MP calls for Shrewsbury to London direct rail service to be extended
The London to Shrewsbury direct train service should be extended to north Shropshire, according to an MP.
However Owen Paterson, who represents North Shropshire, said that officials at Virgin Trains had told him it would be difficult to take the train north to Oswestry, Chirk, and then on to Wrexham and Chester.
Representatives from the train company, which is the current franchise holder for the West Coast rail service, met the MP this week to discuss rail improvements.
Last week the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling agreed to put a request to companies bidding for the new franchise to include costings for extending the London to Shrewsbury service north.
Mr Paterson said: “At the moment the London to Shrewsbury train sits idling in Shrewsbury when it could instead be used to continue on to Oswestry and beyond.
“When I asked why it cannot be pressed into use I was told that it would be difficult, logistically to extend the service.
“After the sad demise of the Wrexham to London train there is no direct rail service to Oswestry or the Welsh towns of Chirk and Wrexham and through to Chester.
"I have been working to improvement the direct rail service to London for some time.”
He has teamed up with politicians on both sides of the political fence and the English Welsh border, to get a better service to the capital.
“With Westminster colleagues, Glyn Davies, Ian Lucas and Susan Elan Jones and Assembly minister Ken Skates, we are pressing train companies to include the Shrewsbury to Chester line in their bid for the West Coast franchise.”
