Shropshire Star

Letter: Virgin did its best to disrupt county's service to the capital

Before we get too carried away with the arrival of Virgin Trains in Shrewsbury, it is worth considering the fate of the late lamented Wrexham & Shropshire (WS) rail service.

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WS operated the best coaching stock provided on the railways of Shropshire since railway services started here in 1848. Their staff customer relationships were rated by the public as the best in the UK.

Recently a reader explained that one reason for the failure of the WS rail service was that they were not allowed to have the rolling stock they wished to start with and so leaving them to hire more expensive trains.

Now Richard Branson of Virgin Trains has always promoted the cause of 'the little man' taking on the 'big boys' in business. The other reason WS failed was because they could not take passengers from Wolverhampton to London where Virgin Trains had a monopoly.

Despite Rail Privatisation and Open Access operations, Virgin Trains and the Office of Rail Regulations could not cope with WS having three trains a day to London.

Yes, Virgin Trains had the legal right to stop WS but as they did not serve Shropshire they could have turned a blind eye and allowed a train operator to provide a service for the travelling public from Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford they did not want to do.

When the three WS trains arrived at Wolverhampton a team of Virgin Trains staff were assembled to ensure no London bound passengers travelled by WS services. I watched this happen.

Virgin Trains also undermined WS by running a Wrexham to London train which meant WS had a lower revenue take from that town where the Welsh Government provided a depot.

I make no apologies for wishing it was WS that will provide the new London services. They should have been given a longer chance and not destroyed by monopoly operators who did not serve the areas WS catered for.

Their attitude seemed to be: We will not serve Shropshire, but we do not want anyone else to do so. What about Gobowen and North Shropshire to London?

Christopher Magner, Bridgnorth

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