Talks to extend Shropshire's London rail link to north of county

A year ago a direct rail service linking the county with the capital was re-established, although the service only runs as far as Shrewsbury.

North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson has revealed he will be meeting representatives from Virgin Trains in the House of Commons next week and is hoping to put forward a case to extend the current service to Shrewsbury up to Gobowen and Wrexham.

But he said the success of any service will depend on Shropshire's travellers.

He said: "During the last franchise bid both main bidders included the restoration of the service to Shrewsbury and it is almost a year since the new direct rail link between Shrewsbury and London opened. This service is already bringing real benefits to the people of north Shropshire.

"It was terrible that we lost Wrexham & Shropshire as it served north Shropshire directly. For the whole of north Shropshire to get the most out of it we need to make the case to extend the service north of Shrewsbury to Gobowen and Wrexham.

"It is vital, therefore, that people use the Shrewsbury train so that we can make a strong case for the extension."

Mr Paterson said he is also planning to arrange further meetings with Network Rail to discuss increased investment in the line and improvements to points, which could increase line speeds between Wrexham and Shrewsbury.

The launch of the current London to Shrewsbury service followed a long campaign by the local MPs, backed by the Shropshire Star, working closely with the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin. The service stops at Wellington and Telford on the way to London.

Previously Wrexham & Shropshire operated trains between Wrexham General and London Marylebone from April 2008 until January 2011. The service closed as it received no public subsidy and could no longer operate a financially viable business.

Before that there had not been a direct service to London in 41 years.

Richard Stanton, spokesman for Virgin Trains, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the level of support we have received for our direct service from London to Shropshire. We continue to see healthy customer numbers and look forward to sitting down with Mr Paterson later this month to hear his thoughts around how we can build on this."