Concerned that no written account of the Northern section of the Cross City Link and the Sutton park routes existed, John Bassett, former railway employee at Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield and New Street, in the 1950s, spent seven years researching Cross City Connections.

The book contains a unique blend of impressions from numerous folk in railside communities, railway staff, literature, libraries, and local newspapers, and contains the largest known and most comprehensive collection of photographs of the two lines.

Leaving the railways in 1957, John qualified and practised in social work, adult education, and training, before becoming a full time Railway Chaplain in 1984 with the Railway Mission (a Christian charity established 1881).

Since retirement, John has written and had published a further four books, all dealing with the history of Sutton Coldfield in the twentieth century. Cross City Connections, his first book, has now been republished in a paperback format making all his books available in print.