Arriva has been awarded the new CrossCountry rail franchise to run from 11 November this year.

The company says it will run the franchise under a new CrossCountry brand and livery. The centre of operations will be in Birmingham, which is at the heart of the network.

The Cross Country network is the most extensive UK franchise, stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance, and from Stansted to Cardiff.

Arriva's plans include a 35 per cent increase in seating capacity in the evening peak on principal routes by June 2009; investment in rolling stock to refurbish all trains to the standard of the Voyagers, the reintroduction of HSTs to provide 550-seat trains on busy routes, Wi-Fi available to all Voyager and HST passengers, and at-seat catering on all routes for all passengers. Changes to ticketing and reservation booking will include home printing of tickets and tickets by mobile phone.

Arriva will receive just over £1 billion in subsidies but the annual payment will decrease to almost zero before the end of the franchise in March 2016. The franchise is a major gain for Arriva, which now has only one UK rail franchise - Arriva Trains Wales.

It has bus operations across the country and operates a mix of light and heavy rail and buses in eight European countries.

The new franchise takes over most of the existing CrossCountry network now operated by Virgin Trains but there are some alterations.

Services to Scotland via the West Coast route either transfer to Virgin West Coast or to First TransPennine Express. The new Cross Country, however, takes on some Midlands regional services from Central and will now serve Nottingham and Stansted Airport.

David Martin, Arriva's chief executive, said: "We are delighted to have been chosen to operate this major franchise, which advances Arriva's UK rail presence significantly.

"The Cross Country network has many existing strengths but our stakeholder research has helped us to pinpoint important areas where we can improve the passenger experience and make the business more efficient"

Chris Gibb, managing director of Virgin CrossCountry, said: "Although November will mark the end of Virgin's stewardship of CrossCountry, the new franchise will build on the legacy of our investment in new trains and improved services, and the skills, experience and loyalty of our people: skills that will be invaluable to the new operator when they begin the New Cross Country franchise."