CrossCountry is preparing to add eight Class 221 Voyager trains to its long-distance fleet between early 2027 and May 2028, supported by approximately £80 million of new maintenance and modernisation contracts awarded to Alstom. The existing trains will undergo inspection, modification and refurbishment before entering CrossCountry passenger service. The agreement expands the operator’s available rolling stock without commissioning newly built trains.
Six units, numbered 221101 to 221106, have been stored at Derby Litchurch Lane Works since their withdrawal from Avanti West Coast in December 2024. Two more, 221142 and 221143, have been operating with Grand Central on the East Coast Main Line. Their different operating histories mean the preparations will include work specific to the condition and configuration of each train.
Alstom will carry out mechanical inspections and the necessary modifications at Central Rivers Depot near Burton upon Trent, where the company already maintains CrossCountry’s Voyager fleet. The new contracts also cover continuing maintenance for the eight units and refurbishment work at Derby Litchurch Lane Works. They are distinct from Alstom’s earlier £60 million contract, agreed in 2024, to refurbish the wider fleet.
That existing refurbishment programme covers 312 Class 220 and Class 221 carriages. Its scope includes replacement seating, tables and carpets, improved storage and electrical sockets, LED lighting, refreshed toilets, and updated onboard cameras and passenger counting systems. Alstom unveiled the first refurbished CrossCountry Voyager in February 2026; the incoming Class 221 trains are to be brought into the same modernisation arrangements.
The additional eight trains follow 12 Voyagers introduced during 2024 and 2025. CrossCountry estimates that the combined 20-train expansion will provide almost 60,000 extra seats each week, rather than attributing that total to the latest eight vehicles. Services expected to benefit include routes linking Reading with Newcastle and Southampton, and Manchester with Bournemouth.
The maintenance work and phased entry timetable leave time for inspections and integration before passengers use the additional trains. CrossCountry has not provided a train-by-train allocation across its services. Its forecast capacity increase will depend on when individual units become available and how the expanded fleet is deployed in the timetable.
CrossCountry, parent company Arriva, rolling stock owner Beacon Rail and the Department for Transport worked on securing the extra trains. Alstom’s £80 million contracts provide defined maintenance and workshop activity behind the plan, with the first additional unit expected in service from early 2027 and the remaining seven following in stages through May 2028.
