RailAdvent Ltd 2014 - 2023 From what has been said, in his new job at XC, he isn't authorised to drive HSTs. [32], As of December2022[update], the Monday-Friday daytime services, with frequencies in trains per hour (tph), include:[33][34]. TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said it was not clear whether any corrosion had been dealt with when Wabtec had been upgrading the trains. We expect Cross Country to withdraw their demand that revenue staff work in a clearly unsafe fashion and we will take whatever action is required to protect our members. Ends, Login to My RMT below or email GWR intercity services are now provided by Class 8xx Intercity Expresses.--Ed.]. 2 talking about this. Though 1V48 Leeds to Plymouth and 1S55 return to York are typically an HST, not guaranteed. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. What do they mean he had to? He is based in a marginal seat and is well placed in govt so let's hope he has a chat with the SoS. The worry is that the longer this continues (lack of RDW agreement) that it could become the de facto norm with the purse strings then permanently tightened? So it is true. then they might be back, though. Robin Boyle 7d All The Opportunities. Cross Country HST Power Car 43366 is pictured at the rear of the 08-43 to Taunton, on Platform 3 at Newcastle Central, on January 28th 2014. - 12/07/2019 06:36. The carriages feature contemporary and modern colour schemes and have been fitted with new seating and tables, carpets, curtains, refreshed toilet facilities, enhanced lighting and power sockets throughout. But unless the Arriva management is truly delusional, why wouldnt they authorise a driver who is quite capable and knowledgeable in driving HSTs to do so when they require drivers with this very skill? I wouldn't mourn the HSTs in and of themselves, just the capacity they provide. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. With so many Nottingham to Birmingham and Nottingham to Cardiff trains not running next week the frequency of trains between Nottingham and Derby will at certain times of the day be no more than hourly. The network is centred at Birmingham New Street station. ", Andy added; "We have already received excellent feedback from passengers who have travelled on this train and we will continue to monitor their comments and feedback to help provide the highest possible standard of customer service and experience on our HSTs. Scot Rail Took On 54 Class 43 units and plan to run them on InterCity routes from Edinburgh Waverley & Glasgow Queen Street to Aberdeen and Inverness. But then no doubt the DfT pulling the purse strings doesn't help. [39], A franchise commitment was the acquisition of ten Class 43 power cars and forty Mark 3 carriages. Date: 20 September 2008: Source: Own work: Author . Perhaps XC could wait a short while for these to become available. I picked up a few thousand slides from a rare mileage photographer, without knowing what is on them, simply because I read in the notes Miss America 1968 was on one of the trains. The replacements are 4 car voyagers, made available by splitting diagrams that currently use voyager pairs. Would this also mean that we are not going to see the Newcastle- South east services re-introduced, which would be terrible considering the amount of time you have to wait to change at New Street? Rather than scrapping them which will be devastating if they were to be scrapped as some are already in service as short sets on GWR and in Scotland used by ScotRail. Presumably this nonsense is to save what is, in the grand scheme of things, a pretty trivial sum on the cost of using the HST fleet for a short period? RMT general secretary Mick Cash said; RMT has made it clear that we will not tolerate train operators playing fast and loose with staff and passenger safety in light of the emergence if the new COVID variant and we are deadly serious. [Whatever your view, please DON'T USE ONLY CAPITALS. Celebrating the 60th anniversary of Modern Railways and 40 years of HSTs on the north-east to south-west route, the tour will also raise funds to support the charity Railway Benefit Fund. When the new timetable commenced on 9 December 2007 on 11 November 2007, the Birmingham New Street to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central services were transferred to Virgin Trains West Coast while the Manchester Airport to Edinburgh and Glasgow services transferred to First TransPennine Express.[7]. [5][6], After taking over the franchise, CrossCountry continued to operate the existing timetable including the West Coast Main Line services for four weeks. At Tamworth station, which has tracks and platforms at two levels, the high-level platforms are served only by CrossCountry, but the entire station is managed by West Midlands Trains, which serves the low-level platforms. If you look at somewhere like Bristol Temple Meads, filter for just cross country services, the HSTs will be anything that comes up as 7 coaches. TFW UNVEILS NEW TRAIN MOCK-UPS 'Train stations are not just arrival and departure locations' Mike Goggin, Steer Davies Gleave - Webinar, Tuesday 31 October The planning called 'Princess' required four years of negotiations, with seven different Railtrack zones, with 18 other TOCs, with the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and with nearly 150 councils in 235 constituencies. 15:01 - Cross Country HST power cars route refresher - 5Z43 Laira Traction & Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot to Laira Traction & Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot DERBY CAMERAS (In partnership with Rail Operations Group) DONCASTER CAMERA 01:04 - Colas Rail diesel hauled Network Rail test train - 3Q58 Derby Rtc Serco to Darlington Up Sorting Sidings Do you think COVID restrictions are being lifted on trains too soon. It operates intercity and other long-distance passenger trains across Great Britain, but does not serve Greater London. . Well quite. They also forced him to relearn all his routes again, including Laira, Penzance, and Bristol etc. Cross Countrys approach is that little has changed and that revenue duties should continue in conjunction with previous risk assessments which the union says are wholly inadequate in the face of the new highly virulent COVID strain that has triggered the current lockdown. Registered in England & Wales Rail Minister Andrew Jones replied: The Department is aware that additional capacity is needed on CrossCountry routes, including Oxford. One train also operated a Weymouth to Bournemouth return journey, calling at Wareham and Poole. There were two services Monday to Saturday in each direction with one in each direction on Sundays. Only this week I heard an XC employee who previously extolled the virtues of HSTs state they were very expensive to run, thirsty he might have said. RAIL contributor Fraser Pithie has organised the petition, with the aim of questions being asked in Parliament about the ex-Great Western Railway trains being used to alleviate overcrowding on existing XC operations. [citation needed], CrossCountry inherited 34 four-car Class 220 Voyagers and 40 five-car and 4 four-car Class 221 Super Voyagers from Virgin CrossCountry as well as 11 two-car and 18 three-car Class 170 Turbostars from Central Trains. Mods - perhaps the thread should be re-titled something like "Cross Country Service Reductions and Alterations, 28-11-2021 onwards"? The Department for Transport has announced its intention to make a Direct Award to CrossCountry, following the expiry of its current three-year contract. Any small numbers of peak extras can / should then be slotted in on top just to make sure everything possible runs. Per Diem + Local Education Travel Nurse + Allied Locums Permanent Home Health Executive CLIENT SOLUTIONS One partner. Planned industrial action has been announced in March and April - more information, Home
Close Report Message Reason Report to Moderators . It really was a quantum leap from previous trains in terms of both comfort and speed. The entire Voyager fleet was put through a refurbishment programme to provide extra seats and luggage space on all trains. RMT has informed the company that we are now in dispute with them and is writing to all our affected members - Train Managers, Senior Conductors, and Revenue Support specialist grades - rebutting the companys irresponsible claims and advising our members not to undertake revenue collection duties as laid out in the current, wholly inadequate, risk assessment guidance and to invoke the companys work safe procedure. No wonder so many shout that XC really is the absolute pits of intercity travel. High Speed Rail Freight has been suggested as an innovative new plan, and would be ideal for Parcel & Logistics work from far distances and would be more efficient than taken by road or slow freight. These services combine to provide higher frequencies between Birmingham and the following major destinations: The Sunday service pattern is mostly similar to the weekday one, except that the hourly Birmingham - Nottingham services do not run while the other services do not start until late morning or early afternoon, and often have a slightly different stopping pattern. 105. The remaining four Class 43 power cars were ex Virgin CrossCountry examples in varying states of decay,[40] while the carriages were five ex-Virgin CrossCountry Mark 3 carriages and twenty-one ex-Virgin Trains West Coast loco-hauled Mark 3B carriages. Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; XC's HST powercars have quite a few differences compared to the GWR ones, including a completely different speedometer and associated equipment, as the GWR ones are fitted with ATP whereas the XC ones aren't. Registered No:04402048. Heritage lines have struggled during the pandemic they are working railways which are major tourist attractions and therefore provide valuable support for the local economies of the regions they serve. Special services have been occasionally, run, such as between Bournemouth and Weymouth in support of the Sailing at the 2012 Olympics & Paralympics. CAMERAS AT BURY BOLTON STREET (5), RAMSBOTTOM (4) & RAWTENSTALL (2), CAMERAS AT PORTHMADOG HARBOUR STATION, MINFFORDD & TAN Y BWLCH, (llangollen-railway.co.uk (stationholiday.co.uk)), CAMERAS AT DUNGENESS, DYMCHURCH, HYTHE, NEW ROMNEY (Hythe end & New Romney Shed), NEW ROMNEY (Dungeness end) & ROMNEY SANDS, Wildlife Photographer of the Year Information at https://www.tram.co.uk/events/view/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-exhibition, CAMERA AT COLYFORD & RIVERSIDE HALT/DEPOT, CAMERAS AT KIDDERMINSTER (2),BEWDLEY (2), HIGHLEY & BRIDGNORTH, Steam Open Days Information at https://www.southdevonrailway.co.uk/visit-us/whats-on/steam-open-days/, Lilac Timetable Information at https://www.talyllyn.co.uk/plan/timetable/, CAMERAS AT ABERGYNOLWYN, PENDRE WEST, PENDRE YARD*, TYWYN WHARF & TYWYN YARD* (*Showing the activity behind the scenes in Pendre Yard & Tywyn Yard), CAMERAS AT BISHOPS LYDEARD, BLUE ANCHOR, CROWCOMBE HEATHFIELD, MINEHEAD (2) & WILLITON (2), Your email address will not be published. [10], By mid-2020, CrossCountry had considerably curtailed its services in response to the significant decline of passenger travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It could lead to drastic service cuts or over crowding across Scotland, Cross Country and the South West. 263. IN a surprise development on November 28, the Arriva UK Trainsoperated CrossCountry franchise (XC) has withdrawn its four HST sets following the cessation of a rest-day working (RDW) agreement with the drivers' union ASLEF. [citation needed], During 2008, the Class 170 Turbostar fleet was refurbished, during which the three-carriage units repainted at Marcroft Engineering, Stoke on Trent, the two-carriage units at EWS's Toton depot and the interiors renewed by Transys Projects, Clacton-on-Sea, including the fitting of first-class seating to the Class 170/5s and 170/6s.[48][49]. It's very difficult to say . [26], CrossCountry is one of several train operators affected by the 20222023 United Kingdom railway strikes , the first national rail strike in the UK for three decades. All your workforce needs. A petition has been sent to Kenilworth and Southam MP Jeremy Wright calling for stored High Speed Trains to be used by CrossCountry. The situation for 6th December onwards is currently unclear. Staffing + Permanent Placement Workforce Solutions Technology Platform Insight + Advisory Services Charles Silas, MD Emergency Medicine "I love Cross Country. This is all XCs making. Mick. You are using an out of date browser. 3 2nd class coaches on a Scotland to Bournemouth service is ridiculous by the time you get on at oxford your standing. Press
Seems it's the coaches that are the issue, if they are withdrawn then what will replace them at such short notice? [46], To operate services to Paignton and Newquay on summer Saturdays, two High Speed Trains were hired from National Express East Coast in 2008. XC appear to be publicly using the Covid 19 excuse At the moment I am hearing of 3 and 4 hour gaps in service, even at the brand new Worcestershire Parkway station. While the withdrawal is tax-free, you must pay the full amount back within 15 years. The situation for 6th December onwards is currently unclear. VAT Number: 392755949. The use of HSTs on CrossCountry routes began at scale in May 1982, when British Rail deployed its then futuristic 125s on many North East - South West services. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Starting in December 2008, a daily Nottingham to Bournemouth service was introduced. For example, passengers travelling from Cardiff to Edinburgh could change at Cheltenham where both their trains use the same platform instead of Birmingham New Street, a larger, more complex station. While some services on the West Coast Main Line were promptly discontinued with the introduction of a new timetable on 9 December 2007, with some transferring over to both Virgin Trains West Coast and to First TransPennine Express, new services, such as a daily Nottingham to Bournemouth service introduced during December 2008, were also implemented. the 4/5 car HST services on Scotrail and on GWR . During June 2006, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced its intention to restructure a number of the existing railway franchises. Why should customers pay stupid prices to stand on a crammed unit. I have travelled on most trains in the UK none are in the same league as the 43 . Rightly or wrongly different TOCs do sometimes have different working arrangements for the same routes and traction. Ethiopia Country Report Context. London North Eastern Railway have commenced passenger service of their new Azuma HITACHI units and are planning to withdraw all of theirInter City 125 sets by next year. The class 43 is with out any doubts the best trains I have ever travelled on. Entirely possible that this could in the eyes of XC render it to require a conversion course. [37], CrossCountry does not manage any stations, although there are stations managed by other train operating companies at which it is the only operator: five stations (Burton-on-Trent, Hinckley, Narborough, South Wigston and Willington) are managed by East Midlands Railway, while three stations (Coleshill Parkway, Water Orton and Wilnecote) are managed by West Midlands Trains. What will happen to these HSTs now that they are withdrawn? To allow these changes to take place, all CrossCountry services on some routes (which had a limited service) would be withdrawn and replaced with extra services run by other operators. JavaScript is disabled. Pictured is CrossCountry's first refurbished HST passing by Houndwood in the Scottish borders between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dunbar. [44][45] Once these were completed, the ex-Midland Mainline examples were also overhauled. Several services from the Central Trains franchise were also to be added. This must be false. For the former train company, see. CrossCountry HST's diagrams with power car and stock allocations In the House of Commons on June 24, Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat, Oxford West and Abingdon) asked what assessment had been made of the potential merits of introducing high-speed trains on XC services serving Oxford, to increase capacity. BillD [3] As a result of these changes, a 'New Cross Country' franchise was produced, which incorporated the existing InterCity Cross Country franchise run by Virgin CrossCountry, while excluding those services ran on the West Coast Main Line (while the Birmingham to Scotland services were transferred to Virgin Trains West Coast and the Manchester to Scotland services transferring to First TransPennine Express). Is this then a suggestion that XC are never going to increase service back to what it was, e.g. Our new address is CrossCountry Communications Department, 5th Floor, Cannon House, Priory Queensway, Birmingham B4 6BS, Pictured is CrossCountry's first refurbished HST passing by Houndwood in the Scottish borders between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dunbar. These included: In April 2017, it was announced the proposed changes would not be proceeding. Chief among these measures are the withdrawal of the ENDF from the Tigray region in June 2021 following the unilateral declaration of a ceasefire; the streamlining of aid delivery to the regions affected by the war; ordering the ENDF to not cross into Tigray after TPLF forces were routed from the positions . Registered in England. CrossCountry is keen to support our heritage rail partners where we can., To purchase tickets for the Severn Valley Railway leg of the HST railtour please visit: svr.co.uk, For further information about the rail tour, please visit: www.modernrailways.com/railtour. Rumours but somethings troubling XC. Overhauls of the Voyager & Super Voyager fleets were performed, the removal of the shop to fit more seating and storage being a prominent change; the Mark 3 carriages were also refurbished to provide suitable amenities for modern travellers. Only a year earlier, these services had not only been loco-hauled - they'd still in fact been steam-heated. [55][56][57][58], It has been proposed that, around 2023, CrossCountry should operate all of the Class 222s cascaded from East Midlands Railway to provide extra capacity. Midland Mainline had six Class 43 power cars and fourteen Mark 3 carriages that were off lease from November 2007 that were leased. This type of engine is widely used on ferries, merchant vessels, yachts, railway vehicles and heavy machinery. XC's HST powercars have quite a few differences compared to the GWR ones, including a completely different speedometer and associated equipment, as the GWR ones are fitted with ATP whereas the XC ones aren't. Entirely possible that this could in the eyes of XC render it to require a conversion course. trains are so over crowded what if one of these Class 170 sardine can has a smash. The replacements are 4 car voyagers, made available by splitting diagrams that currently use voyager pairs. The MTU engines fitted are of the type 16V 4000 R41, which give a maximum power of 2,720 kW. While the franchise had been originally due to conclude on 31 March 2016, multiple subsequent agreements have been enacted; in October 2020, the DfT confirmed that the franchise has been extended for a further three years for a finish date of October 2023. The RAIB made the recommendation (18) for operators to investigate and mitigate corrosion in order that the original structural design is maintained. CROSS has the added functionality of CROSS referencing rulings from the initial search result set with their modified, revoked or . The power cars are fitted with new MTU-built engines to increase reliability, improve fuel efficiency and produce lower emissions. [8] As a result of these changes, all CrossCountry services now completely avoid Greater London. Download Class 43 - FGW 43027 Perhaps a silly question, but why would a RDW agreement have an end date? >
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The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger carriage developed in response to growing competition from airlines and the car in the 1970s. [20], During November and December 2017, CrossCountry on-board train managers and senior conductors affiliated with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) staged five 24-hour and two 48-hour strikes in an industrial dispute regarding staff rostering, in particular in relation to working on Sundays. Is anyone able to post today's Cross Country HST allocations please. (Clearly he would still know how to but that is a different thing.). In fact, its probably 20 years or more since an HST has hauled a charter visit here, so were expecting a strong demand for tickets.. - 10/07/2019 19:49. One assumes the plan is 8 and 9 car hourly trunk route services Bournemouth - Manchester and Plymouth - Edinburgh. Robin Boyle 43184 1V50 InterCity HST Cross Country HST Power Car 43184 in Inter City Livery heads up 1V50 the 06:06 Edinburgh to Plymouth, taking the Bristol line at Standish Junction. These are usually operated by. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Bristol Temple Meads has been selected for a competition in which small companies try out ideas to make all UK stations more passenger-friendly places. 1 / 4. You probably can resource the reduced service properly using Voyagers, but not the full service. Best route for the HSTs is the Penzance/ Plymouth to Edinburgh/ Aberdeen. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Hornby R2949 Arriva Cross Country Hst 125 Class 43 Bodies Spares Repairs 00gauge at the best online prices at eBay! 95 Wellingborough Road, Finedon, Wellingborough NN9 5LG. Why not use the Class 43 HST with Mk3 coaches in Wales and yes to use the Class 43 as freight trains and used on charter services. [33][34], The above table shows the basic service pattern; however, a small number of these services are extended beyond their usual destination:[33], CrossCountry extended some of its Bournemouth services to Weymouth for the Sailing at the 2012 Olympics & Paralympics. This type of engine is widely used on ferries, merchant vessels, yachts, railway vehicles and heavy . Nottingham is really not getting a very good deal with services on local routes at the moment and this will not help. [4] On 10 July 2007, the DfT announced that Arriva had been awarded the New Cross Country franchise, and that the services operated by Virgin CrossCountry would be transferred to CrossCountry on 11 November 2007, along with the Cardiff to Nottingham and Birmingham to Stansted Airport services from Central Trains. Your email address will not be published. This book traces how the British Transport Police evolved from different forces covering railway companies, docks, and other transport entities. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch had said the HST which was derailed at Carmont in August 2020 had shown signs of corrosion. CrossCountry Unveils First Refurbished HST, The 125mph diesel-powered HST, one of five being introduced this year, will regularly operate on CrossCountry's North East - South West route, serving key towns and cities including; Edinburgh, Newcastle, Durham, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Doncaster, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, Cheltenham, Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth. But don't worry guys.
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE TRAINS, THE PROBLEM IS THE UNIONS WHO HAVE A NEED TO KEEP THEIR NAMES IN THE PAPERS
[50][51] CrossCountry stated this change would improve reliability and reduce maintenance costs. . One Cross Country. GWR class 43s may be fitted with ATP but LNER ones coming off lease are not! 12 Class 43s for 5 High Speed Train sets, 2 spares. Nottm is a "winner" in the HS2 stakes. or call our freephone Also on cross country services. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2006, incorporating elements . Manchester-Birmingham which really does justify more than hourly? Power car 43303 brings up the rear. English: CrossCountry HST power car 43303 at Birmingham New Street on 20/09/08. As most of the HSTs were re engineered 10-12 years ago most of the power units have probably got another 25-20 years of life in them. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) in 2006, incorporating elements of both the Central Trains and the Virgin CrossCountry franchises, ahead of its invitation to tender on October of that year. CrossCountry services are operated using diesel trains only, since none of the routes it operates are fully electrified. These trains deliver the extra capacity our passengers and stakeholders tell us they want, and their introduction also means we're on track to deliver our promise of increasing seating by 35 per cent. | The station was built just before the Second World War, and the concourse is carried on a raft over three island platforms. Required fields are marked *. Open Women's 6 km - USATF National Club Cross Country Cham. Open Men's 10 km - USATF National Club Cross Country Champ. Here is 1968 Miss America on inaugural Q&E #4 trip. SVR director Jonathan Dunster, who's also the chairman of the railway's diesels committee said: "The HST was introduced by British Rail in 1976, and it's now largely been replaced on the main line. Rolling stock manufacturer Vivarail announced its intention to appoint administrators on November 23, after failing to secure new investors. I would describe that as sub optimal but assume this id DfT working up the plans for GBR. [17] In July 2019, the Direct Award was further extended by one year, moving the expiry date back to October 2020. Girls 3000m Varsity - New York Section I Kick Off 3 2022 . Moderator note: Some posts have been split to, https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/media/5488/sat-27-sun-28-nov-other-routes.pdf, https://www.railforums.co.uk/threador-to-go-to-directly-operated-railway.225338/. [15] At one point, it had been expected that an ITT would be issued in October 2018 for the next franchise,[16] however, during September 2018, it was announced that the competition had been cancelled so that the recommendations from a report into the franchise system could be incorporated. DESemail("contact","railnews.co.uk"); Welsh government blames London for rail fares increase, Carmont report reaction: 'more needs to be done', Drains at Carmont crash site not built as designed, RMT urges rail summit in wake of Carmont report, Questions over drainage at Carmont derailment site. Make of that what you will, but this is a driver with too my knowledge an unblemished record. Davie's photos and videos and jbsja221 faved this 1,575 views 2 faves 0 comments Taken on January 28, 2014 All rights reserved Canon EOS 1100D /4.0 25.0 mm 1/40 1250 Flash (off, did not fire) Show EXIF [55], Media related to CrossCountry at Wikimedia Commons, This article is about the train operating company in the United Kingdom. The proposed withdrawal did not include the morning/evening services that run only between Edinburgh and Dundee. The opportunity to join the railtour at Kidderminster really is a rarity. the tssa is right, the vehicles belong on a heritage railway at under 30mph, having seen the way the gwr crashes twenty years ago had vehicles split in half, with cabs detaching from the underframes. RAIL contributor Fraser Pithie has organised the petition, with the aim of questions being asked in Parliament about the ex-Great Western Railway trains being used to alleviate overcrowding on existing XC operations. JavaScript is disabled. D.W.V. The Owners, Angel Trains are worried about the future of the HSTs sets and fear that they could be lost as they are getting very expensive to store. Feels like the main problems are the cuts to the ex-Central services, They also forced him to relearn all his routes again, including Laira, Penzance, and Bristol etc. RAIL is Britain's market leading modern railway magazine. CROSS is a searchable database of CBP rulings that can be retrieved based on simple or complex search characteristics using keywords and Boolean operators. Realtime Trains is an independent source of live realtime running information for the Great British railway network. Virgin CrossCountry - abbreviated as VXC - is the only national railway operating company (TOC). Im sure the 43 could be kept in service on many other lines from Liverpool Manchester many more places. If a company has more staff, then it has more resiliency in that it has more staff available to do overtime to cover for illness or other staff absence, rather than covering for a lack of staff being employed in the first place! [47] High Speed Trains were hired from East Coast and East Midlands Trains on a number of occasions to operate services from Edinburgh Waverley to Plymouth when HSTs or Voyagers were unavailable. He added: 'The fact that there is no photographic evidence that Wabtec carried out the corrosion repairs on the derailed HST is a red flag for every other HST currently running. At the commencement of operations, CrossCountry's rolling stock consisted of 34 four-car Class 220 Voyagers and 40 five-car and 4 four-car Class 221 Super Voyagers from Virgin CrossCountry as well as 11 two-car and 18 three-car Class 170 Turbostars from Central Trains. This remains a priority for the Department as we consider successor franchise arrangements when the current franchise ends.. Likewise Ill be sending off a few emails to various politicians tomorrow, cross party, who are in a better position to do something about this shambles than I am.