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And the cuts to the Skipton and Ilkley services from Bradford Forster Square

A while ago I was travelling southbound from Banbury and had to catch a Birmingham Moor St to Marylebone service from platform 2. On that occasion it was because the lift to platforms 3 and 4 was out of use and a wheelchair user was boarding the train.

Is this the most mk5 sets ever to be in service in one day?

Our local MP has just posted on Facebook 11 additional Chiltern Railway services a day for Banbury. Does this mean a partial reinstatement of the Banbury to Marylebone stopping service or are these just increases to the mainline Birmingham Moor St to Marylebone service?

Does anyone know why the some of the Newcastle - Reading services are skipping Banbury? Is it for pathing reasons or have Crosscountry requested it?

I have often thought this would be a very good idea, but the issue is that changing trains on the CrossCountry network, especially at Birmingham New St, can be a real nightmare. I (a relatively fit and healthy individual) find it difficult enough, but I imagine if you are elderly, disabled or...

But unfortunately the Newcastle to Reading has not been fully reinstated, so Birmingham to Reading is hourly with a few additional services. Thus this travelling from the North East / Yorkshire to Oxford / Reading are left with an hour wait in Birmingham New Street. (And conversely a string of...

Well it certainly served me very well over the years

I believe today (12/12/25) marks the end of direct services between Reading/Oxford/ Banbury/Leamington Spa and Leeds, very sad

Despite being 25 years old they still seem very modern, and even though they have 3+2 seating they seem really spacious inside. They cope really well with the demands of Aire valley and Wharfedale lines. I much prefer them to the class 331s (especially as these are now 3 car units on these...

I realise this is not the place to moan but it is good to know that whilst you are crammed about an overcrowded 4-car service, there are several 5 car voyagers currently not being used in storage. But to be fair most Bournemouth to Manchester Pic services are now either 5 car units or double...

Thanks, this is still a very disappointing offering. Pre-Covid these services weren’t too badly loaded but no they always seem to be horrendously overcrowded, I don’t understand why

Apparently CrossCountry are introducing more services on the Newcastle to Reading route as part of the December 2025 timetable (see below image from the CrossCountry website) but due engineering work the new timetable will not be fully introduced until February 2026. Does anyone know if they are...

Sorry, as a semi-regular Chiltern Railways user I have been following the threads on this topic closely but I really haven’t seen any answers as to how this is going to work. It would seem to be very surprising if the plan is to not run the mk5a sets on the busy peak services as I would have...

Given that most peak Birmingham service's are currently 5, 6 or 7 car 168s or the current 6 coach mk3 sets, the introduction of the mk5 sets would appear to be a very significant reduction in capacity. Are they planning on re-introducing the Banbury to Marylebone stoppers to off-set some of...

It is really good to know when we are stood on a packed 4 coach XC voyager for several hours, that there are 6 x 5 car units just sat in storage not being used. The increase in capacity from a 4 coach voyager to a 5 coach is really significant. I have recently travelled on a few Reading -...

Has there been any improvement to services since the last “Emergency Timetable “? Did CrossCountry achieve anything?

I was mainly referring to the lack of direct service from the North East / Yorkshire to Oxford/Reading. Currently it is an hour wait at Birmingham New Street. The services that they did (briefly) reintroduce were not at peak times. And regularly cancelled This not only significantly reduces...

Unfortunately it doesn’t say anything about returning to the full timetable. I say full timetable, it is still significantly reduced from pre-Covid

I am assuming it is just a ploy to allow them to remove all catering from XC services as no one uses it anymore. And too all those who say simply purchase food and drink at the station before you board, it is hard enough boarding a XC train with luggage / young children never mind trying to...