London rail link blow for Shropshire commuters
Nothing can be done to prevent early morning commuters being late for Shropshire's new direct train to London, rail bosses have admitted.
Passengers from both north and south Shropshire will miss the connection with the county's planned direct rail link with the capital after both rail companies involved said the timetable cannot be changed due to the potential impact on other services travelling through the region.
But campaigners are not giving up and have invited bosses of both Virgin Trains and Arriva Trains Wales to discuss the matter at a meeting in Ludlow in the next few weeks.
Virgin's much-anticipated link from Shrewsbury to London Euston is due to start running in December, with the first train leaving Shrewsbury at 6.39am.
But Arriva Trains Wales' early morning service from the south of the county would arrive four minutes too late to catch it, while a service from Whitchurch and Wem would be three minutes too late under the current timetable.
Shropshire councillors Andy Boddington, Vivienne Parry, Richard Huffer and Tracey Huffer wrote to Arriva Wales to ask if the first train could be brought forward in June, amid fears the benefits of the service would be lost to south Shropshire commuters.
But today an Arriva Trains Wales spokesman said: "In our timetable planning, we regularly investigate connectional possibilities with a view to providing as much opportunity for customers to the have widest possible access to the UK rail network. We regret that the connections with the new Virgin Trains service at Shrewsbury cannot be achieved by Arriva Trains Wales at the present time without negatively impacting other customers, particularly those commuting on the route through Shrewsbury and onwards to Manchester.
"However it is something we will review further in discussion with Virgin Trains and Network Rail."
Virgin has yet to budge on the matter.
