The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has rejected proposals for new direct train services between London and the towns of Wrexham and Rochdale, citing limited capacity on the West Coast Main Line. The regulator determined that the heavily trafficked railway does not have the necessary capacity to support these additional services without risking increased delays and reduced reliability.
The ORR’s decision also affects plans for more London-Blackpool services. The regulator emphasized the importance of maintaining timetable gaps, which allow trains to recover from disruptions and prevent delays from spreading across the network.
This decision follows previous rejections of similar proposals for direct services to Wrexham and Rochdale. The proposed service to Wrexham aimed to establish a new direct connection between the Welsh town and London, while a planned Lumo service sought to link Rochdale with the capital.
Despite these rejections, the ORR did approve one additional evening service between London and Chester. This service will be operated by Avanti and will allow a train that would otherwise return to a depot without passengers to carry customers instead.
The ORR’s assessment concluded that capacity and performance conditions on the southern section of the West Coast Main Line have not changed significantly since previous proposals were turned down. This has led to the continued inability to introduce new direct services on this busy route.