The Class 310 was not built for the Cross City route, that was only electrified in 1992, they filled in at the beginning due to delays to the Class 323 EMU which was purpose built for the Cross City and other Suburban work in Birmingham and Manchester. The Class 310 was originally built and operated on the WCML services via from London to Rugby and Birmingham via Northampton as part of the electrification project of that route.