Shropshire Star London rail link petition heads to Commons
It is full steam ahead for the Shropshire Star's bid to reinstate a direct rail link to London as editor Martin Wright met with county MP Daniel Kawczynski.
The pair met at Shrewsbury Railway Station to hand-sign a petition to be presented to Parliament next week.
It comes as the number of people who have voted in a parallel online petition reached 2,750 signatures.
Readers have just this weekend to sign it in time for a meeting of county MPs with the Office of Rail Regulation on Monday afternoon. The petition will be presented to the ORR as part of discussions about getting the link back as soon as possible.
To sign the petition, click here
See www.shropshirestar.com/rail
Mr Kawczynski said he will also present a formally-worded version of the petition to the House of Commons next week, urging the Department of Transport and the ORR to work with Network Rail and the train operators to ensure a regular and direct service from Shrewsbury to London is established as soon as possible.
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 ORR.
Shropshire has been without a direct rail link since 2011, when the Wrexham & Shropshire service to London ended.
Mr Wright said: "The support we have received has been tremendous. I would urge anybody who has yet to sign the petition to do so as soon as possible. The more support we get, the more compelling the case to reinstate the link will be."
