Wrexham & Shropshire

Wrexham & Shropshire (officially Wrexham Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Company Limited,[1] Welsh: Cwmni Rheilffordd Wrecsam, Swydd Amwythig a Marylebone[2]) was an open access operator in the United Kingdom operating passenger rail services between Wrexham and London Marylebone from April 2008 until January 2011.

Wrexham & Shropshire

Driving Van Trailer hauling Mark 3 carriages at Marylebone in September 2009
Overview
Franchise(s)	Open access operator Not subject to franchising 28 April 2008 – 28 January 2011
Main route(s)	Wrexham - Shrewsbury - Wellington - Tame Bridge - London Marylebone
Other route(s)	None
Fleet size	5 Class 67 Locomotives 16 Mark 3 Carriages 5 Driving Van Trailers
Stations called at	12 (Also called at Wembley Stadium during events)
Parent company	Arriva
Reporting mark	WS
Other
Website	www.wrexhamandshropshire.co.uk

Geographical representation of the Wrexham & Shropshire route

Wrexham & Shropshire route map
Wrexham General Ruabon Chirk Gobowen Shrewsbury Wellington Telford Central Cosford Wolverhampton Tame Bridge Parkway Leamington Spa Banbury Wembley Stadium - events only London Marylebone

History

Wrexham & Shropshire was formed in 2006 as a joint venture between John Laing and Renaissance Trains with the aim of operating rail passenger services between Wrexham and London Marylebone as an open access operator.[3][4][5][6][7] Direct railway services from the area to London had been withdrawn by InterCity in 1992. Virgin Trains introduced a Shrewsbury to London Euston service in May 1998, but it was withdrawn in 1999.[8][9][10]

In October 2006 an evaluation service ran from London Marylebone to Wrexham General via the proposed route using the EWS Company Train.[11][12][13][14]

In March 2007 Wrexham & Shropshire lodged an application with the Office of Rail Regulation for track access rights to operate services.[15] In September 2007 Wrexham & Shropshire were granted access rights from December 2007 for a seven-year period.[16][17][18][19]

In January 2008 John Laing's rail operations, including its shareholding in Wrexham & Shropshire, were sold to Deutsche Bahn.[20][21][22][23] After this transaction the shareholders in Wrexham & Shropshire were DB Regio (50%), Renaissance Trains (36%) and John Laing (14%).[24] Operations commenced on 28 April 2008.[25][26][27] In September 2009, DB Regio took 100% ownership.[28]

Services

Route

From Wrexham General services ran via Ruabon, Chirk, Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Wellington, Telford Central, Cosford and Wolverhampton to Tame Bridge Parkway. From here services would proceed to Banbury and London Marylebone either via Stechford, Birmingham International and Coventry, or via Birmingham New Street and Solihull.[29]

Because of a Moderation of Competition clause inserted into Virgin Trains' Track Access Contract with Network Rail by the government, Wrexham & Shropshire were not able to service a number of West Coast Main Line stations. Wrexham & Shropshire's Track Access Contract did not allow it to call at Birmingham New Street or Coventry, although the contract did allow it to call at Wolverhampton and Birmingham International to pick up only on northbound services and set down only on southbound services, although Wrexham & Shropshire elected not to serve the latter.[17]

Likewise to protect Chiltern Railways from revenue abstraction (even though it was owned by DB Regio), northbound services could only pick up and southbound services set down at Banbury. From December 2009 the Banbury restrictions were lifted and services also called at Leamington Spa.[29] The Leamington Spa stops were removed in May 2010[30] after the Department for Transport found that revenue had been abstracted from Chiltern Railways.[31][32]

Diversionary routes

During weekend engineering works, Wrexham & Shropshire services were frequently diverted. When the Wrexham to Shrewsbury line was closed services operated from Wrexham General to Shrewsbury via Chester and Crewe. When the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line was closed services reversed at Shrewsbury before reversing again at Crewe and proceeding via Stafford to Wolverhampton. When the line south of Birmingham was closed, services operated via the West Coast Main Line, Willesden Junction, Acton Junction and Ealing Broadway to South Ruislip before reversing to reach Marylebone.[33] When the South Ruislip to Marylebone line was closed services would be diverted to London Paddington.[34]

Timetable

Wrexham & Shropshire's initial timetable was for five trains per weekday between Wrexham and London with a journey time of approximately 4 hours, 15 minutes.[35]

In March 2009 the weekday service was reduced to four trains per day with one cut back to only operate from London to Shrewsbury, Wrexham & Shropshire citing the economic downturn for the cancelled services.[36][37][38][39] From July until September 2010 a fourth Saturday service was operated. In December 2010 the weekday service was reduced further to three per day, with insufficient customer demand being cited as the reason.[40]

Rival service

In February 2008 Virgin Trains announced that it would operate a direct service between Wrexham General and Euston on a trial basis from December 2008, with a morning southbound and evening northbound service.[41][42][43] Virgin's service operated from Wrexham General via Chester and Crewe to London Euston along the West Coast Main Line using Class 221 Super Voyagers, with a journey time of approximately 2½ hours, compared with Wrexham & Shropshire's average of 4 hours. As this was an extension of a Chester - Euston service, it did not serve stations in Shropshire or the West Midlands.

Threat of withdrawal of service

Arriva Trains Wales lodged an application with the Office of Rail Regulation to operate two daily trains from Aberystwyth to London Marylebone. The application was rejected in February 2010 because the Office of Rail Regulation was concerned about the financial viability of the service.[44] DB Regio had stated that if the application was successful that it would cease funding Wrexham & Shropshire and operations would cease.[45][46][47]

Rolling stock

Driving Van Trailer at London Marylebone

67015 at London Marylebone

Driving Van Trailer trailing a set of Cargo-D Mark 3s

Wrexham & Shropshire's original plans had envisaged using Class 158 or Class 170 diesel multiple units, but a lack of available stock saw the locomotive hauled option adopted.[15]

Services were operated by a DB Schenker Class 67, Mark 3 carriages and a Driving Van Trailer. To operate the service, DB Regio purchased a fleet of ex Virgin West Coast Mark 3s and Driving Van Trailers and put them through a refurbishment programme at Marcroft Engineering, Stoke-on-Trent. A dedicated fleet of four Class 67s (012-015) were repainted in Wrexham & Shropshire livery ready for the launch in April 2008 followed by a fifth (010) in April 2009.

When services commenced, none of the carriages were ready so Mark 3s were hired from Cargo-D and operated in top and tail with a Class 67 at each end. The Driving Van Trailers entered service in October 2008, but it would be September 2009 before the first Mark 3s were ready.[48][49] Originally the four sets consisted of three Mark 3s, this was later increased to four from May 2009 although these were not refurbished internally.

Chiltern Railways Class 168s were cleared to operate on Wrexham & Shropshire's route and reached Shrewsbury on at least one occasion.

With the reduction in service levels from December 2010, a Mark 3 set was hired to Chiltern Railways to operate a Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone peak-hour service.[50]

Fleet

Class	Image	Type	Quantity	Top speed		Route operated	Built
				mph	km/h
67		Loco	5	125	200	Wrexham–London Marylebone	1999–00
Mark 3		Coach	16	125	201	Wrexham–London Marylebone	1975–88
		DVT	5				1988-1990

Depots

The Mark 3 sets were based at Chiltern Railways' Aylesbury depot. They were also stabled at Wembley depot and in the bay platforms at the south end of Wrexham General that were reactivated.

Proposed merger with Chiltern Railways

Driving Van Trailer in Chiltern Railways livery at Shrewsbury

In September 2009 Wrexham & Shropshire announced that from the beginning of 2010, it hoped to transfer operation of the Wrexham & Shropshire branded services to fellow DB Regio subsidiary Chiltern Railways.[51][52] In light of the problems encountered with Wrexham & Shropshire abstracting revenue from Chiltern Railways, the Department for Transport did not sanction the merger.[31][53]

Welsh Assembly funding

In October 2006 the Welsh Assembly announced that Wrexham & Shropshire did not qualify for employment grants which it had intended to use to improve the facilities at Wrexham General railway station in order to turn it into the company's operational centre. This led to speculation that, if the funding could not be found, the company might have to move to Shrewsbury, which would affect the number of services it could run to/from Wrexham.[54] However, in November 2006 the Welsh Assembly announced that the Wrexham & Shropshire was eligible for the grant and, as a result, a site survey at Wrexham General was undertaken. The depot would be open to all train-operating companies.[55]

Demise

On 28 January 2011 operations ceased after a review concluded there was no prospect of the business ever being profitable. The low passenger numbers and lack of profitability were blamed on the Great Recession.[56][57][58] The last train was the 18:30 from London Marylebone to Wrexham General.[59] The rolling stock was transferred to Chiltern Railways.[60]

See also

• Railways of Shropshire

References

1. Companies House extract company no 5970112 Wrexham Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Company Limited
2. "Business item". National Assembly for Wales. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
3. Direct London train for Wrexham BBC News 1 February 2006
4. "Hull Trains style service is proposed for North Wales" Rail issue 533 15 February 2006 page 17
5. "Open access bid for Wrexham-London" The Railway Magazine issue 1260 April 2006 page 11
6. Presentation to Shropshire County Rail Forum Shropshire Council 13 October 2006
7. New rail link between Shropshire and London BBC Shropshire 8 December 2006
8. Pride of Shrewsbury The Encyclopedia of Modern Traction Names
9. "Around the Regions" Rail issue 315 8 October 1997 page 19
10. "New Virgin through services launched with fresh nameplate design" The Railway Magazine issue 1168 August 1998 page 53
11. "NR backs Wales-London open access bid to ORR" Rail Issue 551 25 October 2006 page 17
12. "Wrexham Shropshire & Marylebone Railway runs trial loco-hauled service" Today's Railways UK issue 60 April 2006 page 7
13. "New open access service to Wrexham could use Class 67s" The Railway Magazine issue 1268 December 2006 page 10
14. New rail company plans direct Wrexham link with London Daily Post 13 October 2006
15. Application to the Office of Rail Regulation a Passenger Track Access Contract Office of Rail Regulation 5 March 2007
16. "ORR announces decision on additional services between London and Wrexham" (Press release). Office of Rail Regulation. 3 September 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2007.
17. Track Access Contract between Network Rail Infrastructure Limited and Wrexham Shropshire and Marylebone Railway Company Limited Office of Rail Regulation 10 September 2007
18. "Wrexham wins trains to London from next spring" Rail issue 574 12 September 2007 page 18
19. "Green light for Wrexham open access trains" The Railway Magazine issue 1279 November 2007 page 71
20. "Deutsche Bahn announces acquisition of Laing Rail" (Press release). Chiltern Railways. 21 January 2008. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
21. Deutsche Bahn buys Laing Rail Construction News 21 January 2008
22. "Germans take over Chiltern as DB buys Laing Rail" Rail issue 584 30 January 2008 page 6
23. "Deutsche Bahn buys Laing Rail" The Railway Magazine issue 1283 March 2008 page 11
24. Wrexham Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Limited Annual Accounts 31 December 2010 Page 21
25. New direct rail services launches this April Wrexham & Shropshire press release 2 April 2008
26. Clinnick, Richard (7 May 2008). "40 years on – Wrexham and Shropshire takes to the rails". Rail. Peterborough. 591: 6–7.
27. "Wrexham & Shresbury Railway launches direct London service" The Railway Magazine issue 1286 June 2008 page 6
28. "Chiltern Railways about to take over WSMR" Rail issue 627 23 September 2009 page 14
29. Wrexham & Shropshire timetable 13 December 2009
30. Sixteenth Supplemental Agreement to the Track Access Agreement Network Rail 2 December 2010
31. Notice Imposing a Penalty Pursuant to Section 57A of the Railways Act 1993 Department for Transport 16 June 2011
32. Chiltern Railways fined for breaking franchise agreement Birmingham Post 16 June 2011
33. "WSMR is routed via WCML" The Railway Magazine issue 1308 April 2010 page 75
34. Thirteenth Supplemental Agreement to the Track Access Agreement Archived 11 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine Network Rail 20 January 2010
35. Wrexham & Shropshire timetable April 2008 Wrexham & Shropshire
36. Firms cuts off-peak rail services BBC News 3 March 2009
37. "WSMR cuts back in face of recession" Rail issue 613 11 March 2009 page 13
38. "WSMR cuts service". Modern Railways. London. April 2009. p. 6.
39. "Wrexham & Shropshire cut services" The Railway Magazine issue 1297 May 2009 page 78
40. "Tracks - Dec 2010/Jan2011". Content.yudu.com. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
41. Crump, Eryl (21 February 2008). "Wrexham to London rail link launch". Daily Post. Liverpool. Retrieved 25 April 2008. Journey time will be around two-and-a half-hours.
42. "Wrexham set to join Virgin Trains network" (Press release). Virgin Trains. 20 February 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
43. "Wrexham to join Virgin map" Rail issue 586 27 February 2008 page 11
44. Arriva Trains Wales Limited 38th Supplemental Agreement Office of Rail Regulation 26 February 2010
45. The Wrexham Shropshire and Marylebone Railway Company Limited Arriva Trains Wales 38th Supplemental Agreement Wrexham & Shropshire letter 19 October 2009
46. "DB Regio to cease funding WSMR if Arriva runs in to London". Rail (630). Peterborough. 4 November 2009.
47. "Aberystwyth to London direct rail route rejected". BBC News Online. London. 1 March 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
48. "Wrexham & Shropshire DVTs enter traffic" The Railway Magazine issue 84 December 2008 page 68
49. "Wrexham & Shropshire gets refurb Mk 3s" The Railway Magazine issue 1303 November 2009 page 89
50. Chiltern commence Birmingham loco-hauled Rail Express 14 December 2010
51. "Wrexham & Shropshire backed by respected rail firm" (Press release). Wrexham & Shropshire. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2009. From the New Year ... Network Rail to transfer Wrexham & Shropshire’s track access rights to DB owned Chiltern Railways, ... no changes to the branding of Wrexham & Shropshire ... which will continue to be an open access business unit
52. "Wrexham & Shropshire outlines Chiltern integration" Railway Express issue 162 November 2009 page 8
53. Form 22 Office of Rail Regulation
54. "Pledge over capital rail link". Shropshire Star. Shrewsbury. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2007. [Shrewsbury] could replace Wrexham as the main base for trains on the route after the Welsh Assembly refused funding for the project, meaning stops at Wrexham and Gobowen could be axed.
55. "Rail depot may bring London link". BBC News Online. London. 21 November 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2007. A Wrexham to London rail link is a step closer, after the Welsh Assembly Government offered funding for a depot.
56. "Wrexham-Shropshire-London direct rail link to end". BBC News Online. London. 26 January 2011.
57. Wrexham & Shropshire to cease operations on Friday 28 January Wrexham & Shropshire
58. Wrexham & Shropshire railway company to cease operating Daily Post (North Wales) 26 January 2011
59. Wrexham & Shropshire to cease operations on 28 January 2011 Wrexham & Shropshire
60. "Chiltern deploys its former Wrexham stock" The Railway Magazine issue 1324 August 2011 page 78

Further reading

• Harper, Richard; Rushton, Gordon (2014). Wrexham & Shropshire: Open Access - The One That Got Away. Adlestrop Press. ISBN 9780957145610. OCLC 909030821.

External links

Media related to Wrexham & Shropshire at Wikimedia Commons