REFUSAL DESPITE BACKING FROM POLITICIANS AND USER GROUPS

A PROPOSAL for new train services between North Wales and London has been rejected by the rail regulator. Train and rail infrastructure supplier Alstom wanted to run its own rail service in the UK for the first time.

- By OWEN HUGHES

Working in partnership with consultancy SLC Rail, they proposed the Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway (WSMR). This would have seen a service between Wrexham and London Euston of five trains per day in each direction Monday to Saturday, with four travelling both ways on Sundays.

The service received political backing from MPs in the areas of the route as well as local rail passenger groups and would have created 50 jobs, with the first trains departing this summer.

But those in the industry had objected on grounds of capacity, failure to account for paths allocated to other operators, impact on operational performance, rolling stock availability, and commercial risk and revenue implications.