Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway

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Franchise(s):	Not subject to franchising; Open-access operator
Main route(s):	London Marylebone – Wrexham
Other route(s):	None
Fleet size:
Stations:	12 (planned)
Parent company:	Laing Rail/Renaissance Trains
Web site:	www.wrexhamandshropshire.co.uk

The Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway (WSMR) is a newly formed railway company, which is planning to run trains from Wrexham, in North Wales, to London on an open-access basis under the name Wrexham & Shropshire.

Contents 1 Ownership 1.1 Track record of the partners 2 Planned services 3 Proposed timetable 4 Rolling stock 5 Welsh Assembly funding 6 Route and stations 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Ownership

WSMR is a joint venture between two existing railway companies: Renaissance Trains and Laing Rail. The current boss of the company is John Nelson.

[edit] Track record of the partners

Rennaisance Trains are a partner in Hull Trains. Hull Trains punctuality record is 94.8%, the second-best punctuality figures amongst all long-distance train operating companies in Britain.^[1] They were also awarded the Golden Spanner in 2005 and 2006 for the reliability of their trains.^[2] Laing Rail are the owners of Chiltern Railways. Since being awarded their franchise in 1996, Chiltern Railways increased passenger numbers by 70%, increased services by a third and more than doubled the number of carriages operated.^[3] Chiltern Railways already operate services along the proposed WSMR route - between Marylebone station and Kidderminster.

[edit] Planned services

Wrexham & Shropshire
Wrexham General Ruabon Chirk Gobowen Shrewsbury Wellington Telford Central Cosford Wolverhampton restricted access Tame Bridge Parkway Banbury restricted access London Marylebone

WSMR plan to run up to five trains per day between Wrexham and London, with a total journey time of around 4 hours. The original proposal would have seen trains call at Ruabon, Chirk, Gobowen (for nearby Oswestry), Shrewsbury, Telford, Wolverhampton and Banbury. The service would restore direct London services to Shropshire (currently the only county in England without a direct rail link to the capital)^[4], which were lost when Virgin Trains pulled out from the area in 2000.

Originally WSMR had planned to start operating by summer 2007, but plans were delayed because of a "moderation of competition" protection clause in the Virgin West Coast franchise agreement. Unless Virgin were willing to give their agreement to WSMR services calling at Wolverhampton the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) said they would have to reject the WSMR proposals. ^[5]

WSMR revised their plans and have submitted a new Track Access Application to the ORR and, as such, have put the proposed start of service back to December 2007. Under the amended proposals WSMR will only call at Wolverhampton to pick up passengers Northbound, and set down passengers Southbound. To offset the reduction in potential passengers, the company is proposing to additionally call at Tame Bridge Parkway, a station with a substantial car park and good bus services, which will have the additional benefit of giving Walsall a direct service to London.

[edit] Proposed timetable

As part of their revised Track Access Application dated 2007-03-05^[6] WSMR propose to operate:

• Weekdays: five trains each way
• Saturdays: four trains each way
• Sundays: three trains each way

All trains are proposed to run the entire length of the route, although on Mondays-Saturdays only four southbound services and three northound services per day will call at Wellington.

The stops at Wolverhampton and Banbury are for alighting passengers only on southbound journeys and for boarding passengers only on northbound journeys. These stations already have direct services to London operated by other companies.

The average journey time is around 4 hours, with the fastest journey taking just 3½ hours.

[edit] Rolling stock

Wrexham & Shropshire have proposed operating various types of trains to run its services:

• Diesel Multiple Units: The company has proposed Class 170 Turbostars or Class 158 Super Sprinters. However, Class 170s are in short supply as they are currently all used by franchises. The Class 158 is cleared to run only as far along the route as Aynho Junction. However, the Class 158 is known to have a smaller profile than the Class 165 Network Turbo units that Chiltern Railways operate between Banbury and London, so route clearance should not be a problem.

• Locomotives: In the week of 8 October 2006, a trial run was made to work out timetables. The project manager of the WSMR, Andy Hamilton, said that the test allowed for the possible use of Class 67s with carriages, as opposed to a diesel multiple unit. While this was for expediency in getting the test run, it proved that locomotive and coaching stock could be viabily run on the proposed route. The train was run from London Marylebone to Wrexham General using the intended route and arrived on time, despite a delay at Wolverhampton. It has recently been confirmed that Class 67 + Mk3s + DVT is a viable option. ^[7]

It was also stated that the trains will be stabled overnight in the disused bay platform at Wrexham General and disused offices there will serve as the train crew depot.^[8]

Class 67 Locomotive

Class 158 DMU

Class 170 DMU

[edit] Welsh Assembly funding

In October 2006, the Welsh Assembly announced that WSMR did not qualify for employment grants which it would then use to improve the facilities at Wrexham General station 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 had to relocate to Shrewsbury, which would have affected the number of services it could run to Wrexham. ^[9]

However, in November 2006, the Welsh Assembly announced that the WSMR was eligible for the money, and as a result, a site survey at Wrexham General was undertaken. The depot is subject to the WSMR being allowed to operate trains, and will be open to all train operating companies. ^[10]

[edit] Route and stations

Stations expected to be served by the new services are:

	Wrexham General
	Ruabon
	Chirk
	Gobowen
	Shrewsbury
	Wellington (proposed)[11]
	Telford Central
	Cosford (proposed)[12]
	Wolverhampton (with restricted use)
	Tame Bridge Parkway (proposed)
	Banbury (with restricted use)
	London Marylebone

It has been (incorrectly) reported that they may call at Birmingham New Street, Snow Hill or International. This was dismissed in August 2006, when the official website was brought online, showing no stops at Birmingham. A rather surprising stop is that of Banbury railway station, as it was previously believed trains would run non-stop between Wolverhampton and London. However, the current timetable permits a 3 minute stop at New Street, although doors will not be opened. WSMR has stated that it would rather avoid New Street altogether.^[13]

It has been reported that Banbury is to be included as a set down stop southbound (i.e. no one allowed to board) and a pick up stop northbound. ^[7] This is to allow connections to intermediate Chiltern Railways stations to London (e.g. High Wycombe) but also to provide connections to Oxford, Reading and the Thames Valley.

[edit] See also

• Railways of Shropshire

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Wrexham & Shropshire official website
• WSMR revised track access application on the ORR website
• Shropshire Star article
• BBC News article
• BBC Shropshire webpage
• Presentation given to Shrewsbury and Atcham borough council
• Discussion online
• Information from the ORR
• Laing Rail
• Shrewsbury Council Overview Committee Minutes 6th April 2006

v • d • e Current scheduled passenger train operators in Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Domestic:	Arriva Trains Wales - c2c - Central Trains1 - Chiltern Railways - First Capital Connect First Great Western - First ScotRail - Grand Central2 - GNER - Heathrow Connect Hull Trains - Island Line3 - Merseyrail - Midland Mainline1 - Northern Rail Northern Ireland Railways4 - 'one' - Silverlink1 - Southeastern - Southern South West Trains - TransPennine Express - Virgin Trains (VWC - VXC1)
International:	Enterprise4 - Eurostar
Airport Link:	Gatwick Express - Heathrow Express - Stansted Express5
Sleeper:	Caledonian Sleeper6 - Night Riviera7
1 Ends November 2007 - 2 Starts 20 May 2007 - 3 Operated by South West Trains 4 Operated on the Irish railway network - 5 Operated by 'one' - 6 Operated by First ScotRail 7 Operated by First Great Western

Future passenger train operators and franchises in Great Britain
New Franchises:	Cross Country1 - East Midlands1 - InterCity East Coast - London Overground1 West Midlands1
Proposed open-access operators:	Glasgow Trains2 - Grand Union2 - Humber & City2 - Wrexham & Shropshire3
1 Starts November 2007 - 2 Proposed - 3 Awaiting Approval