| Cross Country Route | |
| Type: | Suburban rail, Heavy rail, Inter-city rail |
| System: | National Rail |
| Status: | Operational |
| Stations: | 48 |
| Owner: | Network Rail |
| Operator: | CrossCountry (principal operator) East Midlands Railway Great Western Railway Northern Trains TransPennine Express West Midlands Trains |
| Stock: | Turbostar Voyager Super Voyager |
| Electrification: | Partial 25 kV AC OHLE, from to Birmingham New Street, and Wakefield Westgate to Neville Hill TMD, Colton Junction to In progress: Colton Junction to |
| Speed: | Up to 125 mph (200 km/h) maximum, some sections limited to 100 mph (160 km/h) |
| Map: | (Click to expand) |
| Map State: | uncollapsed |
The Cross Country Route is a long-distance railway route in England, which runs from to via,, and or . Inter-city services on the route, which include some of the longest passenger journeys in the UK such as to, are operated by CrossCountry.
It is classed as a high-speed line because its sections from Birmingham to and from Leeds to York have a speed limit of 125mph; however, the section from Birmingham to Bristol is limited to 100mph because of numerous level crossings, especially half-barrier level crossings, and the section from Wakefield to Leeds has the same limit because of a number of curves.
The Birmingham–Bristol section was built as the Birmingham and Gloucester and Bristol and Gloucester Railways before joining the Midland Railway, the southern forerunner to the cross-country route. From Birmingham to the north-northeast, the line had three separately owned sections, namely the:
From the Labour Government's nationalisation in 1948 until privatisation in 1990, the route ran through all six regions of British Rail but did not have timetabling priority in any of them. Therefore the services were poorly promoted and thus not always well-patronised.
Most Derby–Nottingham local passenger trains were taken over by diesel units from 14 April 1958, taking about 34 minutes between the two cities.[1]
In the 1990s most services were operated by British Rail's InterCity business unit. As part of the privatisation of British Rail, these were taken over by Virgin CrossCountry in 1997, with the Class 47 hauled Mark 2 and High Speed Train sets replaced by Class 220 and Class 221 diesel multiple units in the early 2000s.[2] [3]
The use of the route for freight has decreased, because of the bulk of haulage switching to roads and the building of the M5, M6 and M1 motorways.
In the 1960s the route was considered for electrification. In the early 1980s, electrification was again discussed at length and documentation for various proposals was produced in 1981.[4] This would have been particularly beneficial for climbing the Lickey Incline between Cheltenham and Birmingham, as many of the early diesels were under-powered. In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options that included electrifying the cross-country route by 2000.[5] Under the governments that succeeded the 1976–79 Labour government, the proposal was not implemented.
The route is well connected, and aside from its own alignment it uses parts of the South Wales Main Line, Midland Main Line, Swinton–Doncaster line, and the East Coast Main Line. Major cities and towns served along the route include:
The line is not fully electrified, but some sections are overhead electrified at 25 kV AC such as Bromsgrove to Grand Junction,[6] with further electrified sections around and the East Coast Main Line near . Network Rail stated in 2014 that the line between and would be electrified as part of the Midland Main Line upgrade.[7] However, the electrification programme was severely cut back in July 2017.[8], Network Rail is working on the section between York and Church Fenton.[9] The rest of the section between Leeds and York has electrification planned as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, which itself is part of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands.[10] [11] This plan also includes full Midland Main Line electrification and upgrades.
Electrification between Westerleigh Junction (near Yate, Gloucestershire) and was planned as part of the 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line, but work has yet to progress beyond Filton East Curve, south-west of .
Most long-distance services on the route are operated by Class 220/221 Voyagers, although a few services, until recently, operated using High Speed Trains. These trains are capable of achieving 125mph, compared to the previous Class 47s and Mk 2 coaching stock, which had a top speed of 95mph.