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EspañolVIRGIN CROSS-COUNTRY
(Redirected from Virgin Cross Country)
'Virgin Cross-Country' (VXC) is the branch of Virgin Trains that operates express train services all over Great Britain.
★ 'VT1': Penzance and Manchester Piccadilly to Edinburgh, Glasgow Central and Aberdeen.
★ 'VT2': Bournemouth, Brighton ,Guildford, Gatwick Airport, Kensington (Olympia) to Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
★ 'VT3': Penzance, Newquay, Paignton and Cardiff Central to Manchester Piccadilly, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow Central and Aberdeen.
The Cross-Country routes are operated by Class 220 Voyagers and Class 221 Super Voyagers. These were introduced to replace the thirty-year-old High Speed Train fleet that had been so successful at building passenger traffic on these routes. They also replaced the elderly Class 47s. The principal differences between the Voyager and Super Voyager fleet are that the Super Voyager usually consists of five carriages rather than the Voyager's four, and like the Pendolino can tilt when going around curves in order to allow higher speeds. This means that Super Voyager units have significantly more complex bogies than Voyagers.
It has been announced [1] that the Cross Country franchise will finish in 2007 as part of a franchise reshuffle in the Midlands. The new franchise will include former Central Trains Citylink services, but the Manchester to Scotland service will be transferred to TransPennine Express. Additionally, services to Guildford, Gatwick Airport and Brighton will cease (except for one return journey per day to Guildford), although Gatwick and Brighton services may be retained if a positive business case is put forward for their retention.
The Department for Transport (DfT) announced on 19 September 2006 that four parties had pre-qualified for the new franchise[2]:
★ Arriva Trains Cross Country Limited (Arriva Group)
★ First Cross Country Limited (First Group)
★ NXC Trains Limited (National Express Group)
★ Virgin Voyager Trains Ltd (Virgin Rail Group)
On 12 May 2007 the DfT removed First Cross Country Limited's bid from the list, with the other three bidders remaining. [3][4] As a result of the new arrangements, the current four franchises serving the Midlands will become three:
★ West Midlands
★ East Midlands
★ 'Cross Country'
On 10 July, it was announced that Arriva had been awarded the Cross Country franchise, from 17th November 2007 until April 2016, despite the significant improvements Virgin Cross Country made to services on its routes over the last 10 years (including the fleet of Voyagers and Super Voyagers).[5]
Virgin are seeking an "early meeting with the DfT" to ensure that the DfT give good reasons for the Virgin bid being unsuccessful. [6]
★ Cross Country Route
1. Rail shake-up hits Virgin Trains
2. New Cross Country Franchise
3. FirstGroup's franchise bid hits buffers
4. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9077-2365896.html
5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6286904.stm
6. http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/news/default.aspx#news_146
'Virgin Cross-Country' (VXC) is the branch of Virgin Trains that operates express train services all over Great Britain.
| Contents |
| Routes |
| Fleet |
| Future |
| See also |
| References |
Routes
★ 'VT1': Penzance and Manchester Piccadilly to Edinburgh, Glasgow Central and Aberdeen.
★ 'VT2': Bournemouth, Brighton ,Guildford, Gatwick Airport, Kensington (Olympia) to Birmingham New Street to Manchester Piccadilly, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
★ 'VT3': Penzance, Newquay, Paignton and Cardiff Central to Manchester Piccadilly, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow Central and Aberdeen.
Fleet
The Cross-Country routes are operated by Class 220 Voyagers and Class 221 Super Voyagers. These were introduced to replace the thirty-year-old High Speed Train fleet that had been so successful at building passenger traffic on these routes. They also replaced the elderly Class 47s. The principal differences between the Voyager and Super Voyager fleet are that the Super Voyager usually consists of five carriages rather than the Voyager's four, and like the Pendolino can tilt when going around curves in order to allow higher speeds. This means that Super Voyager units have significantly more complex bogies than Voyagers.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| Class 220 ''Voyager'' |  | Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit | 125 | 200 | 34 | Cross Country Route | 2001 |
| Class 221 ''Super Voyager'' |  | Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit | 125 | 200 | 23 | Cross Country Route | 2001 |
Future
It has been announced [1] that the Cross Country franchise will finish in 2007 as part of a franchise reshuffle in the Midlands. The new franchise will include former Central Trains Citylink services, but the Manchester to Scotland service will be transferred to TransPennine Express. Additionally, services to Guildford, Gatwick Airport and Brighton will cease (except for one return journey per day to Guildford), although Gatwick and Brighton services may be retained if a positive business case is put forward for their retention.
The Department for Transport (DfT) announced on 19 September 2006 that four parties had pre-qualified for the new franchise[2]:
★ Arriva Trains Cross Country Limited (Arriva Group)
★ First Cross Country Limited (First Group)
★ NXC Trains Limited (National Express Group)
★ Virgin Voyager Trains Ltd (Virgin Rail Group)
On 12 May 2007 the DfT removed First Cross Country Limited's bid from the list, with the other three bidders remaining. [3][4] As a result of the new arrangements, the current four franchises serving the Midlands will become three:
★ West Midlands
★ East Midlands
★ 'Cross Country'
On 10 July, it was announced that Arriva had been awarded the Cross Country franchise, from 17th November 2007 until April 2016, despite the significant improvements Virgin Cross Country made to services on its routes over the last 10 years (including the fleet of Voyagers and Super Voyagers).[5]
Virgin are seeking an "early meeting with the DfT" to ensure that the DfT give good reasons for the Virgin bid being unsuccessful. [6]
See also
★ Cross Country Route
References
1. Rail shake-up hits Virgin Trains
2. New Cross Country Franchise
3. FirstGroup's franchise bid hits buffers
4. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9077-2365896.html
5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6286904.stm
6. http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/news/default.aspx#news_146
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