Wrexham & Shropshire

Former Wrexham & Shropshire Service passing Cefn Mawr traveling to London

The two main criticisms of the former Wrexham & Shropshire Railway Service that shut down in 2010 was a low passenger count for the service overall and slower times than the service running through Crew. The main arguments against reinstating the service is as said and a lack of finance, however there could be a great abundance of both finance and passenger numbers by looking at the problem from a new perspective.

The current plans for a high speed rail link (HS2) from London to Birmingham are going to cost a fortune, £17 billion and the planned route has caused great public concern due to the compulsory purchase orders of homes, land and country side that will be lost. With the further extensions planned to Leeds and Glasgow this will increase the current estimate to a staggering £33 billion of tax payers’ money, that means you and me!

A real and viable alternative to the HS2 that is already in existence is the old GWR line as proved by this Wrexham and Shropshire Service seen here pulling out of London. Therefore why not upgrade the old GWR Line from London to Birmingham, which can use both Marylebone and Paddington stations in London instead of having to rebuild Euston. This would save one or two billion just on its own.

The line could then continue on to Shrewsbury, Wrexham and Chester as the Wrexham & Shropshire Service once did. This could be achieved at a fraction of the cost of the new HS2 link and so would not only save a vast amount of money but also avoid all the public disarray that new line is causing. By using this route from London to Birmingham this would more than supply the GWR line with the necessary finance for the upgrade and also save the pristine country side that will be lost due to the proposed HS2 link.

 

Service on this line as an alternative to the main west coast line would certainly reduce congestion.

Furthermore to improve the passenger numbers and continue to reduce the congestion on the West Coast line running through Crew, extend the service through to Holyhead an the whole of North Wales and tieing in with the Irish Ferry Crossings. Perhaps even the former most Northerly GWR station, Birkenhead could even be brought back on line with direct services to London as an alternative to the London Liverpool route via Crew. This would then compliment the other rail links around the country and not compete with them for finance and passengers such has been seen elsewhere in Europe.

Former Wrexham & Shropshire train service crossing Chirk Viaduct adjacent to Chirk Aqueduct
Former Wrexham & Shropshire Train waiting to go at Marlybone Station London
Marlybone Station London, our line running through Cefn Mawr can connect direct
Marlybone Tube Station, this is the way to go, cheaper and ready to go unlike HS2!