’s Interim Regional Director for the East Midlands and East Anglia, said: “Removing services from our timetable is always a last resort. I’m sorry for the inconvenience this will cause for our customers and I want to thank them for their patience while these changes are in place.
“This is a difficult decision, but by taking proactive action now we are investing in building a more resilient and dependable service for CrossCountry customers for the future.”
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