Shropshire Star readers praised over success in bringing back rail link to London

Rail bosses thanked residents and community leaders for their "unwavering support" for the London link petition, which was led by the Star and signed by 3,000 people.

This petition was presented in Parliament and mentioned at Prime Minister's Questions by Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski.

Star Editor Martin Wright accepted a mounted nameplate with the name 'The Wrekin Giant' cast onto it on behalf of those residents who helped make yesterday's service launch event possible. As weekday train services got under way, a special event was held for people to meet the Virgin Trains team at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery.

It was at that event that representatives from Virgin Trains presented the Shropshire Star with the specially made nameplate.

Richard Stanton, of Virgin Trains, said: "This is in recognition of you and your readers' unwavering support. The readers of the Shropshire Star have come up trumps every time. The response to the petition and the name the train competition was overwhelming. Five strong choices, any of which we would have been proud to unveil. We would like to thank you for all of your support.

"This was a way of rewarding Shropshire Star readers for signing the petition. It is a way of saying thank you."

Star editor Martin Wright said: "It's absolutely fantastic that the new service is finally under way. I know that a huge amount of hard work has gone on behind the scenes in making the launch possible and we are grateful to Virgin Trains for helping to restore this important link to the capital.

"I would also like to thank the readers of the Shropshire Star who have shown tremendous support for our campaign, first in signing our petition and latterly in the huge response we had when we asked for their help in naming the new train. I'm delighted to see The Wrekin Giant running – hopefully it will become a fixture on the Shropshire landscape, much like the landmark it's named after."

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin praised the people of Shropshire for tirelessly pushing for the new Shropshire to London link.

Mr McLoughlin said that without this backing the new direct rail service between Shrewsbury and Euston would not have been possible.

Hundreds have already flocked to the capital since The Wrekin Giant – as named by Shropshire Star reader Toni Williams – made its first trip at 3.24pm on Sunday.

But the start of the service was officially celebrated yesterday as officials took the first weekday trip to the Capital from Shrewsbury at 6.39am.

The London link, which is the result of a hard-fought campaign by Shropshire MPs, businesses, council leaders and residents, stops at Telford and Wellington before arriving at London Euston.

Although Mr McLoughlin was not able to intervene in the initial dispute between Network Rail and Virgin Trains over a bid to reinstate the direct train service, he said he had made it "very clear" that he'd always supported the transport bid.

He spoke to the Shropshire Star while on board the first service from Shrewsbury to Euston yesterday, with Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski.

Mr McLoughlin praised the efforts of Mr Kawczynski and others for their "relentless lobbying" on the issue over the years.

He said the efforts of MPs, residents and businesses had made him certain the route had to be reinstated.

Mr Kawczynski, who presented the Shropshire Star-led campaign petition to parliament, has tirelessly campaigned for the link for years.

The axing of a former link to London cost the region millions of pounds in trade and lost investment. And the news that the Shropshire Star-led campaign had been successful was hailed as a boost for business and tourism in the county.

Virgin Trains launched its first service from Shrewsbury to London on Sunday, and Richard Stanton, of Virgin Trains, said almost 2,000 tickets had already been booked for the first week of use.

Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson today thanked the people of Shropshire for their support over the new direct Shrewsbury to Euston rail link.

He said the new service "would not have been possible" without residents and community leaders getting behind their campaign to re-instate the line.

A special video message from Mr Branson was played to crowds at the launch of the first weekday service.

He even mentioned Shropshire Star competition winner Toni Sian Williams, who named the Super Voyager which will travel the route The Wrekin Giant.

He said: "The big day is finally here. New daily services from Shropshire to and from London are up and running and I couldn't be more excited.

"Welcome Telford, Shrewsbury and Wellington – you are truly on the Virgin trains map. I want to say a big thank you to all of those who got behind our campaign. Without your support it would not have been possible.

"And a special thanks should go to Toni Williams for suggesting The Wrekin Giant and what a giant name to have on one of our Virgin trains.

"We look forward to meeting as many of you as possible on board in the coming months and making some new friends. Be sure to say hello to the team if you travel with us."

Mr Branson said extra seats and new services to Shrewsbury were being added in the next 12 months.

He said: "I am asked whether we put our staff or our customers first. I'm a firm believer that by putting your staff first, they will put your customers first.

"Over the last 17 years there has been so much talk of bids and franchise battles that I've rarely had the opportunity to talk about the huge achievements of our team at Virgin Trains and how their dedication, loyalty and vision have transformed train travel in the UK."

Mr Branson said the Shropshire route would be an important addition to the Virgin services. He also said there would be "significant improvements" for customers with the introduction of free superfast Wi-Fi.

Richard Stanton, communications manager for Virgin Trains, added: "It hasn't been an easy journey getting here. We've seen some setbacks along the way and had to work really hard with Network Rail to identify slots we can use on the West Coast Main Line – Europe's busiest mixed-traffic rail route.

"It's important to acknowledge that, without the unwavering support of the Shropshire Star and its readers, we wouldn't have arrived here. So we want to say thank you.

"I know the importance of direct rail links and the role they play in supporting economic growth. I've seen the transformation Virgin Trains has brought to towns and cities on the West Coast network.

"We're immensely excited that we're now going to bring that Virgin Trains' magic to Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford."

Mr McLoughlin said: "The launch of Virgin Trains' new direct services from London to Shrewsbury is great news for passengers, and I wish every success to the teams who will be running them. This is another sign of the renaissance in Britain's railways, and we are already seeing more services, more passenger journeys, and more jobs being generated by the industry.

"Our rail network is a key part of our long term economic plan which is why more than £38 billion will be invested in maintaining and upgrading the network over the next five years."

Shrewsbury town crier Martin Wood heralded the arrival of the Virgin Super Voyager at each station along the inaugural weekday route.

And the Virgin Super Voyager was unveiled as The Wrekin Giant at a naming ceremony yesterday. Residents are now being urged to "use it or lose it".

Mr McLoughlin added: "I think it is very important for Shrewsbury and Shropshire in general. I think that as it hadn't got a direct London link, this was something that was missing.

"It was a campaign pushed by Daniel and other colleagues and now I want to see this service grow.

Extra seats

"One of the set problems on the West Coast Main Line, which this leads onto, is that it is the busiest rail line anywhere in Europe.

"This is why it has taken to so long and why capacity is such a major issue. This is a new service which has two trains a day coming in and going out with thousands of extra seats."

He said overcrowding was something the Government was looking in to and said the £50 billion HS2 high speed line from the capital and Birmingham would also contribute to rail growth in the region.

He added that MP Owen Patterson was already pushing for the service to go to Wrexham and North Shropshire.

Initially, the rail operator claimed it could not accommodate any more services on the West Coast Main Line because doing so would have "a significant negative impact on performance".

Virgin Trains appealed to the Office of Rail Regulation and MPs had hoped Mr McLoughlin would also step in.

He added: "I made it very clear to the Office of Rail Regulation that I wanted to see this service in place.

"The rail regulator isn't there to stop new services. It has to cover a lot of issues. I made it very clear that I wanted this service and the one for Blackpool to go ahead."

Mr Kawczynski raised the issue at Prime Minister's Questions and presented the 3,000-strong petition in parliament.

The Shropshire Star teamed up with Virgin Trains to offer readers the chance to the name the train which made the inaugural journey. The Wrekin Giant was then made into a train nameplate. The Shropshire Star received an incredible 800 entries from people suggesting names for the train.

Five were shortlisted – and then it was over to you to vote for your favourite train name.

Speaking about the Shropshire Star competition to the name the train, Mr McLoughlin said: "It's very imaginative. I heard about the Shropshire Star competition and I think The Wrekin Giant is the best name. The Wrekin is a point we all look at on this route."

He praised those who had signed the Star-led London Link Campaign petition and Mr Kawczynski for presenting it in parliament.

Mr Kawczynski added that before this Shrewsbury was the only county town with no direct link to the Capital.

The route is an important one to Virgin. It has lobbied for it to become a reality, but had to negotiate a window within the busy services already existing on the West Coast Main Line.

And the pledge for it to happen came from the top, with Virgin tycoon Sir Richard reiterating his commitment to restore the direct rail link from Shropshire to London during an event in September.

The normal timetable will be two services in each direction on a weekday, departing Shrewsbury at 6.39am and 3.24pm, with arrival in Euston at 9.15am and 5.56pm. It will call at Telford, Wellington, Wolverhampton, Birmingham New Street, Birmingham International, Coventry and Rugby.

Services back to Shropshire leave Euston at 10.23am and 6.23pm, arriving in Shrewsbury at 12.58pm and 8.55pm.

The Super Voyager train will eventually travel the route at speeds of up to 125mph.

North Shropshire MP, Mr Paterson, headed to platform five to see the first weekday service leave Shrewsbury station.

He said: "It is great to see the London service reinstated. I hope everybody in north Shropshire takes the opportunity to go to London using this service." He added that it was hoped the service could be extended to Gobowen and Wrexham.

Phil Bearpark, executive director for operations and projects at Virgin Trains, praised Shropshire residents for their continual support. He said: "It feels great now that this day is finally here.

"It has taken two years. We are really thankful to the readers of the Shropshire Star who signed the petition and now we just need people to use the service."

Richard Sheer, of Shropshire Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, said: "This is clearly very positive for Shropshire and people now have a simple route to London. The International Centre in Telford is a major business in the UK and now it is more accessible. It's vitally impetus to use it or lost it. This whole process has been an example of the community coming together."

Speaking to Mr McLoughlin, he said the lobbying from MPs, residents and business had made him certain that it had to happen."

Tamsin Hill, of Much Wenlock, and Elizabeth Fordham, of Shrewsbury, were two of the first customers on board the new route.

Elizabeth said: "We travel into London for leisure purposes but we used to change at Birmingham on the Shropshire Wrexham. It's lovely not having to change."

Councillor Kuldip Sahota, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "We have always said that a direct rail link to London is vital for the economic viability of Telford and Wrekin so I am delighted that the service is now up and running."