Watch: Sir Richard Branson praises Shropshire to London service on its first year

And, since the service was set up following a Shropshire Star campaign, the total number of passengers travelling to the county to the capital has increased by almost a fifth.

The service was launched after 3,000 people signed a petition a Star petition, which was presented to Parliament by Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski and mentioned in Prime Minister's Questions.

And now there are talks to extend it further north, connecting more Shropshire towns to London.

Today Virgin owner Sir Richard Branson sent a personal video message to passengers in Shropshire to mark the one year milestone.

He said: "It's incredible to think that it is a year since we started running our direct services from Shropshire to and from London.

"The response from Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford has exceeded all expectations.

"We've been blown away by your support.

"I'd like to say a very big thank you from me, and of course the team at Virgin Trains who have worked so hard to make it happen.

"The challenge now is how we build on this to make 2016 even better and help showcase what Shropshire has to offer."

Virgin spokesman Richard Stanton said support for the service had been "fantastic" and Virgin staff were out in Shrewsbury today handing out cupcakes to thank passengers for making the route a success.

"It's exceeded all expectations, it's been a delight to work with such a supportive group of people," he said.

At the moment the service runs from Shrewsbury to London Euston, stopping at Wellington, and Telford.

But talks have taken place over the future extension of the route northwards to Gobowen, the station that serves the Oswestry area, as well as Wrexham.

Mr Stanton said over the year to date, a total of 195,000 people had travelled from Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford to the capital, an increase of 19 per cent compared to a year ago.

Not all of these will have used the direct service, but Mr Stanton said it has made a major contribution to the increase in customers, with around 80,000 passengers using the new link.

Of the 195,000 passengers, 60 per cent of them got on at Shrewsbury, a 23 per cent increase compared to a year ago, about 30 per cent got on at Telford, a 10 per cent rise, and the remaining 10 per cent boarded at Wellington – an increase of about a quarter.

Mr Stanton said while many of the passengers were business commuters travelling to London, a growing number were travelling the other way, bringing valuable business into Shropshire.

"We have got big plans to boost tourism in Shropshire in the new year," he said.

Mr Stanton said the company was in talks with a mini-break operator, and was seeking to promote Shropshire's attractions nationally through its website.

"It's just as important to us to have people travelling both ways," he said "We don't want to be taking people down to London in the morning, and then bringing an empty train back. The region has got a lot to offer, and we want people to come and see that."

Phil Cavender, general manager for Virgin Trains, said he was delighted with the level of support the service had received from the people of the county.

He said the company had long-term aspirations to extend the service, but it would be limited in what it could do within the present franchise arrangement.

"We are looking at seeing if we can carry it on to Wrexham, but we won't be able to do that until December 2016 at the earliest," he said.