Deadline looms on chance to back rail campaign
Shropshire Star readers have just a week left to sign the paper's petition calling for a direct rail link to be reinstated between the county and London.
Almost 2,300 people have signed the online petition in just a fortnight, with that figure not yet including the dozens of other readers who have written into the paper to support the campaign.
But time is running out for people to pledge their support for the campaign before the county's MPs present a copy of the petition to leading officials from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).
To sign the petition, click here
The meeting is taking place next Monday in London. At the meeting, the ORR will present the MPs with a breakdown of the number of passengers it believes would be adversely affected by the launch of a new direct rail service from Shropshire to London.The ORR has backed Network Rail's decision to veto Virgin Trains' bid to start the service this December amid concerns it would put too much strain on a West Coast Main Line route already suffering punctuality problems.
Virgin hopes to get the service in place by May next year if improvements to the route can be completed in time.
But Network Rail has indicated that it may not be in a position to approve the service until autumn 2014 "at the earliest".
Network Rail has also said "that if performance does improve, additional services might be something we could consider".
Shropshire Star editor Martin Wright said: "We have been overwhelmed by the support of our readers. Hopefully the strength of feeling will encourage all parties to work together to make a direct rail link a reality."
To sign the petition, click here
See www.shropshirestar.com/rail
