Wrexham & Shropshire - their rise and fall (merged topic)

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

I suspect the web hosting contract long outlasted the OA train operation.

Whois.com show that the domain registration expired on 27th July 2012 and that the registration has been suspended.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Virgin renews bid for Shrewsbury to London direct rail service


Virgin Trains wants London to Shrewsbury services to be operational by next May

Virgin Trains has submitted a renewed bid to run direct rail services between Shropshire and London.

The company said it hoped Network Rail would make a decision on the plans before the end of the month.

Proposals to run the twice-daily service had previously been rejected after the rail operator said the line could not cope with the extra traffic.

A 4,000-name signature petition calling for the service to be restarted was presented to Parliament last month.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)) said last month that it would "put pressure" on Network Rail to get the service running.

ORR chairman Anna Walker said it wanted Network Rail to improve its performance and to carry out improvements on the West Coast Main Line so that the service could "be looked at again as soon as possible".

Shropshire has been without a direct rail link to London since 2011, when the Wrexham and Shropshire service ended.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Plans are revived for Shrewsbury-London service


Daniel Kawczynski, MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Shrewsbury, says he is 'confident' the plans will be approved

Plans have been revived for a direct rail service between Shrewsbury and London, an MP has said.

Virgin Trains was due to introduce a service to Euston from May - but in January said the proposals were not economically viable.

Daniel Kawczynski, Conservative MP for Shrewsbury, said a new plan to run two daily trains to and from London, had been agreed with the company.

Virgin said it would not comment "at this stage".

Mr Kawczynski added the details still had to be approved by the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)).

Under the latest scheme, planned to start in December, the first train would leave Shrewsbury at 06:39 GMT and the last would leave Euston at 18:23 GMT.

Mr Kawczynski said he was "confident" the ORR would approve the plans.

Telford's Labour MP David Wright said: "This isn't just about people going to London. It's about getting people out of London and up to Shropshire."

A Virgin Trains representative confirmed the discussions had taken place and said it was working to "create a service to benefit Shropshire residents".

[ChrisB]

And it was the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) that said 'no' last time....without disturbing Virgin's other paths

[paul7575]

And it was the ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) that said 'no' last time....without disturbing Virgin's other paths

The difference this time is that these are to be extensions of existing Birmingham services, being xx23 off Euston.  So there is now no fundamental change to WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) paths.  The previous plan was for additional trains to/from Euston, the down trains were supposed to run in the currently spare xx33 paths.

Paul

[ChrisB]

Good to hear this.

[Chris from Nailsea]

An update, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Wrexham to Birmingham peak-time service to be retained


Campaigners said commuters could face a long wait at Shrewsbury if the service was cut

Peak-time rail services between Wrexham and Birmingham which were under threat will be retained, Arriva Trains Wales has confirmed.

The 07:47 train had been omitted from a draft timetable for May, which campaign groups said would force commuters to wait half an hour for a connection at Shrewsbury.

Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths called the service "vital".

The 07:00 service between Shrewsbury and Wrexham will also be kept.

Following concerns raised by commuters in January, Arriva Train Wales said the development of the May 2015 timetable was ongoing.

The company said it is now starting a consultation process about the new timetable.

Rail companies put forward the services they wish to timetable so it is a matter for them as to whether they add or remove services, a spokesman for Network Rail said.