The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has rejected plans for direct train services between London and the towns of Wrexham and Rochdale due to limited capacity on the West Coast Main Line. According to the ORR, the heavily utilized railway cannot accommodate these proposed services without increasing the risk of delays and compromising overall reliability.
In addition to the Wrexham and Rochdale services, proposals for additional London-Blackpool services were also turned down. The ORR emphasized the importance of maintaining timetable gaps to allow trains to recover from disruptions and prevent delays from affecting the broader network.
This decision follows previous rejections of similar proposals for direct services to these locations. The proposed Wrexham service aimed to establish a new direct link between the Welsh town and London, while a planned Lumo service sought to connect Rochdale with the capital. Despite these rejections, the ORR did approve an additional evening service from London to Chester operated by Avanti. This service allows a train, which would have otherwise returned to a depot without passengers, to carry customers instead.
The ORR’s assessment revealed that the capacity and performance conditions on the southern section of the West Coast Main Line have not significantly changed since earlier evaluations led to rejections of similar proposals. The decision underscores the ongoing challenges of managing capacity on one of the UK’s busiest railway lines.
