This week, we travel between Birmingham and Leeds with CrossCountry in First Class aboard an HST!
Date of Travel: August 2022
Class of Travel: First Class
Rolling Stock: Intercity 125
Operator: CrossCountry
Service type: Express Passenger
Train Number: 1E63
Origin: Birmingham New Street, United Kingdom
Destination: Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Cost of Ticket: £58.20 ($68.10, €68.20)
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#crosscountry #HST #trains
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32 Comments
Very nice, shambolic service from XC as appears to be the norm, from price to catering.
I agree with another subscriber: CrossCountry trains are frequently late and overcrowded. The journey from Cam & Dursley to Edinburgh was a nightmare with the all too often running out of water (so not hot drinks available) and running out of food by Birmingham. I always took a goody bag and a long book to read!
That floor looks like Premier Inn
The interior and exterior design of cross-country trains is terrible. They're unappealing, dirty and overpriced. Plus their trains sound unique so can hear one a mile off. Don't understand why they still operate.
away from the main area ,new street is dark and foreboding
Delayed and Hungry: the Fast and Furious sequel nobody wanted.
When travelling home from York to Berwick in the evening always try to use the 1832 XC HST. Gave up using Virgin, then LNER some years ago due to poor service. LNER service from King's Cross may be ok but north of York in the evening is abysmal/non existent. Too many crews think 'finish at Newcastle means pack up at York' spending the rest of the journey doing nothing!
do u really pronounce Derby "Darby"??
well this was a bit of a disaster. I feel bad for you. The station was nice. I could never withstand that moving back & forth with my disabilities. They clearly have enough passengers. You think they'd do better. Catering is sad for that price. You may have to switch over to Dylan's plane reports. Hope your next is better for you. Good thing it was a short journey.
The train is one hour late? Yikes! Thats as bad as Amtrak here in the states.
Amazing trip.
Damn my boi is freakin fat 😵💫
I always use paper tickets and never have to panic about my phone being charged, nor waste electricity to do so! They slip into my shirt pocket very easily!
trade mark squeak ,but still superb too travel on
Dylan
Can we do a trip report back to Birmingham
Is this the Penzance to Scotland train? Relative had a dreadful journey ( 1st class, extortionate fare ) back in May travelling from Wakefield to Bodmin Parkway. Some carriages were detached at Birmingham, so 1st class was invaded. So many standing, impossible to reach the toilet. No refreshments or drinks of any sort until Plymouth where a cup of tea was managed. Last I heard, she is still awaiting some recompense from Crosscountry.
May I ask which train speed apps you use on your mobile phone?. Many thanks.
Great video, what camera do you use?
I work at a station XC call at and the number of times I have had customers I am helping onto First Class say, I only bought First Class cus of how busy these trains are is astonishing. XC are getting people into First Class cus of how busy their services are and they are only "busy" because they run in general very short 4/5 car Voyagers half the time where I am. So to me they really need to improve their service in general, not just in First Class. But glad you agree it wasn't really worth it.
I have never had a good experience with Cross Country trains. I'm surprised they've not lost their franchise.
Enjoyed as much as always Dylan, especially when arriving in Leeds and home at Elland Road!! Such iconic transport, shame the catering facilities were dismal for a first class offering, look after yourself, until next time, ATB Dave
Who is that woman reflected in the window? Pity it spoils the view
Who's the travel companion, Dylan?
Well that's 17 minutes and 31seconds of my life I'll never get back ! 😴
Excellent sound quality , what microphone do you use 😅
You should have been offered a sandwich or bacon roll for a 2 hour journey length – 50+ minutes is eligible and I think 2 hours you can get a second
Scandalous prices for a single ticket booked two months in advance, very poor catering too – I thought first class would have offered a decent amount if food and drink, unlimited within reason
A month on! I’m on it after a week – GWR generally takes 10 days. As trains find it hard to arrive on time tempted to go first cos I know will get a delay reduction refund
You should review the 323's as they are on the final furlong of their very productive career…..
First Class travel with Cross-Country has never been cheap on its central core routes between major cities which are used by business people whose firms have paid for their tickets! When Virgin Trains took over the CrossCountry franchise in 1997 they at least made an effort to provide a reasonable complimentary food and drink offer, but – like the other long distance operators (GNER and MML) which excelled in customer service – they lost the franchise ten years later. Since Arriva took over the catering offer has been reduced to a cup of tea or coffee and a packet of biscuits. Apparently the number of CrossCountry diagrams operated by 2+7 HST's will soon be increased. It just goes to show how good British Rail's iconic IC125, first introduced to squadron service in 1976, actually was and is. Long may they continue to operate on our national railway network!
2:57 Indeed F1 similarity! Love it! As for the journey…Yikes!