UK rail operator, CrossCountry has unveiled plans to expand its fleet and transform the customer experience by May 2025.
This will include a significant expansion to its long-distance fleet, making around 25 percent more seats available.
In addition, all 58 of CrossCountry’s existing Voyager trains will be refurbished, as well as its regional Turbostar fleet.
To enable this expansion, CrossCountry has secured a further five Voyager trains from rolling stock company Beacon Rail. This is in addition to the seven extra Voyager trains secured in October 2023.
The 12 extra trains are comprised of 60 additional carriages. They will be used to increase capacity on north-south routes by over 36,000 seats per week.
In conjunction with a new timetable proposed from May 2025, these units will provide rail users with more services and longer trains across the network. CrossCountry states that this change will be particularly noticeable on its busy Reading to Newcastle corridor.
The additional trains will be gradually introduced from June 2024 following their release from Avanti West Coast.
Meanwhile, the operator’s Turbostar and Voyager trains will be completely refurbished to improve the on-board experience across all CrossCountry routes.
“We’re delighted to announce these transformational changes in fleet and on-board experience, which customers will start to benefit from as soon as this summer.
“Our teams are working hard to ensure the smooth introduction and refurbishment of extra trains and we look forward to working with colleagues at Alstom and Beacon Trains to give the ever-impressive Voyager fleet a new lease of life on the CrossCountry network.”
