From fanfare to letdown: History of Shrewsbury-to-London direct line

Shrewsbury had been without a direct link since a similar service, run by Wrexham & Shropshire Trains, ended in 2011.

After that, business and political leaders demanded action to bring back the service, saying it would boost tourism and the local economy.

A Virgin Trains service was approved by the Office of Rail Regulation in September 2014 and the first train set out from Shrewsbury at 15.24 GMT on a Sunday in mid-December, calling at Wellington, Telford Central, Wolverhampton, Birmingham New Street, Birmingham International, Coventry, Watford Junction and London Euston.

Speaking at the time, Richard Sheehan, chief executive of Shropshire's Chamber of Commerce, said it was "vitally important" for the county.

"We run many different events, from the flower show to many different festivals and we have very attractive towns. So there are lots of reasons why people would come here," he said.

As well as encouraging more tourism, Mr Sheehan said a direct rail service would make it easier to attract inward investment and persuade companies to relocate to Shropshire.

Rail bosses said the new service would not have been possible without the support of Shropshire Star readers.

The newspaper led a London Link Campaign, calling for the direct service between Shropshire and London. A petition for the service, signed by thousands of readers and also backed by businesses and politicians in the region, was led by the Shropshire Star and was presented in Parliament. Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski raised the issue at Prime Minister's Questions.

Mayor of Wellington Karen Tomlinson said at the time: "We lost the precious service before and the town council and Shropshire residents have been very vocal in getting it back. Last time we lost it because people didn't use it – so everyone needs to back this new service."

The Shrewsbury to London line was one of only two new direct services to new destinations launched by Virgin in a decade when it was launched. The cheapest single fare on the new direct line was £10.50 when it was launched.

It was taken on by Avanti West Coast when it won the contract from Virgin in December 2019. Covid followed soon after and with it a massive reduction in train travel through various lockdowns.

Avanti West Coast has since experienced difficulties with cancellations and punctuality and has been threatened with losing its licence to operate. Its service to Shrewsbury has increasingly terminated in Wolverhampton and now, after increasing concern over its future, it has finally decided to pull the plug completely.

It most recently apologised for the number of cancelled trains over the Christmas period, saying a combination of strikes, sickness and bad weather had all played a role.

Just 44 per cent of Avanti West Coast’s trains arrived on time over the festive period, with 23 per cent cancelled altogether at short notice.

The company’s performance was criticised by both Shrewsbury and Atcham MP Daniel Kawczynski and Andy Street, elected mayor for the West Midlands.

Mr Kawczynski angrily revealed how he had been regularly “kicked off” the train in Wolverhampton as the direct Shrewsbury service ended early, forcing him to wait for a connection.

A spokesman for the company acknowledged the delays and cancellations had been the source of much frustration.

He said a number of factors had combined to affect the operator’s previously improved performance.

The spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to our customers who had their journeys impacted by cancellations on our network at this time.

“We know it is a source of immense frustration and we would like to thank our customers for their patience.

“During this period, we experienced a shortage of train crew due to historic leave agreements, elevated sickness levels and ongoing industrial disputes.”

He said those factors, coupled with infrastructure and weather-related problems meant the company had to cancel an increased number of services.

“This had a bearing on our previously improved levels of performance,” he said.

He insisted the company had since made a number of improvements which should mitigate such problems in future.

The company had recruited new drivers and made changes to historic leave arrangements, he said.

“We have secured further improvements in rosters as part of the recent timetable introduction which, alongside our unprecedented levels of driver recruitment and training and negotiated changes in historical leave arrangements which commence this month, will increase our operational resilience and support long-term stability.”

Mr Street said Avanti’s performance over the period from December 10 to January was not acceptable.

Mr Kawczynski, who uses the company for his commute between Shrewsbury and Westminster, wrote to the Speaker of the House of Commons calling for a parliamentary debate on the standard of Avanti’s service.