Cross Country franchise competition pulled

20th September 2018

As part of the government announcement of a 'root and branch' review of rail, they have also announced that they have pulled the plug on the process of finding an operator for the next Cross Country franchise.

Following a review of all ongoing franchise competitions and other live rail projects in the context of the rail review, it was decided to stop the Cross Country process due to the unique geographic nature of the franchise and because awarding this franchise in 2019 could impact on the review’s conclusions.

Services will continue to be operated by the current incumbent with options beyond this to be considered in due course. All other ongoing franchise competitions and other live rail projects are expected to continue as planned.

Author: Darren Porter
Image: Oxyman - Wikimedia Commons