As Arriva approaches 10 years of running CrossCountry, the operator’s managing director ANDY COOPER talks to PHILIP SHERRATT about the progress it has made
In November, CrossCountry in its current incarnation will be 10 years old. Arriva has operated the franchise since 2007, and in October 2016 a new three-year directly awarded franchise began, which gave the company continuity as well as some new challenges and commitments. The Department for Transport has indicated this will now run until December 2019.
CrossCountry’s network is the most extensive in the UK. It serves seven of the 10 largest city conurbations (the other three are London, Liverpool and, perhaps surprisingly, Bradford). And managing director Andy Cooper says the key challenge for the franchise hasn’t changed.