Alex has grown increasingly concerned that the service offered by CrossCountry Trains and Stagecoach is deteriorating. In response he has written to them, to hold them to account and to make clear that he expects them to take all necessary steps to fulfil their advertised service.
In response, Stagecoach issued an apology to Alex's constituents and committed to "really pushing" its recruitment drive, including working with local job centres to fill its vacancies.
Meanwhile, CrossCountry have also apologised for the inconvenience caused and stating that to enable social distancing, they are continuing to use two trains coupled together, meaning they do not have sufficient trains to resume the services withdrawn last summer.
In response, Alex has written to the Secretary of State at the Department for Transport and the Traffic Commissioner to escalate the issue. In respect of CrossCountry, Alex is concerned that COVID is being used a pretext to quietly pension off services (such as the direct service to Manchester) which it finds inconvenient and/or costly to deliver. That is not acceptable.