All aboard the Happy Train!

Dame Judy Dench and Michael Palin have both enjoyed trips on it, while Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski is a regular –Wrexham and Shropshire Rail has become a much-loved service since it was launched in April 2008.

Anyone who's ever travelled by rail knows that it isn't always a pleasant experience – dirty carriages, awful smells, noisy conversations and teens blasting tinny tunes from their mobile phones can make for a positively miserable journey, but Wrexham and Shropshire's service is very different.

"There's definitely something special about travelling with us," says marketing executive Joanna Phillips.

"I think it's mainly because of the staff and their conscientiousness. We're a small company so we're very customer-focused.

"The staff are like one big, happy family and that creates a very friendly atmosphere on the trains," says Joanna, who tweets from @WrexShropRail.

"People love the trains because the seats are comfortable, there's plenty of room and the carriages and windows are very clean, so you can actually see where you're going!

"The food we serve is all freshly cooked onboard and we try to use locally sourced food where possible."

Although the journey takes slightly longer than that of some of the other train operators between Shropshire and London, Joanna says the atmosphere onboard makes up for it.

"I travel on it regularly to get to meetings in London, and because it's such a pleasant journey, it becomes part of the fun of the trip, rather than the drudgery of getting from one place to another."

Four trains run between Wrexham and London Marylebone each day from Monday to Saturday, with three trains running every Sunday, with stops including Shrewsbury, Wellington, Telford and Cosford.

Joanna keeps customers informed of timetable changes and special offers through their website, and believes it's important to engage with social media, too.

"We have profiles on Facbook and Twitter and it's a great way to keep in touch with our customers and keep stakeholders up to date with what we're doing.

"We can also do more quirky stuff that larger operators perhaps couldn't; last week, a chap from Shrewsbury told us he was going to propose to his girlfriend on the train, so we put them in first class with champagne and balloons, and tweeted about it!"

Joanna also uses the websites to promote forthcoming events, like the launch of their new, refurbished carriages on January 19th at Marylebone Station, which Michael Palin will be attending.

On the same day, the firm will be running a 'Time Train' event, where an academic from Glyndwr University in Wrexham will give an onboard lecture during the journey about the history of London.

Passengers can then spend a few hours exploring the city for themselves and there'll be an open discussion on the journey home.

The firm are also working in partnership with other local businesses like the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, who will host a 'Networking Train' on February 1st where local manufacturers can put their ideas to Ian Lucas, Wrexham MP and Minister for Business and Regulatory Reform at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

For details of forthcoming events and an up to date timetable, visit www.wrexhamandshropshire.co.uk or follow them at www.twitter.com/WrexShropRail.