Keeping you safe - latest travel advice

In order to ensure a comfortable journey we advise that you book in advance of travel with a seat reservation.

For more information on how make a seat reservation please view our FAQs.
Please note:

Due to reservation system updates, on some services you are currently unable to book up to 12 weeks in advance. Please visit our dedicated page to view the latest dates available.

To reduce physical contact, we are encouraging customers to select an e-Ticket or Smartcard for Season tickets and use contactless payments, however cash payments can be made on-board our services.

We recommend that customers travel during quieter periods and to help you understand more in demand routes, we have created a traffic light system which indicates expected busier and quieter services. You can find more information on our dedicated page.

Buy your ticket in advance, and reserve a seat. - To help make your journey as comfortable as possible, please reserve a seat before travelling.

Face coverings -In crowded spaces, consider others and wear a face covering.

Catering - Catering is available on-board our services. To keep our customers and colleagues safe, catering will be provided from a static location at one end of the train. On-board colleagues will make regular announcements to let customers know when and where to find our catering trolley.

We have reintroduced our at-seat service in First Class which will comply with social distancing measures. Please note, we only have a limited range of products at the moment.

Customers are welcome to bring their own food and drinks on-board and face coverings can be removed only whilst food & drink is being consumed. 

Health and hygiene - Always carry hand sanitiser, ensure you wash your hands before and after your journey and do not touch your face throughout your journey. You can purchase hand-sanitiser on-board, if available.

Boarding the train - Stand well clear of the doors and allow others to leave the train before you board. We have added additional dwell time where possible at busier stations to give you and other customers enough time to board safely.

Avoid busier times of travel - Please consider booking to travel with us at quieter times of the day if it is possible for you to do so. Our dedicated ‘traffic light’ page shows how busy reservations have been over the last week, so you are able to choose quieter times to travel here.

Cleaning our trains - We have enhanced our cleaning regimes and spending an additional 2,400 hours each week cleaning our trains, focusing on the main touchpoints such as door buttons and handrails. We have also increased the frequency of deep cleans. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you feel the service you are on was not up to standard.

Facilities - All of our toilet facilities are still available on board. We have increased our cleaning regimes including the increase use of antiviral cleaning products and ensuring toilets are well stocked with soap.

Following the latest Government guidance - We continue to follow the latest Government guidelines to ensure we take the appropriate actions to keep you safe. We're proud to have been awarded the 'We're good to go' accreditation from Visit Britain, meaning we provide a COVID-safe environment for you on-board our trains.

Reducing contact when handling payments - Cash is accepted on-board but we encourage our customers to use contactless payments and where possible purchase an e-Ticket or use a Smartcard for Season tickets.

Please check payment options at the station you are visiting, please visit the station information page here.

Enhanced cleaning -All our trains go through a deep clean process at the end of each day, with regular cleaning throughout service.

We've increased staffing levels to help keep our trains clean during the day and our on-board cleaners clean the equivalent of 264 football pitches every day.

We've introduced more frequent walk-throughs to clean surfaces on a more regular basis and have ensured our team are fully aware of the importance of maintaining good hygiene themselves.

Reserving a seat - We advise you book before you travel and reserve a seat where possible.

For tickets purchased with CrossCountry using our website, mobile site or Train Tickets app please see the table below. Otherwise, please contact your original retailer.

Please note, refunds can take up to 5 working days to process once received by our team.

Season tickets can be refunded at any time, but there must be at least three days remaining on a weekly Season ticket, or seven days remaining on a monthly or longer Season ticket to obtain a refund. Refunds are not pro-rata as the unit cost of a Season ticket decreases as the period of validity increases. Annual Season tickets have little to no refund value if they have been used for more than 10 months, 12 days.

For more information and to see how much you could get back for your Season ticket, visit the National Rail website and use the Season Ticket Refund Calculator tool.

To request a refund for your Season ticket please contact our Web Support team on seasons.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk.

If you have a paper ticket and wish to make a refund please contact our Web Support team on sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk address only and they will provide directions on how to process. This will include a photograph of your paper ticket cut diagonally in half.

After careful consideration, the government has confirmed that Railcards will remain non-refundable and will not be extended.

Due to the period of ‘essential travel only’ government messaging, National Rail Vouchers that have an expiry date between 20 October 2020 - 30 June 2021, may be accepted for a maximum of 6 months after the original expiry date. For example a National Rail Travel Voucher that expires on 30 June 2021, may continue to be used up to and including 30 December 2021.

National Rail Travel Vouchers must not be exchanged for cash. 

If you arrive at the station without a reservation and the train is deemed too full to board, you can get your ticket endorsed by station staff to travel on the next available service.

Customer are asked to avoid the last service of the day unless they have reserved a seat on that service or are unable to travel any earlier. 

If the last service is too busy too board and you are at a manned station, our staff can support alternative arrangements with you.

If your train was delayed then please speak to a member of station staff who will endorse your ticket to travel on the next CrossCountry train.

Once your ticket has been endorsed, you will need a seat reservation. To make a seat reservation on the next train, please use our TMR service.

If you have missed your booked train, and the reason wasn’t related to the railway, e.g. traffic on your way to the station, then you will need to purchase a brand new ticket.

Cash is accepted on-board CrossCountry services, however we continue to advise customers to use contactless payments.

If you have been diagnosed with coronavirus or are showing symptoms, you should not travel and follow NHS guidance on self-isolation. 

Before travelling you must check your journey in line with national restrictions depending on where you're travelling too. For cross-border travel please view England, Scotland and Wales government websites for regulations and exceptions that may vary. 

Station staff are still available for advice and there is Help points at non staffed stations. If you require "live" help whilst travelling you can contact our customer relations by telephone: 03447 369 123 (Monday - Friday: 08:00-20:00, Saturday - Sunday: 08:00-16:00) or our Social Media team on Facebook via CrossCountry Trains or Twitter @crosscountryuk available 24/7. On board staff are also there to help during your journey.

We are still operating both booked and un-booked Passenger Assistance services for those passengers that require this. For information please view here.

We want your journey to be as comfortable as possible. That’s why we recommend you reserve a seat at the same time as purchasing your ticket where possible. It’s easy to do and gives you peace of mind so that you can travel with confidence. If you do not have a reservation for your train ticket, please use one of the fiveoptions below:

1. Call our Customer Relations team on 03447 369 123 (Option 3) Opening Hours: Monday - Sunday 08:00-16:00
2. E-mail Customer Relations on customer.relations@crosscountrytrains.co.uk
3. Contact our Social Media team on Facebook viaCrossCountry Trains on Facebook or Twitter @crosscountryuk available 24/7
4. Any staffed station
5. For on the day reservations only, please use our Ten Minute Reservation service.

If you’re worried about sitting next to someone else, we recommend that you try to travel during quieter times where more seats are available and the likelihood of the seat next to you being taken is lower. These can be found here.

We are recommend Season ticket holders and those with travelcards also make a reservation in advance, however all of our trains from Monday 19^th July onwards will have unreserved capacity available.

For any journeys in the future, please use one of the five options below:

1. 1. Call our Customer Relations team on 03447 369 123 (Option 3) Opening Hours: Monday - Friday 08:00-20:00 Saturday - Sunday 08:00-16:00
   2. E-mail Customer Relations on customer.relations@crosscountrytrains.co.uk
   3. Contact our Social Media team on twitter@crosscountryuk available 24/7
   4. Any staffed station
   5. For on the day reservations only, please use our Ten Minute Reservation service.

Yes. Please contact our Passenger Assist Team as normal and they will be happy to help with the arrangements and any support you would like on your journey. To book travel assistance, please contact the Passenger Assist team on: Call us on 08000309224 or Textphone us on 0800 0309230. Our opening hours are: Sunday - Saturday 08:00-22:00. Alternatively you can e-mail us on assistance@crosscountrytrains.co.uk

From 30 November, when travelling throughout England, Scotland and Wales, wearing a face covering will be mandatory and should be worn at all times unless you are consuming food and drink.  

For more information, and to ensure you are adhering to the guidelines if you are travelling across the border, please see the current government guidance for England, Scotland and Wales. 

If you have any other queries that do not relate to an existing booking our Customer Relations team are here to help. To achieve social distancing, and with the challenges of Coronavirus, our Customer Relations telephone lines are now open 7 days a week: 08:00 –16:00. Passenger Assistance telephone lines will be open Sunday - Saturday 08:00 - 16:00.

Please remember, you can also use our online contact forms to get in touch at any time - for Customer Relations please use the form here and for Passenger Assistance please use the form here.