Shropshire Council’s Leader, and Cabinet member for transport and economic growth, have written to the Office of Road and Rail’s (ORR) chief executive, to show the council’s support for a new direct rail service between Wrexham and London.
In their letter to John Larkinson, Councillors Heather Kidd and Rob Wilson pledge the council’s support for the open access operator application submitted by the Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway – and ask that the ORR also supports the application.
The letter says:
We join with our local Members of Parliament, Julia Buckley MP, Helen Morgan MP, Mark Pritchard MP and Stuart Anderson MP in supporting the submission.
The proposal for five direct trains each day would be a step-change for Shrewsbury and Gobowen, not to mention all of the wider communities that these stations serve. It would unleash untapped growth potential in our wonderful county, supporting the Government’s Plan for Growth.
Shropshire has been without a direct train to London since it was withdrawn by Avanti West Coast nearly 12 months ago. Prior to this Shrewsbury has been served on an intermittent basis by Virgin Trains, and a short-lived service run by the Wrexham Shropshire Railway Company to Marylebone. Business thrives on certainty, and they need transport connections which they can rely on. The stop-start nature of our link to the capital over the past decade is a limited factor to growth. Shrewsbury is once again one of the only county towns in England which is not served by a direct train to London.
We appreciate that there are complexities around Euston, but sincerely hope you will understand the you will look for solutions to overcome these challenges. Shropshire deserves to have the opportunity provided to almost every other local authority area in the country.
With increased home and hybrid working, Shropshire is an ideal place for young people to live and raise a family, so long as they are able to commute when necessary. The new administration at Shropshire Council is ambitious for our county and sees growing our business sector and working age population as a key policy to help address the issues associated with having an aging population. At present 80% of Shropshire Council’s revenue budget it spent on social care, leaving relatively little to fund other statutory and non-statutory services which our businesses and residents rely on. A direct train to London would be a key component in helping us to achieve this aim.
