Senior Politician Backs Plans for New Direct Train Service Between Wrexham and London as Avanti Slammed

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A SENIOR politician has backed plans for a new direct train service between Wrexham and London after slamming current provider Avanti West Coast.
Train manufacturer Alstom announced in March that it was bidding to set up the Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway Company, promising faster and cheaper journeys between Wrexham General and London Euston.
An application to run up to five trains per day in each direction via the West Coast Mainline from May 2025 has been submitted to the Office of Rail Regulation.
It’s proposed the service will stop at Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Telford Central, Wolverhampton, Darlaston, Walsall, Coleshill Parkway, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes, with the journey expected to take three hours.
The deputy leader of Wrexham Council has now thrown his weight behind the plans, which are expected to create around 50 new jobs.
Cllr David A Bithell (Ind) said the direct service would help to capitalise on the growth in visitors to the city sparked by Wrexham AFC’s Hollywood ownership.
He also hit out at Avanti over the poor reliability of its current single daily service between the two destinations.
Speaking at a media briefing held on Tuesday (October 1, 2024), he said: “Wrexham is really taking off at the moment when you look at the economic benefits and the growth in tourism, and this is an ideal opportunity.
“The feedback we’ve had from the public of Wrexham is that they want this service and they’re keen on it.
“We’ve been deprived of good rail services for a long time now and Avanti are not stepping up to the plate.
“Their poor service has left avenues for other train operators to come in, and that’s why we support it.
“It’s really good news for Wrexham if it comes off and good news for the football club, because it will be better connected as well.”
Avanti West Coast was ordered last year to create a recovery plan to address poor performance on its routes.
Recent figures show the route between north Wales and London has experienced more on-the-day cancellations than any other part of the Avanti network, rising from 8.2 per cent in April to 21.7 per cent in June.
The new service proposed by Alstom would operate via an open access licence, meaning the firm would not receive any state subsidies and take on the risk of running the route itself.
A previous direct service from Wrexham and London operated by Wrexham, Shropshire, Marylebone Railway ran between 2008 and 2011, but collapsed after racking up big financial losses.
Cllr Bithell added: “The difference between the last train operating company we had is that it operated via Marleybone and the journey time was quite lengthy.
“This one will result in the creation of up to 50 well paid jobs. We’ve had discussions with our assets team looking at providing temporary accommodation and a driver training facility at Wrexham as well.”
Member of the council’s executive board will be asked to approve making a formal representation to the UK Secretary of State for Transport to support the new service when they meet on Tuesday (October 8, 2024). ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​