Government funding to provide 20,000 additional train seats each week

Article summary

The Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed that the £2.5m government funding will deliver improvements for CrossCountry passengers. The DfT has stated that from May 2020, passengers travelling from Birmingham to Nottingham, Leicester and Cardiff will have access to longer trains and 5,000 more seats each week. Additionally, the DfT has stated that longer trains will provide 15,000 additional seats each week from mid-2021, totalling 20,000 more seats. The DfT has argued that the investment will also expand CrossCountry’s seat reservation service and improve communication and signage with regard to storage of luggage both during and prior to boarding the train. Lastly, CrossCountry and the DfT has announced that plans are being finalised to deliver longer trains from December 2020 for services running on Mondays to Thursdays on the routes from Scotland, the North East and Manchester, to the South West and South Coast.