The operator – which runs services across the East Midlands – is under fire
Louise Haigh has expressed “serious concern” about railway operator CrossCountry, warning she may take further action amid its ongoing reduction in services.
The Transport Secretary said she “had little choice but to approve” the three-month reduced timetable proposed by the train operator, despite describing it as a “dire service”.
CrossCountry operates train services across Britain, and announced at the end of July it would temporarily services on several major routes between August 10 and November 9.
Journeys impacted include those between Scotland and south-west England via Birmingham, Newcastle and Reading, Manchester and Bristol, and Cardiff and Nottingham.
She said:
“In response, I want to put on record my serious concern about the performance of CrossCountry services. Your passengers have been suffering from a substandard service for too long and I am determined to address this.”
Ms Haigh added: “Given your inability to run a full timetable, and the need to provide clear information for passengers I had little choice but to approve this request.
“Put simply, the only reason I accepted your proposal was to give passengers more certainty on which services will run.”
“There can be no excuse for this sort of dire service”
Ms Haigh said she had “required” the company to agree a remedial plan, which “formally contractualises” its proposals to improve services.
CrossCountry has set out plans to “reduce the backlog of driver training” among steps to boost reliability for passengers, according to the Transport Secretary.
“If you fail to deliver the Remedial Plan, I will not hesitate to take further action under the contract,” she warned.
In a statement, Ms Haigh said: “There can be no excuse for this sort of dire service, and it will not be tolerated under this Government.
“I’ve written to CrossCountry to make clear that while I required them to deliver more services than their original plan, the reduced timetable is certainly not satisfactory, and it will undoubtedly affect passengers.
“CrossCountry is persistently one of the worst performing operators, I had little choice in approving this request. If they fail to deliver their plan to improve, I won’t hesitate to take further action.”
CrossCountry’s contract was agreed by the previous Conservative government and commenced in October last year.
It is due to expire on 12th October 2031.