XC Life Autumn 2012

The magazine for CrossCountry peopleXCLifeAutumn 2012

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There ain’t nothing

DRIVER HAS A LEADING ROLE INUK PEDIGREE BREED DOG CLUB

like a Dane

XCLife p1 3/9/12 16:10 Page 1

Looking ahead withoptimism – in bothshort and long terms

2 XC Life Autumn 2012

WHAT a year it has been and it’s still only August –the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics, the Tourde France, the drought, the floods, Euro 2012 football.To top it all, the Olympics were indeed about “sport”not “tran-sport”. Then there have been theGovernment’s announcements about the railways.

The two biggest decisions have been the go-aheadfor HS2, as the start of a high-speed network for theUK, and the major commitments to electrification,going beyond the plans for the Great Western mainline, to include the Midland main line and othernorth-south links.

We are now into the second half of our franchiseterm, and we have beaten Department for Transportperformance targets and so the franchise will extenduntil March 2016. We have got here with no breachesof our franchise agreement and with our franchiseobligations all but complete. Before the year is out, weaim to have shown the industry the way, sellingAdvance tickets just a few minutes before traindeparture on “smart” phones and using our successful“M” tickets.

Our plans have always been to deliver our mostsignificant changes in the first four years, then tocontinue to drive the business forward – giving greatservice to our customers, at last producing a profit forour shareholders, making jobs more secure andearning a reputation which would support our bid fora second franchise term. As things stand, thatfranchise competition could start at the end of 2014,so we have a couple of years to consider how we couldshape CrossCountry for the future.

Of course, with the Department for Transportfavouring longer franchises, the next CrossCountryterm could stretch to 2030! If that feels like a longway off, consider that the HS2 network is onlypresently planned to open from London toBirmingham in 2026 and on to Leeds and Manchesterby 2033.

So it looks like there is a lot of life left in today’sshape of the CrossCountry network. But we have alsobeen exploring options for trains – the most highprofile being the e-Voyager project – and the plans formore electrification will open up further options.

But as we contemplate the long term we mustredouble our efforts to deliver great performance inthe short term. Initiatives like the new “Integrale”system for the Control team and forward-facing CCTVto achieve quicker service recovery from incidents andback up our drivers’ reports, will help us. The newGSM-R radio telephone system will make our railwaysafer and help tackle operating problems more quickly.

Modifications to trains to eliminate simple failures –with electric windscreen wipers, for example – are inhand. Continuing to innovate in the way we presentthe CrossCountry offer – online, by mobile andthrough “apps” – will keep us ahead of thecompetition.

So while the way ahead looks clear, we will need thesame skills and commitment shown over the last fouryears, to get us through the next four!

by Andy CooperMANAGING DIRECTOR,CROSSCOUNTRY

KIRSTY Jarvis andRichard Thackray, thenew starters in TrainPlanning, have beenpresented withcertificates aftersuccessfullycompleting their TrainPlanning andDiagrammingInduction Course.

The five-moduletraining programmecovers all aspects ofthe train planning anddiagramming process,as well as practicalexercises and casestudies.

Matt Pocock, Headof Train Planning andStrategic Timetable

Development, said:“It’s great to welcomeRichard and Kirsty tothe team.

“They bring a freshperspective which willno doubt help us toincrease our role incontributing to greatjourneys over thecoming years.”

Aseries of refresher sessions havebeen run for the employeeswho make up CrossCountry’s

Incident Care Team. A total of 32specially selected volunteers are onstand-by to respond to the needs ofsurvivors in the hours and daysfollowing a major rail incident.

During one refresher course inNewcastle and two in Cannon House,the team members were given anoverview of a major incident, anupdate on the reporting lines and achance to practice their skills throughvarious scenarios.

Glen Austin, Safety and Security

Manager who along with CustomerRelations Duty Manager PamelaJohnson leads the team, said: “Thesessions gave us a chance to updateour procedures and make sure we aresinging from the same hymn sheet asour partners in the industry.

“The Incident Care Team works onbehalf of the rail industry alongsidepolice family liaison officers andcolleagues from all the other TrainOperating Companies to ensure ahumanitarian response in the event ofa major incident.”

Seven new volunteers are due fortraining in September.

New starters in Train Planning

Update courses for

CARE TEAM

CrossCountryAssistant Finance

Manager Vicky Green,who is an Incident Care

Team volunteer, withleaflets which aregiven out by the

team.

XCLife p2 3/9/12 16:11 Page 1

XC Life Autumn 2012 3

BRIAN Loughlin has beenroyally rewarded for sterlingwork carried out in his own

time to solve problems with seatreservation software on the trains.

The Bournemouth TrainManager started keeping detailedrecords of systems performancewhen he realised data wasdisappearing from the on-boardmemory of all Voyager units, andwas failing to register on theat-seat displays.

After six years of analysis Briandiscovered that a loophole meanttwo separate systems wereimpacting on each other – theLevel 3 Alarm System and theSeat Reservation System.

Fluorescent lighting was alsocausing problems with electricalinterference to transmission andwiping the seat numbersprogrammed within the seatreservation displays.

He contacted ManagingDirector Andy Cooper with hisfindings – and the information hesubsequently provided toengineers at Bombardier’s CentralRivers depot has led to theproblems being solved by theintroduction of new software andalterations to the lighting system.

As a reward from CrossCountry,Brian’s name together with thatof his wife Liz was put forward toattend one of the Queen’s GardenParties during the DiamondJubilee.

The company also paid forthem to spend a weekend awaywith their children Joe, aged 12,and Emma, aged nine.

“Liz and I were surprised wewere chosen – it was an honourand we felt very privileged. Theweather was brilliant and we hada wonderful day,” said modestBrian, who insists he onlydiscovered the “needles in thehaystack” so that engineers could

develop his findings. He added: “Istudied rail transportmanagement 20 years ago on aChartered Institute of Transportcourse which included traindesign. I started writing up recordsin a manual so that I couldmanage the problems before I goton the train.

“I realised it was only certaincoaches that would play up, and Igradually narrowed the problemdown to electrical interferencefrom the fluorescent lightingwhile realising that Level 3instructions from the Driver, Train

Manager or passengers werecausing reservation informationleakage and slow downloads.”

CrossCountry’s CustomerService Director Jeremy Higginssaid: “Brian built up a staggeringdatabase of individual trainoperation with respect to thetrain seat reservations systemsperformance.

“He is a modest individual andthroughout his project has soughtno recognition or reward. His drivehas simply been to provide abetter service to our customers –he is an example to us all.”

ALAN Prisemancommissioned a specialbadge for people wantingto commemorate 10 yearsof Voyagers being in service.

As secretary of theSaltley Welfare Fund, theBirmingham Driver hadalready had lapel badgesmade to mark 90 years ofits existence.

He came up with the ideaof creating the Voyagermemorabilia, featuring atrain in CrossCountrycolours, with specialistcollectors in mind.

“I had 250 made and theyall sold,” said Alan. “Itseemed a good idea tomark the significant date ofthe Voyagers’ introduction,and the theme proved to bea very popular choice.

“I advertised the badgesat £3 to cover my costs.Most of them were boughtby CrossCountry staff.”

ASSESSORS from the BritishQuality Foundation (BQF)are set to visit various partsof the business to interviewand form focus groups withsome CrossCountry people.

They will also be out andabout on the network,evaluating the ‘feel’ of theorganisation, as part of anassessment of CrossCountrytowards a business qualityaward.

One of the company’s2012 business objectives isto be Recognised forExcellence (R4E) against theEuropean Foundation ofQuality Management’s(EFQM) business modelwhich provides a frameworkfor excellence, sustainabilityand continuousimprovement.

The assessors will arrivein November – and staff areurged to make them feelwelcome and show theirnormal professional andpositive attitude thatproves CrossCounty is an excellent company.

Palace party reward for

sterling work

A RIGHT ROYAL DAY OUT: Brian Loughlin and his wife Liz at theBuckingham Palace Diamond Jubilee Garden Party.

Chance toshow thequality

Voyagerbadgesouvenir

Voyager seat reservation displays like this are working asthey should – thanks to the efforts of Brian Loughlin.

XCLife p3 3/9/12 16:12 Page 1

ENGLAND football fan ScottMasters has experienced thehighs and lows of thebeautiful game over a decadesupporting his Three Lionsheroes both at home and inEurope.

But now he is hoping to takethings to a whole new level bytravelling transatlantic toBrazil for the 2014 World Cup.

If England qualify for thetournament in the land ofSamba, Scott – who is aProject Manager for theCommercial Team based atCannon House – plans to headto South America to cheer onthe lads.

Scott, 25, who is also alifelong Birmingham City fan,said: “I watched my firstEngland game at Wembleymore than 10 years ago. It wasa 3-0 win against Portugal. Igot the bug and have beenfollowing the internationalteam since then.

He added: “Being a

Birmingham City fan I thoughtthe best way of getting to seefootball in Europe was towatch the national team –though I’ve since seen theBlues play overseas too.”

Since then Scott, who is amember of the officialEngland Supporters Club, hasseen England compete in Euro2004 in Portugal, World Cup2006 in Germany and earlierthis year he spent a week inthe Ukraine for Euro 2012.

He said: “We watchedEngland draw against France in Donetsk and beat Sweden in Kiev and also watched thegame between Holland andGermany in Kharkov. My planwas to return if we got to thefinal but unfortunately after Ileft things went downhillagainst the Italians.”

Scott said: “Ukraine was alovely place to visit. It receiveda lot of bad press before thetournament and it put a lot ofsupporters off. Kiev was

especially nice – Iwould definitely go backthere. It was extremely hotthough. We actually caughtthe overnight sleeper trainfrom Donetsk to Kharkov. Itwas 35 degrees Celsius outsideand very, very uncomfortableinside.”

He added: “I amlooking forward to going toBrazil and fingers crossedEngland qualify, but I wouldhave to think long and hardbefore using the trains to get around – I might fly between games instead.”


HORSE fan John Landymore’s bid to visit everyracecourse in the country is gathering pace.A visit to the historic Salisbury Racecourse

has taken his running total to 13.The Stansted Cleaner had a head start when he

came up with his plan to sample all 59 meetings –he lives in Newmarket, the headquarters of Britishracing. “I try to go the races three or four times ayear,” he said. “My ultimate aim is to be able tosay I have experienced every flat and steeplechasevenue.

“As well as the races themselves I take greatinterest in assessing whether the facilities at thecourses are any good.”

John grew up with the sights and sounds ofracing within earshot, and he worked as astablehand at Gainsborough Stables for two yearswhen younger.

“I love working with horses and I have never lostmy early love for the equestrian world,” he added.“I am fortunate that I am able to obtain freetickets to visit Newmarket course.”

England soccer fan eyes the land of Samba

John Landymorepictured by the landmark

statue of the famous racehorseHyperion outside the Jockey Club

Rooms at Newmarket.A headSTARTHorse fan aims to visit everyracecourse in the country

ScottMasters

checks out theofficial England

supporterswebsite.

XCLife p4 3/9/12 16:59 Page 1


RAJ Khanna decided on anOlympic theme when hetook charge as organiser of

an international event to showcaseGreat Danes.

Raj is Championship ShowManager for the Great Dane Club,founded in 1883, which has

members round the world.The Birmingham Driver was responsible

for setting up the latest meeting forowners and breeders at the Holiday Inn inCrick, Northamptonshire.

The event took place during London2012, so it seemed fitting to incorporatereferences to the Games into the dogshow.

“Our theme included special rosettes inthe colours of the Olympic rings, lots offlags and cardboard torches,” said Raj.

“Some of the helpers wore headbands.”For the second year running

CrossCountry donated two adults’ andtwo childrens’ First Class tickets for theraffle.

“We really appreciated the company’ssupport,” said Raj, whose role at theGreat Dane Club includes organisingcompetition entries and prizes. The show,which was attended by judges from NewZealand and dog owners from as farafield as France and Holland, was greatlyenjoyed by the exhibitors with 182 dogspresent.”

Raj and his partner Anna have theirown Great Dane, a two-year-old blackand white Harlequin called Claude whois “soft as a brush.”

One of their previous Great Danes,called Axel, won Best in Class at Crufts.

COVE

R S

TORY

A CrossCountry TrainManager is being praised forhelping to save the life of apassenger who experiencedheart problems.

Jo Greenaway was workingthe Glasgow-Penzanceservice between Leeds andBirmingham when the16-year-old male got intodifficulties.

As the train called atSheffield, Jo used experiencegained on her company FirstAid Course to make thepassenger as comfortable aspossible.

Following directions thatwere then given to her overthe phone by paramedics, shegave him First Aid until theprofessionals arrived.

The British Transport Policelater called CrossCountry’sCustomer RelationsDepartment to pass on theirappreciation of Jo’s actions.

“Jo acted promptly andvery professionally,” saidCustomer Service ManagerSarah Gould. “It is clear thather actions prevented a heartattack and helped to savethis young person’s life.”

RICHARD Niven experiencedthe highs and lows ofcontinental travel as hecovered 8,000 miles whilevisiting 12 countries acrossEurope on his trusty HondaTransalp motorbike.

A highspot was the 60-footMaslenica Bridge which spans

a stretch of the Adriatic Seain Croatia which hediscovered to be “one of themost beautiful places I havebeen in the world”.

But the Edinburgh Driver hitproblems as he passed by theLeaning Tower of Pisa – hisengine developed a strange

screaming noise whicheventually subsided.

Richard’s five weekadventure also includedpassing through remoteregions of the Pyrénées andAlps and at one point henever saw a single person for120 miles.

Olympic theme for

top dog show

Jo’s actionshelp to savelife of youngpassenger

Raj Khanna at home withClaude, his Great Dane.

Highs and lows of 8,000 mile bike trip

MotorbikerRichard Niven at

the MaslenicaBridge which spansthe Maslenica Strait

of the AdriaticSea.

XCLife p5 3/9/12 16:48 Page 1


STAFF at Birmingham New Street havesettled well into their state-of-the-artnew accommodation in the

purpose-built Lampblock building.The three-storey building, which can be

accessed from either the west end ofplatform 1 on the station or Pinfold Street, isa permanent home for around 500CrossCountry Drivers, Traincrew andManagers.

Officially opened by David Martin, ChiefExecutive of Arriva, in June, the Lampblockhouses a booking on point and Avantix lobbyon the ground floor and meeting rooms, LLCoffices and locker rooms on the middle floor.

An open-plan mess room dominates thetop storey, with Driver Team Manager andCustomer Service Manager offices at eitherend. Nearby are a kitchen, quiet room and TVroom. “The facilities are marvellous,” saidHeather Davis, one of the Team Organisers.

“There’s a lot more space and the break-outarea is light and airy with low-level bucketseats by the floor-to-ceiling windows givinggreat views over the station and thePallasades area as it is being redeveloped.”

Environmentally-friendly technology hasbeen incorporated into the design of thebuilding, including solar panels and a greenroof with 14 species of plant, and a lamp hasbeen situated at one of the entrances as a

reminder of the 19th century depotsupplying gas lamps to rail tunnelmaintenance workers, which occupied the sitepreviously.

The accommodation represents the thirdand final home for CrossCountry staff inBirmingham – at the start of the franchisethey were in three locations and in December2010 they moved into temporary

accommodation on Queens Drive asthe redevelopment of the station

gathered pace.Noelle Partington, Regional Customer

Service Manager who co-ordinated the move,said: “All employees were consulted andCrossCountry had a significant input into theinternal layout of the building, which wasdelivered by Network Rail.”

The old Lampblock prior to demolition.

Regional Customer Service Manager Noelle Partingtonoutside the new Lampblock on platform 1.

BusinessImprovement

ManagerIan Manktelow in themess room which has

panoramic viewsover the city

centre.

Driver Paul Bridges in the LLCoffice. On the wall is the Pride ofSaltley name plate from an oldClass 47 steam locomotive.

Staffin the mess

room. Inset top,the lamp over themain entrance tothe Lampblock.

Modern Lampblockshines at New Street

XCLife p6 3/9/12 16:15 Page 1


PERIOD 2(four weeks to 26/5/12)

PERFORMANCE: 88%

DELAY CAUSE:Network Rail 69.3%, XC 7.6%,other train operators 23.1%

PERCENTAGE UNDER TARGET:7.7%

AVERAGE PERFORMANCEOVER THE LAST YEAR:89.3%

FLEET MILES BETWEEN FAULTS:

Class 170 – 21,757(Yearly average 17,669: +6.91%year-on-year)



HST – 23,356(yearly average 25,863: +70.99%year-on-year)

CATERING SALES:-1.9% on last year

AVERAGE TICKET PRICE:£12.62 (+4.5% year-on-year)

PASSENGER COUNTS:The % of counts successfullycompleted

75.7% (last year 78.3%)

BusinessSTATS

ROLAND McCraw wondered whether he mightbe too old to take up marathon running atthe age of 42. Quite the opposite – he took

to the sport so easily he has now progressed to therarefied world of ultra marathons.

Already the Edinburgh Driver has notched upthree Ultras at lung-bursting distances acrossrugged terrain in various parts of Scotland.

First he conquered the 30 miles of the Glen OgleUltra, based around Strathyre, and then graduatedto the D33 Ultra covering the first 33 miles of theDeeside Way from Aberdeen to Banchory.

His biggest and most recent challenge was the53-mile Highland Fling Ultra along part of theWest Highland Way from Milngavie near Glasgow

to the village of Tyndrum. Roland trained byrunning 1,000 miles in three months includingback-to-back sessions at weekends and running upthe Pentland Hills near Edinburgh once or twice aweek.

He has even been known to run the 11 milesinto work from his home in Port Seton in EastLothian, arriving at the station in his training gear!

He said: “I like Ultra races because they aresmaller and more friendly than marathons. Runningthe longer distances gives you a chance to findyourself – there’s a lot of soul searching and yougo through a lot of emotions. Pushing your body tothe limit involves overcoming the mind’s built-insafety measures.”

Above, Roland McCrawwith medals he won forcompleting the D33 andHighland ultra marathons.Left, Roland training on thebeach at Port Seton.

Driver Roland is the ultra

marathon man

’’ROLAND McCRAW

‘‘Pushing your bodyto the limit involvesovercoming themind’s built-insafety measures

XCLife p7 3/9/12 16:15 Page 1

AT the centre of the Newcastleoperation are Sean Livingstone,Gill Thomson and KarenGardner.

Driver Team Manager Sean,aged 51, was born in Newcastleand has lived there all his life.

The married father-of-two,who joined the railways as aDepotman in 1980, became adriver on the Metro system andafter a short break rejoined theindustry as a driver on theCrossCountry network in 1999.

Sean’s role includesassessments in the driving cabas well as On Train DataRecorder assessments, depotbased rules exams and on-callduties. He enjoys cycling andwalking.

Customer Service ManagerGill Thomson, a mum-of-twoaged 44, lives in Wallsend andhas a son Michael who has juststarted working as an First ClassHost for CrossCountry.

Married for five years toRegional Customer ServiceManager North East andScotland Mark Thomson, Gilllooks after all grades oftraincrew at Newcastle together

with the staff of CrossCountry’snewly-launched Service Centre.

She said: “The staff atNewcastle are friendly anddedicated to doing the bestthey can, supporting andhelping their colleagues.”

Team Organiser KarenGardner, aged 48, is Newcastleborn and bred and lives inWalkergate close to the Centre.

Mother of two daughters,Karen’s role is toensure all staff havethe equipment theyneed to do their job,support the localmanagers and lookafter the running of theCentre.

Karen, whose sister isa First Class Host atNewcastle, added: “Imay be biased but Ithink majority of thestaff at Newcastle aresome of the friendliestand caring people Ihave met – I like tothink we have beenthere for each otherover the ten years andit’s like one big family.”

8 XC Life Autumn 2012 XC Life Autumn 2012 9

XC Life focuses on Newcastle Centre which was launched a decade ago and where staff have become part of ‘a big, happy family’ to mark the anniversary

NEWCASTLE Centre,celebrating its tenthanniversary this year, is a

vital hub for CrossCountry’s servicesat a key location on the network.

The depot was “born” foroperational reasons in 2002 out ofthe recognition that historically theCrossCountry operation had alwaysstarted and terminated at thestation.

The setting-up of a depot underVirgin’s Operation Princessremoved the need for drivers totravel to Newcastle from otherCrossCountry depots and stayovernight.

It also made good business senseto have all the staff in place for theincrease in train services that wereplanned for the new CrossCountryfranchise.

“All but three or four people whowere members of staff at thelaunch of the Centre were not fromthe railway environment,” said GillThomson, Customer ServiceManager. “We came from all walksof life – but we have all becomepart of a big family, happy tocelebrate our ten-year milestone.”

The ten-year anniversary hascoincided with the move of theCentre from its previous location inKing’s House to the new premisesat 1 Neville Street, alongside thestation. Also closely linked to theoperation is the Newcastle ServiceCentre which has recently beentaken in-house.

Newcastle Centre is home to 25Drivers, 26 Train Managers, 19 Retail

Service Managers, 15 First ClassHosts, three Service Centre staff,four Revenue Protection Inspectorsand one Cleaning Operative. Alsohoused there are a CustomerService Manager, a Driver TeamManager, a Team Organiser and aRegional Customer Service Manager.

Newcastle drivers work Class220/221 and HST Trains and havethe route knowledge betweenEdinburgh and Derby via bothDoncaster and Leeds. They facedaily challenges due to thecomplexity of the network.

“As our name suggests, we crossthrough other train operators’ mainroutes and we don’t always get a‘good run,’” said Sean Livingstone,Driver Team Manager.

“This can be frustrating for drivers

trying to keep to time and deliverour customers to their destinationsafely and punctually.”

Key centre celebrates

TEN-YEAR MILEPOST

Dedicated team aimto support colleagues

A wide variety of passengers

Driver GrahamMarshall at NewcastleCentral station withthe iconic curved ironand glass roof in thebackground.

Newcastle Centralstation FACTFILE:■ Opened by QueenVictoria and Prince Albertin 1850 and Grade 1 listed,the station is thought bymany to be the finest inEngland for itsarchitecture and its size.

■ It was designed bycelebrated architect JohnDobson, a friend of artistJ.M.W. Turner. Dobson alsoworked with Grainger todesign much of Newcastlecity centre.

■ Newcastle Centralstation was the firstcovered shed in the world.The curved structure wasthe first large iron andglass vault in England.

■ The station wasconstructed incollaboration with railwaygenius Robert Stephenson.It became necessary assoon as the railway hadbeen laid North across theRiver Tyne.

Operations team – pictured, left to right, are Driver Team ManagerSean Livingstone, Team Organiser Karen Gardner, Customer ServiceManager Gill Thomson and Regional Customer Service ManagerNorth East and Scotland Mark Thomson.

Unloadingsupplies are

Service Centre teammembers JohnDryden (in the van) and Iain

Birkmyre.

RetailService

Managers LesleyTaylor and Gary

Nevins enjoycuppas in themess room.

FirstClass Host

Hayley Dunnchecks the daily

sheet on the notice

board.

DAVE Ramshaw, Train Manager basedat Newcastle, highlights the varietyof his customers as one of the bestaspects of his job.

Early morning commuters giveway to tourists and day-trippers whoare travelling from the Midlands andelsewhere to experience the beautiesof the North-East coast andcountryside.

“We also have a lot of stag andhen parties travelling into Newcastle,often with crates of beer, and thiscan be challenging from a customerservice point of view,” said Dave, whohas been on the railways ten years.

“They are heading for the nightlifein Newcastle’s Bigg Market and theQuayside and they can be quiteboisterous. On the way back, theyare usually hung over.”

Aside from the widely-variedcustomer base, challenges of Dave’sjob can include responding topassenger requests for information inthe wake of disruption due to badweather.

“Recently the station at Newcastlewas flooded and services wereterminated short of the city,” he said.“There have also been networkdisruptions north of the border.”

XCLife p8-9 3/9/12 16:16 Page 1

AT the centre of the Newcastleoperation are Sean Livingstone,Gill Thomson and KarenGardner.

Driver Team Manager Sean,aged 51, was born in Newcastleand has lived there all his life.

The married father-of-two,who joined the railways as aDepotman in 1980, became adriver on the Metro system andafter a short break rejoined theindustry as a driver on theCrossCountry network in 1999.

Sean’s role includesassessments in the driving cabas well as On Train DataRecorder assessments, depotbased rules exams and on-callduties. He enjoys cycling andwalking.

Customer Service ManagerGill Thomson, a mum-of-twoaged 44, lives in Wallsend andhas a son Michael who has juststarted working as an First ClassHost for CrossCountry.

Married for five years toRegional Customer ServiceManager North East andScotland Mark Thomson, Gilllooks after all grades oftraincrew at Newcastle together

with the staff of CrossCountry’snewly-launched Service Centre.

She said: “The staff atNewcastle are friendly anddedicated to doing the bestthey can, supporting andhelping their colleagues.”

Team Organiser KarenGardner, aged 48, is Newcastleborn and bred and lives inWalkergate close to the Centre.

Mother of two daughters,Karen’s role is toensure all staff havethe equipment theyneed to do their job,support the localmanagers and lookafter the running of theCentre.

Karen, whose sister isa First Class Host atNewcastle, added: “Imay be biased but Ithink majority of thestaff at Newcastle aresome of the friendliestand caring people Ihave met – I like tothink we have beenthere for each otherover the ten years andit’s like one big family.”

8 XC Life Autumn 2012 XC Life Autumn 2012 9

XC Life focuses on Newcastle Centre which was launched a decade ago and where staff have become part of ‘a big, happy family’ to mark the anniversary

NEWCASTLE Centre,celebrating its tenthanniversary this year, is a

vital hub for CrossCountry’s servicesat a key location on the network.

The depot was “born” foroperational reasons in 2002 out ofthe recognition that historically theCrossCountry operation had alwaysstarted and terminated at thestation.

The setting-up of a depot underVirgin’s Operation Princessremoved the need for drivers totravel to Newcastle from otherCrossCountry depots and stayovernight.

It also made good business senseto have all the staff in place for theincrease in train services that wereplanned for the new CrossCountryfranchise.

“All but three or four people whowere members of staff at thelaunch of the Centre were not fromthe railway environment,” said GillThomson, Customer ServiceManager. “We came from all walksof life – but we have all becomepart of a big family, happy tocelebrate our ten-year milestone.”

The ten-year anniversary hascoincided with the move of theCentre from its previous location inKing’s House to the new premisesat 1 Neville Street, alongside thestation. Also closely linked to theoperation is the Newcastle ServiceCentre which has recently beentaken in-house.

Newcastle Centre is home to 25Drivers, 26 Train Managers, 19 Retail

Service Managers, 15 First ClassHosts, three Service Centre staff,four Revenue Protection Inspectorsand one Cleaning Operative. Alsohoused there are a CustomerService Manager, a Driver TeamManager, a Team Organiser and aRegional Customer Service Manager.

Newcastle drivers work Class220/221 and HST Trains and havethe route knowledge betweenEdinburgh and Derby via bothDoncaster and Leeds. They facedaily challenges due to thecomplexity of the network.

“As our name suggests, we crossthrough other train operators’ mainroutes and we don’t always get a‘good run,’” said Sean Livingstone,Driver Team Manager.

“This can be frustrating for drivers

trying to keep to time and deliverour customers to their destinationsafely and punctually.”

Key centre celebrates

TEN-YEAR MILEPOST

Dedicated team aimto support colleagues

A wide variety of passengers

Driver GrahamMarshall at NewcastleCentral station withthe iconic curved ironand glass roof in thebackground.

Newcastle Centralstation FACTFILE:■ Opened by QueenVictoria and Prince Albertin 1850 and Grade 1 listed,the station is thought bymany to be the finest inEngland for itsarchitecture and its size.

■ It was designed bycelebrated architect JohnDobson, a friend of artistJ.M.W. Turner. Dobson alsoworked with Grainger todesign much of Newcastlecity centre.

■ Newcastle Centralstation was the firstcovered shed in the world.The curved structure wasthe first large iron andglass vault in England.

■ The station wasconstructed incollaboration with railwaygenius Robert Stephenson.It became necessary assoon as the railway hadbeen laid North across theRiver Tyne.

Operations team – pictured, left to right, are Driver Team ManagerSean Livingstone, Team Organiser Karen Gardner, Customer ServiceManager Gill Thomson and Regional Customer Service ManagerNorth East and Scotland Mark Thomson.

Unloadingsupplies are

Service Centre teammembers JohnDryden (in the van) and Iain

Birkmyre.

RetailService

Managers LesleyTaylor and Gary

Nevins enjoycuppas in themess room.

FirstClass Host

Hayley Dunnchecks the daily

sheet on the notice

board.

DAVE Ramshaw, Train Manager basedat Newcastle, highlights the varietyof his customers as one of the bestaspects of his job.

Early morning commuters giveway to tourists and day-trippers whoare travelling from the Midlands andelsewhere to experience the beautiesof the North-East coast andcountryside.

“We also have a lot of stag andhen parties travelling into Newcastle,often with crates of beer, and thiscan be challenging from a customerservice point of view,” said Dave, whohas been on the railways ten years.

“They are heading for the nightlifein Newcastle’s Bigg Market and theQuayside and they can be quiteboisterous. On the way back, theyare usually hung over.”

Aside from the widely-variedcustomer base, challenges of Dave’sjob can include responding topassenger requests for information inthe wake of disruption due to badweather.

“Recently the station at Newcastlewas flooded and services wereterminated short of the city,” he said.“There have also been networkdisruptions north of the border.”

XCLife p8-9 3/9/12 16:16 Page 1

’’

‘‘


NEWCASTLE’S Driver Assessor PaulJohnson has an impressive CV – hewas the youngest examiner in thecountry in the early days of hiscareer.

Paul achieved the qualificationin 1985 during his time as a rollingstock technician at Blyth PowerStation in Northumberland, at theage of 19. After that he progressedfrom working at the Tyne Yard as atraction trainee to joiningCrossCountry where he became anInstructor Driver and then DriverAssessor.

From his base in the NewcastleCentre, Paul assists the Driver TrainManager in managing the team ofdrivers to make sure they complywith standards, and at other timesworks as a driver himself.

His main hobby is football – hewas part of the Newcastle XC five-a-side team that beatBirmingham this year – and he helpswith an under-16 boys’ team.

Iwas born in Newcastle upon Tyne’s RVIhospital so I qualify as a Geordie – in mydefinition, someone born within earshot of

the football ground at St James’ Park.In fact I am so proud of my birthplace that I

have the Geordie slogan of Way Aye as aringtone on my mobile phone. I grew up inAshington, a colliery village where my fatherand my grandfather before him were bothminers.

Although I had promised my mum I wouldnever go down the mine I realised by the age of20 that a job as a miner was the only way Icould find of earning a living.

After starting on the belts and theunderground transport system I became a driverof diesel locos underground, taking supplies andmanpower to the coal face.

When I had been driving in the mine for 10

years I decided that I wanted to become a traindriver on the mainline, and I joinedCrossCountry in their Brighton depot in 2000,moving up North back to Newcastle when theCentre opened.

It was like coming home – I have spent a lotof time in Newcastle and I was taken by bothmy dad, who was a referee, and my granddad towatch the team at St James’ Park when I was alad. It was the glory days of MalcolmMacdonald, who was my hero, and we used tostand in the Gallowgate end.

Newcastle and the North-East are justlyfamous for the welcome offered by their people,and their openness.

The city is famous for its iconic seven bridgesincluding the Tyne Bridge and the Swing Bridge.My favourite is the King Edward Bridge becauseit is the one that brings me back home.

PAPERBACK fiction readers atLeeds Centre have no trouble withlosing their place, thanks toresident artist Mark Learoyd.

The Train Manager, who is a keenpainter in his spare time, hasbranched out into makingbookmarks.

A number of staff have orderedhis illustrated page markers,including an aviation enthusiastwho commissioned one withpictures of an Apache attackhelicopter and a Jet2 Boeingairplane.

Mark said: “The bookmarks are adevelopment of my painting – Ipaint first on watercolour paperbefore cutting to size andlaminating. I then use embroiderythread to create a tassel.”

So far he has made around 25 ofthe markers and is puttingtogether an album so that he canshow off alternative designs.

Mark began his career as anamateur artist when he worked ata textile mill in Huddersfield, doingsketches in his lunch hour.

His latest painting project is tocreate a series of scenes based onphotographs which he has taken of historical sites in Turkey.

Customisedbookmarks area work of art

Paul was onceUK’s youngestdriver examiner

As a supplement to the XC Life focus on Newcastle on theprevious pages, Driver ALAN MORTON tells us why he lovesthe city in which he was born.

DriverAlan Morton

looks out acrossthe Tyne with someof city’s iconic river

bridges in thebackground.

Geordie Alan has a‘Way Aye’ ringtone

XCLife p10 3/9/12 16:30 Page 1

Ajoint CrossCountry andLondon Midland footballteam, LMXC, emerged

triumphant in this year’sCrossCountry Cup.

Fourteen teams took part withtwo groups of seven teamsplaying each other and the topfour teams progressing to theknock-out stage.

LMXC, who had beaten theNew Street On-Board Crew’steam Lokomotiv Bob A in thesemi-final, came up againstLondon Midland On Board in the decider.

Captained by CrossCountry’sCustomer Service Manager SimonSilcock, they notched up aresounding 5-1 victory eventhough they agreed to let theiropponents substitute a playerfrom another team after one oftheir players went off injured.

Commercial Director DavidWatkin presented the prizesalong with Pete Donnelly,Birmingham Train Manager, theorganiser of the competition.

Goalkeeper of the Tournament

was Ian Taylor of London Midland,who played a starring role forLMXC, while Player of theTournament was Plymouth DriverGary Martin, who played for

Plymouth Over-50s.Two teams from Plymouth

took part, and the CrossCountryteam from Reading boasted themost supporters.


PERFORMANCE: 89.7%



AVERAGE PERFORMANCEOVER THE LAST YEAR:89.2%





HST – 17,681 (yearly average 24,604: +43.41%year-on-year)

CATERING SALES:+7.2% on last year

AVERAGE TICKET PRICE:£12.78 (+6.1% year-on-year)

PASSENGER COUNTS:The % of counts successfullycompleted74.3% (last year 62.9%)

BusinessSTATS

LMXC winSOCCER CUP

The Derby team whichcompeted in the tournament.

Actionfrom the

tournament clashbetween LokomotivBob B (green shirts)

and one of thePlymouth

teams.

SHANE Roberts scored a “wonder goal” whenhe was playing for a Burton Albion supporters’team against their Telford United counterparts.

A video of his shot from 30 yards has beenposted on YouTube (see link below), showinghow he caught the ball on the half-volley and

smashed it into the top corner of the net.The strike by Leicester Senior Conductor

Shane, who raised £4,491 for charity in 2008by visiting 24 non-league football grounds in48 hours, was the highlight of Burton’s 9-1drubbing of their opponents.

Shane’s ‘wonder goal’ video on YouTube

XC Life Autumn 2012 11http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nm32ZYVuBM

XCLife p11 3/9/12 17:15 Page 1


Kedgeree

INGREDIENTS:300gm undyed smoked haddockfillet skin Two bay leaves300ml milkFour eggshandful of chopped parsley handful of chopped coriander

(for the rice)2tbls vegetable oil1 lrg onion finely chopped1 tsp of coriander1 tsp of turmeric2 tsp of curry powder 300gm basmati rice

METHOD

For the rice heat the oil in alarge lidded pan. Add thechopped onion and gently fryfor five minutes until softened,not coloured. Add the spices,season with salt and thencontinue to fry until the mixstarts to colour and becomefragrant.

Add the rice and stir in well.Add 600ml of water, stir andthen bring to the boil. Reduceto simmer then cover for 10minutes. Take off the heat andleave to stand covered for 10to 15 mins. The rice will beperfectly cooked if you do notlift the lid before the end ofcooking.

Meanwhile put the haddockand bay leaves into a fryingpan, cover with milk and poachfor 10 mins until the fleshflakes. Remove from the milkand peel away the skin fromthe flesh. Break the flesh intosmall pieces. Place the eggs ina pan and cover with water.Bring to boil then reduce andsimmer for five minutes beforeplunging into cold water.

Peel and cut the eggs intoquarters. Gently mix the fish,eggs, parsley, coriander andrice together in a pan. Servehot with a few sprinkled herbs on top.

1

2

4

3

THAT time of year isquickly approaching whenwe ask you to tell us your

thoughts on life atCrossCountry. This year ourparent company, Deutsche Bahn(DB), is conducting a surveyacross all employees for the veryfirst time.

We want you to participate inthe survey so that the views ofCrossCountry employees areincluded, but we also want touse our results to see how weare doing and whether we arefocusing on the right things.

Listening to your views andacting upon your feedback isimportant to us atCrossCountry.

Carrying out regular surveysprovides a great opportunity foryou to tell us what you likeabout working here and what

you think could be improved.Last year we had the highest

response rate ever with over1,000 completed surveys,allowing us to take yourcomments as a true reflection ofhow we are doing.

You provided us with somereally useful feedback which wehave been able to incorporateinto action plans, bringingimprovements to things thatmatter to you.

This year’s survey will beshorter, with the questionsfocusing more generally on

how you feel about working atCrossCountry, and it will runfrom 15 October to 9November.

All responses are processed byan independent organisation,Gfk Trustmark, and are keptstrictly confidential, so please beopen and honest in yourresponses. Our results will beavailable in early 2013.

We are really proud of ouron-going improvement asreflected in our response andsatisfaction rates year-on-year.

We ask for your continuedsupport in taking theopportunity to be part of thefirst global DB group survey.Your opinion matters – make itcount.


PERFORMANCE: 87.6%



AVERAGE PERFORMANCEOVER THE LAST YEAR:89%



Class 220 – 26,972(Yearly average 47,041: –3.9%year-on-year)


HST – 31,617(yearly average 24,551: +28.57%year-on-year)

CATERING SALES:+2.6% on last year

AVERAGE TICKET PRICE:£12.97 (+8% year-on-year)

PASSENGER COUNTS:The % of counts successfullycompleted

77.3% (last year 75.5%)

BusinessSTATS

Survey is a chance toSHAPE THE FUTURE

by Kate BarnesEMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENTADVISOR

Right RoyalRecipes

VITALFEEDBACK:

the Employee Survey results help

the companyformulate action

plans.

�You can view all the photographs in thisissue, and many others

we didn’t have room for, in the picture gallery on the

CrossCountry intranet site.

CrossCountry’s veryown Royal chef JulesBacon, who wasonce cook to theQueen Mother atthe Royal Lodge,offers a recipe for anideal breakfast dish.

XCLife p12 3/9/12 17:10 Page 1


A warm welcome to thefollowing who have recentlyjoined the company:

Eva Makarova, Bournemouth RetailService Manager; David Pollard,Plymouth Retail Service Manager;Tracy Horscroft, Plymouth RetailService Manager; Yvette Beckwith,Plymouth Retail Service Manager;Samantha Pemberton, BirminghamService Centre; Michael Robson,Newcastle First Class Host; PatrykSamselski, Reading First Class Host;Kirsty Jarvis, Train Planning; RichardThackray, Train Planning; TyroneO’Meara, Birmingham Service Centre;John Brenan, Birmingham ServiceCentre; Simon Nederpel, CambridgeSenior Conductor; Wendy Gayton,Cambridge Senior Conductor;Andrew Millington, BirminghamSenior Conductor; Emma Weston,Birmingham Senior Conductor; JohnWoodhouse, IT Department; VincentSweeney, Newcastle Service Centre;Sabrina Bagria, Human ResourcesDepartment; Kate Bennett, TrainPlanning; Carla Norman, Bristol FirstClass Host; Martin Bell, BirminghamDriver; Louise Coultate, NewcastleFirst Class Host; Carla Eastment,Reading Retail Service Manager;William Wiggins, Birmingham Driver;Carol Blackburn, MarketingDepartment; Adrian Oke, PlymouthRetail Service Manager; Chris Elliot,Newcastle Service Centre; HardeepBassra, Revenue Department; AndyMitchell, Birmingham Driver; OliverCox, Revenue Department; SachReddy, Human ResourcesDepartment.

Congratulations to thefollowing who have receivedlong service awards:

Jeanette Chalk, Bristol First ClassHost; Leyland Hennessy,Bournemouth Driver.

Keith Nicholls, Manchester TrainManager; Nigel Attwood,Birmingham Driver; Jane Hyndman,Reading Team Organiser.

Joan Brown, Birmingham Cleaner;Stuart Sales, Leeds Driver; RachelThomas, Birmingham CustomerService Assistant; Steven Gillies,Edinburgh Driver; Mikel Brosnan,Bristol Retail Service Manager;Richard Johnson, Derby Driver; GinaCripps, Birmingham Resource Centre;Mandy Taylor, Newcastle RetailService Manager; Rachel Heath,Operations Performance; AngieWatson, Leeds Retail Service

Manager; Jonathan Haggett, BristolRetail Service Manager; Julie Wilson,Newcastle First Class Host; KellyDockerty, Newcastle Retail ServiceManager; Chris Hodder, PlymouthTrain Manager; Caroline Litterick,Bristol Senior Conductor; WayneSkeffington, Manchester Driver;Gordon White, Bournemouth DriverInstructor; Dave Sullivan,Bournemouth Driver; Steve Lang,Bournemouth Driver; Craig Laird,Bristol Retail Service Manager; MarkCarter, Plymouth Driver; JulianRidgley, Bristol Driver; MartinBrewer, Bournemouth Driver; PaulAmabile, Leeds Driver; Mike Bleines,Birmingham Train Manager; RichardWhite, Bristol Driver; Steve Blagg,Bristol Driver; Wendy Saunders,Customer Relations Department;Sohail Patel, Leicester Driver; DarrenDeacon, Leicester Senior Conductor;Ian Gosling, Leicester SeniorConductor; Naasir Alimuhammed,Leicester Senior Conductor; MarcRenowden, Birmingham TrainManager; Dave Snell, Bristol Driver;Daniella Badu, Birmingham FirstClass Host; Martine Patrick,Customer Relations Department;Robert Cox, Plymouth Driver; DaleMartin, Birmingham Driver; RickyCross, Birmingham Driver; NeillPearson, Birmingham Driver; StephenMcCann, Edinburgh Driver; RichardMason, Birmingham Train Manager;Stuart Rawlings, Fleet Engineer;Melvyn Davies, Birmingham Driver;Rich Burgess, Birmingham Driver;Hugh Treanor, Leeds Driver; GrahamAllen, Leeds Driver; Robert Peat,Derby Driver; Daniel Noakes,Business Improver; Gavin Blackburn,Training Centre and Driver Manager;Simon Thursfield, Derby DriverTrainer; Peter Sawbridge, LeicesterSenior Conductor; Lyndon Harper,Bournemouth Driver; ReginaldMalyon, Leicester Senior Conductor;Paul Hemsley, Leicester SeniorConductor; Fiona Cairns, EdinburghFirst Class Host; Andrew Wilson,Plymouth Retail Service Manager; IanSadler, Leeds Train Manager; MartinMatthews, Birmingham TrainManager; Christopher Keeling,Edinburgh Train Manager; John Regan,Birmingham Train Manager; FrankMbutu, Reading Retail ServiceManager; Stephen Woodward, DerbyDriver; Stephen Broddel, DerbyDriver; Wayne Haywood, DerbyDriver; David Pegg, Derby Driver.

Best wishes to the followingmembers of staff who areretiring:Ivan Wells, Cambridge Driver; AlanHall, Cambridge Driver; MalcolmWareham, Birmingham TrainManager.

10 YEARS

25 YEARS

40 YEARS

New starters, longservice & leavers

COLLEAGUES of Michael Menzfeld clubbed together topresent him with £460 when he retired after 32 years’service. The popular Edinburgh Train Manager waswell-known at Edinburgh by his nickname “PrinceCharles” due to his likeness to the Queen’s eldest son.

THE only female engineer in CrossCountry’s fleet team hasgiven birth to her first baby. Voyager Fleet and ContractManager Stacy Thundercliffe and her husband Dan becameparents on 22 June.

Thomas Peter Thundercliffe arrived weighing 6lbs 8ozs. Stacysaid: “Thomas is doing well and sleeps reasonably well toowhich means we are not too sleep deprived!”

LET’S party! A group of Bristol staff celebrating 10 yearswith CrossCountry got together to enjoy a specialanniversary cake baked by Train Manager John Shackleford.

The 100 per cent-edible delight in the shape of a four-carCrossCountry Voyager train was enjoyed by (centre backrow) Retail Service Manager Lucy Richards, (back row right)Train Manager Ken Cooper and (front row, left to right)Driver Justine McLeay, John Shackleford and Train ManagerIan Bailey. Also on the picture (back left) is CustomerService Manager Sullay Mansaray.

John said: “The cake was a lemon sponge, the track wasmade out of liquorice, the sleepers were chocolate fingersand the ballast was pure sugar cane. The most difficult partwas creating the CrossCountry colours for the fondant.”

Colleagues who were also celebrating 10-year longservice joined in to enjoy John’s culinary treat.

Chew, chew train

Baby boy for Stacy

Fond farewell to Michael

Stacy Thundercliffeand baby Thomas.

XCLife p13 3/9/12 16:32 Page 1


Ask me another

At the moment I am…

responsible for Delay Attribution withinCrossCountry. Delay Attribution is the processbetween CrossCountry, Network Rail andother train operators where delay incidentsare investigated and attributed depending onthe cause of the delay. It’s a complexprocedure that relies on a lot of input fromnearly every department within CrossCountryand it is one that I really enjoy.

The best thing about my job is…

working within such a strong team with sucha wealth of experience, knowledge andopinion. Also the fact that there’s alwayssomeone willing to make the tea!

The aspect of my job that mostsurprises people is…

that there is someone who does this job.This role is vitally important for performanceimprovement as it generates all of the figuresthat lead to our performance target.

My most valuable possession is…

my passport. I have just got back from theUnited States – the freedom to go just aboutanywhere in the world is pretty cool.

If I have time to myself…

I enjoy keeping fit, either through playingrugby or gym classes. I played rugby all theway through school, college and university.I also enjoy beer festivals and live music.

Favourite music, books and films?Music – I enjoy rock music, electronicchill-out and also classical.Books – anything that passes the 40-minutecommute and that is easy to read either first thing in the morning or shutting off forthe day.

Films – I enjoy watching box sets rather than films.

The famous people I would invite to adinner party are…

Clive Woodward, Martin Johnson, JohnInverdale, Stephen Fry, John Williams andSteven Spielberg – it would be an interestingevening…

My favourite place in the world…

I love going to new places but I think myfavourite place has to be Edinburgh. I wasthere for the Six Nations game between

Scotland and England earlier this year and thewhole place had a great energy that I haven’texperienced anywhere else.

Childhood ambition?

It changed every week. I still don’t know whatI want to be now!

The best bit of advice I was ever given…

happened when I started work. My dadadvised me to always remember somethinginteresting about everyone you meet in orderto remember who they are – which wouldn’tbe so bad if I wasn’t so forgetful!

BEN SINCLAIR, Data QualityManager in the Performance Team,tells us about himself. Ben, aged25, has been on the railways sinceJanuary, 2009, and joinedPerformance from CustomerRelations in December 2010.

VILLA Park was the best possibleperformance venue for indie singerStephen Wood, pictured.

As an Aston Villa fan theBirmingham Service Centre Teammember was in his element whenhe and his fellow musicians wereinvited to perform at the team’s kitlaunch at the start of the season.

Stephen is a key member ofDeception’s Pocket, who describethemselves as a psychedelic andindie band.

They belted out self-pennednumbers including Blue SkyDrinking, Madman’s Bed and DirtyDance Floors during the family funday on which members of the public

were invited to take a first look atthe football teams’s new strip.

He said: “It was a great experienceand we have had somegreat feedback. As aresult of the gig weare now in talks with an LA recordcompany.”

Stephen’s singing debut at Villa Park is a big hit

BenSinclair at his desk in

Cannon House,Birmingham.

XCLife p14 3/9/12 17:27 Page 1


Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FOUR prizes including acollector’s item model areon offer in our autumnwordsearch.

The theme is breeds ofdogs, to reflect our storyabout Raj Khanna and hisGreat Dane.

A Bachmann model ofan 00 Gauge Class 220Voyager, painted inCrossCountry livery, is onoffer together with threeHigh Street vouchers.

Entries should arrive nolater than 21 October.Only CrossCountryemployees are eligible toenter.

Simply ring the words inthe grid, cut it out andsend it with your name,

address and phonenumber to:

Kate Barnes, EmployeeEngagement Advisor,CrossCountry, 5th Floor,Cannon House, 18 PrioryQueensway,Birmingham B4 6BS.

Rock concertbridged Jon’sholiday gap

Raffle prizesupport forcharity ball

WIN

OO GAUGE CLASS 220 VOYAGER ■£20 CURRYS/PC WORLD VOUCHER ■£20 VUE CINEMA VOUCHER ■£20 PIZZA HUT VOUCHER ■

Pleaseindicate theprize you would like to win inorder of preferenceby putting numbersin the boxes.

If the top choice is the model train,write 1 in the box. For your secondchoice write 2 etc.

JON Sharkey planned tovisit Eastern Europe to seea marvel of engineering –but ended up going to arock concert instead!

The Leicester SeniorConductor had planned tofly out to have a look at thenew bridge over the river atMostar in Bosnia.

But he discovered that histour package did not allowtime for a full visit, and hedecided instead to settledown to watch bands suchas The Darkness at theBelgrade Calling heavy rockfestival in the capital ofSerbia.

“I didn’t get to see thebridge, which wascompletely rebuilt after itwas destroyed during thewar in 1993, but I reallyenjoyed the concert andmade some good newfriends in the process,” saidJon.

The new bridge at Mostarwas constructed usingmethods employed byTurkish engineers 500years ago.

FOR the third year runningCrossCountry is donatinga raffle prize to a black-tieball in aid of two charitiesfor young people withlife-threateningconditions.

The Fall Ball 2012, to beheld in The Pavilion atElland Road, Leeds, onOctober 13, is being heldto support the TeenageCancer Trust’s work inYorkshire andMake-A-Wish FoundationUK. Tickets are £45 perperson including awelcome drink and athree-course dinner.During the evening therewill be live music, a raffleand an auction.

People wanting tosupport the event areasked to contact theorganisers for furtherdetails at [email protected]

a model Voyager in our breeds of dogs wordsearch

THE WINNERS INLAST ISSUE WERE:David Heathcock – 00 Gauge220 Voyager; Paul Clegg – £20Pizza Hut Voucher; AndrewWalton – £20 Vue CinemaVoucher; Gillian Nevis – £20Currys/PC World Voucher.

PUGBOXERBLOODHOUNDJACK RUSSELLDACHSHUNDCHOWTERRIERSPANIELGREAT DANECHIHUAHUASEALYHAMPEKINESEALSATIANAIREDALEWHIPPETSHIH-TZUSHELTIEYORKIESETTERSALUKIPOODLECOLLIEBORZOIBEAGLEBASSETAFGHANCAIRN

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XCLife p15 3/9/12 17:06 Page 1

16 XC Life Autumn 2012 Published by CrossCountry. Telephone 0121 2006038. [email protected]

IF you have a story for thestaff magazine pleasecontact Ron Quenby on07966 424382 or [email protected]

Call us withyour stories

STAFF at Cambridge areenjoying regular gettogethers outside work asmembers of a “curry club”.

The idea came from PaulNeyts, a CrossCountryCleaner at Stansted, whoorganises five meals a yearat choice Indian restaurants.Current favourites are curryhouses at Stretham near Elyand in Cambridge itself.

Paul, who lives in Bishop’sStortford, said: “Attendingthe evenings means a100-mile round trip for mepersonally, but I don’t mindsince I am a curry fanatic.

“Our curry evenings aregetting more and morepopular and we nowwelcome a group of around20 people every time.”

Hot nightsout for club

ONE of CrossCountry’s football teams hasobtained permission to kit itself out in thecolours of a Premiership side.

Reading Centre’s five-a-side team wears the stripof Reading FC – nicknamed The Royals – thanks to agenerous gesture from the powers-that-be at theMadejski Stadium.

The chance to wear the high-flying side’s shirtscame after the CrossCountry minnows’ captainStuart Bowers made an approach to Reading’s kitmanager.

Stuart has form in this direction – when he wasmanaging a RAF football side in a civilian league, he

successfully approached Norwich City for kit.“I brought those Norwich outfits with me when I

joined CrossCountry and our five-a-side team usedthem in last year’s CrossCountry Cup,” said Stuart.

“This year I thought it would be much more fittingto wear our local team Reading FC strips, and I amgrateful that the club is allowing us to wear bonafide kit which is two years’ old. Some of ourfive-a-siders are season ticket holders and they areextra-proud to wear the colours.”

Sadly the high-profile kit failed to spur Stuart’steam to success in the 2012 CrossCountrytournament. It played five and lost five.

FRIENDS and colleagues ofEdinburgh Train Manager DavieHunter, who is being treatedfor bowel cancer, organised asurprise “race night” to showsupport.

A railwayman for more than30 years, Davie was diagnosedearlier this year after adifficult two-year period inwhich his wife becamewheelchair-bound.

He is currently undergoing acourse of chemotherapy aftersuccessful surgery in April.

On hearing of hispredicament, colleaguesdecided to secretly arrangethe horse-themed evening toraise funds to provide financialsupport while he was off work.

More than £2,600 wasraised by the sale of raffletickets, race cards and bets on

horses in front of a big screen.Davie and his family

attended the evening and were“overwhelmed” by the supportand generosity of their friends,said Ailsa Gormley, CustomerService Manager.

She added: “A big thank youmust go to John Houston,Davie Jardine, Kevin Houston,Keith Lawrie and Davie Brownwho organised the event."

Race night show of support for Davie

Centre team getpremier style

’’STUART BOWERS

‘‘Some of our five-a-sidersare season ticket holdersand they are extra-proudto wear the colours.

StuartBowers at the

Madejski Stadiumcelebrating the gift of

soccer kits for hisfive-a-side team from

Reading Footballclub.

XCLife p16 3/9/12 16:36 Page 1

Documents

XC Life Autumn 2012