Shropshire commuters calling for direct link trains to London

Travellers on the train between Shrewsbury and Birmingham International said that a London link is highly important to Shropshire's economic future.

It comes as the Star's petition calling for the link to be reinstated as soon as possible passed 2,200 signatures.

• To sign the petition, click here

• See www.shropshirestar.com/rail

Virgin Trains is hoping to get the direct link up and running by May next year, after the operator's hopes of restarting the service this December were vetoed by Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

Shropshire has been without a direct rail link to London since 2011, when the Wrexham & Shropshire service to London Marylebone ended.

Travellers wanting to go to London from the county currently have to change at either Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton or Crewe.

On a morning service to Birmingham onFriday, Hugh Jobber, 50, regional director for drug and alcohol charity Addaction, said his job regularly takes him to the capital.

He said he used to make use of the former Wrexham & Shropshire service to London and would welcome a new service.

But he added that he would rather not see Virgin Trains handed the link due to the cost of the firm's tickets.

Mr Jobber, who got on at Wellington Railway Station, said: "I used to get the Wrexham & Shropshire train a lot to London. It was reliable and it was a bit slow but it got you there.

"When I go to London now, I go to New Street and walk to Moor Street and get the Chiltern line down to Marylebone.

"Shrewsbury is the only county town without a link to London. Shrewsbury is a very big place with about 80,000 people – why wouldn't we want a link to London? It would make business and travel easier for people."

Another traveller supporting the direct link was Pawel Libera, a 45-year-old photographer from London.

He said that he has a contract to work for Visit Wales, which is frequently bringing him up through Shropshire and into Wales by train.

Mr Libera, whose most recent assignment was in Builth Wells in Powys, said the current situation makes it particularly hard to get to Wales by train via Shropshire.

"It is difficult and it is about a five-and-a-half hour journey," he said. "I would think a direct link would speed things up. It would be much more convenient to have just one change to get to Mid Wales."

Also in favour of getting a direct service to London back up and running was Philip Beardwell, a crown advocate from the Crown Prosecution Service.

He said that although he does not travel regularly to London by train, having such a service would be good news for the county.

Mr Beardwell said improving Shropshire's transport links is important for the county's future prosperity.

"Shropshire needs to look towards creating better business links.

It really needs a London link. With the old London train, people enjoyed taking it and it was more convenient," he said.

Speaking outside Shrewsbury railway station, Joanne Fleming, from Church Stretton, said the lack of a direct link means people often have to travel north to Crewe to get on a fast train to London.

"It would be nice to have it back. I had a couple of trips with Wrexham & Shropshire and that was fabulous. The trains were nice, the staff were nice and the service was good."

A cross-party group of Shropshire MPs is to meet with bosses from the ORR on September 2 to discuss the latest attempts to reinstate a service to the capital.

At the meeting, they will present officials from the ORR with copies of the Shropshire Star's petition.

Shrewsbury & Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski has also pledged to present a formally-worded version of the petition to the House of Commons.

• To sign the petition, click here