Wrexham & Shropshire

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Franchise(s):	Not subject to franchising; Open-access operator 28 April 2008 - 2014
Main route(s):	London Marylebone – Wrexham
Other route(s):	None
Fleet size:	4
Stations called at:	12
Parent company:	DB Regio/Renaissance Trains
Web site:	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 restricted access Tame Bridge Parkway Banbury restricted access Wembley Stadium events only London Marylebone

Wrexham & Shropshire is the operating name of the Wrexham, Shropshire and Marylebone Railway Company, a train operating company in the United Kingdom. The company operates passenger train services from Wrexham (in North Wales) via Shropshire to London on an open-access basis, with its agreement for a seven year period from December 2007.^[1] Wrexham & Shropshire began running services on 28 April 2008.^[2][3]

The main purpose of the company is to restore direct services between London and Shropshire (formerly one of only two counties in England without a direct rail link to the English capital; the remaining one is tiny Rutland); the previous services operated by Virgin Trains were withdrawn in 2000.

[edit] Services

[edit] Route

From Wrexham General, the route runs via Chirk, Ruabon and Gobowen (near Oswestry) to Shrewsbury, then via Wellington, Telford Central and Cosford^[4] to Wolverhampton. From Wolverhampton, the service has the major obstacle of Birmingham to circumvent: it is routed via and calls at Tame Bridge Parkway. Services then continue via New Street and Tyseley or Birmingham International and Coventry, before joining the Chiltern Main Line at Leamington Spa. Trains then call at Banbury and finally London Marylebone.

Under the terms of Wrexham & Shropshire's Track Access Contract, trains are not permitted to call at Coventry or Leamington Spa.^[5] However, the agreement does allow for WSMR trains to serve Birmingham International, but the company's timetable does not include this.^[6] However, services do call at Tame Bridge Parkway, a station with a substantial car park and good bus services, with the additional benefit of providing Walsall with a direct service to London.

[edit] Timetable

Wrexham & Shropshire's initial timetable is for five trains per day between Wrexham and London, which since the introduction of its revised Winter timetable sees a total journey time of around 4 hours weekdays.^[6] Journey times are acknowledged to be longer than the company would like but changes in timetabling and track slots have meant the reduction of 30 minutes in the journey from prior to December. Also, between Aynho Junction and Princes Risborough the WSMR trains are subject to lower differential speed restrictions that do not affect the Chiltern Railways DMUs. The most severe restriction is between Bicester North and Princes Risborough where WSMR trains are limited to 60mph. WSMR trains must share tracks with the intensive Chiltern Railways service and there are few overtaking opportunities. Schedules over the 68.7 mile route from Marylebone to Banbury are slow, typically 71 to 74 minutes.

In the long term, the company is aiming to reduce journey times as follows:^[6]

• London to Tame Bridge Parkway: 2 hours
• London to Telford Central: 2 hours 35 minutes
• London to Shrewsbury: 2 hours 50 minutes
• London to Wrexham: 3 hours 30 minutes

[edit] Restrictions on services

WSMR's original proposal was to commence operations by summer 2007, but plans were delayed because of a "moderation of competition" protection clause in Virgin Trains' 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.^[7] A revised Track Access Application was submitted, which was subsequently approved by the ORR. Under the amended proposals, WSMR trains call at Wolverhampton only to pick up passengers northbound, and set down southbound. To offset the reduction in potential passengers, services call additionally at Tame Bridge Parkway.

Similarly to Wolverhampton, at Banbury southbound trains set down passengers only and northbound trains pick up only.^[8] At both stations, there are already services to London provided by other operators.

[edit] Rival services

In February 2008, Virgin Trains announced that they would also begin services between London and Wrexham on a trial basis from December 2008, with one train per day on weekdays in each direction. Should the service prove successful, Virgin plan to introduce more services during the week and at weekends.^[9][10] Virgin's services will operate from London Euston along the West Coast Main Line via Crewe and Chester using Class 221 SuperVoyager trains, with a journey time to Wrexham of approximately 2½ hours - compared with WSMR's average of 4 hours. However, as will be an extension of the London-Chester service it will not serve stations in Shropshire or the West Midlands.

[edit] Future services

The Welsh Assembly Government announced a proposal to introduce express services between North and South Wales featuring trains with first class accommodation to attract business travellers. Wrexham & Shropshire declared an interest in the operation of these services from Wrexham to Cardiff in April 2008,^[11] however these services began December 14th under operation by Arriva Trains Wales.

[edit] On-board

Once Wrexham & Shropshire's own dedicated fleet is in service, trains will have 128 standard seats and 24 first class seats.^[12] Most seats are to be at tables, with a few in "Airline" style, and all are planned to be aligned with the windows,^[13] while there will also be a buffet provided. The trains will also feature Wi-Fi internet access.

[edit] Rolling stock

Wrexham & Shropshire Driving Van Trailer (DVT) 82303 on the 12.17pm to Wrexham awaits departure from Marylebone on 13 December 2008

Services are operated by locomotive-hauled trains. Each train is formed of a 125 mph (200 km/h)-capable Class 67 diesel locomotive, three Mark 3 carriages, and a Mark 3 Driving Van Trailer (DVT).^[14] Wrexham & Shropshire has obtained a total of four complete train sets, with twelve Mark 3 coaches currently on hire from charter company, Cargo-D Rail, and four Class 67 locomotives from EWS. The Mk3 coaches are owned by the company and the four DVTs obtained from Porterbrook are currently being refurbished by Marcroft at Stoke on Trent.^[15]

In the week of 8 October 2006, a trial run was carried out using the EWS Company Train, from London Marylebone to Wrexham General via the proposed route. Originally the locomotive/DVT arrangement were used for expediency in getting a test run organised. However, as the test train arrived on time (despite a delay at Wolverhampton), it demonstrated that such a combination was a viable option.^[8] There were regular trains between Wrexham and Marylebone to test the timetable between March and the launch in April 2008.

Services commenced on 28 April 2008. As the DVTs and dedicated WSMR Mk3 coaches were still being refurbished by Marcroft, all trains were run initially with a Class 67 at each end of the train, the passenger accommodation consisting of three or four Mk3 coaches (on hire from Cargo-D). This initial measure required the daily use of three coaching sets and six locomotives operating the trains top and tail. However, now that the DVTs have completed refurbishment, the second Class 67 is not needed. The trains are allowed to operate at up to 100 mph (160 km/h) although there are few opportunities to do so.

Earlier proposals included the possible use of diesel multiple units, such as the Class 158 or Class 170.^[8]

[edit] Fleet

Wrexham & Shropshire has also named four of its Class 67 locomotives. Competitions were held and the names are as follows:

• 67015 was named "David J. Lloyd (was named in May 2008)^[16]
• 67012 was named "A Shropshire Lad" (was named on 3 July 2008)^[17]
• 67013 was named "Dyfrbont Pontcysyllte" (Pontcysyllte Aqueduct) (was named on 9 July 2008)^[17]
• 67014 was named "Thomas Telford" (was named on 15 July 2008)^[17]

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Routes operated	Built
			mph	km/h
Class 67		Diesel locomotive	125	200	4	London Marylebone - Wrexham	1999-2000
Mark 3 Coach		Passenger rolling stock	125	200	12	London Marylebone - Wrexham	1975-1984
		Driving Van Trailer	125	200	4	London Marylebone - Wrexham	1988

DB Regio has obtained sufficient rolling stock to allow for the formation of a fifth complete train or the extension of their existing trains to four coaches.^[18]

[edit] Ownership and management

Wrexham & Shropshire was founded a joint venture between two existing railway companies: Renaissance Trains and Laing Rail. DB Regio, a subsidiary of the German state railway operator Deutsche Bahn acquired Laing Rail in January 2008, and with it their interest in Wrexham & Shropshire. The directors of the company include John Nelson and Mike Jones from Renaissance Trains (also directors of Hull Trains) and Adrian Shooter (Chairman and Managing Director of Chiltern Railways and Chairman of the A.T.O.C.) and Andy Hamilton both from Laing Rail, Hamilton (former Engineering Director of Chiltern Railways) being appointed as Managing Director.

[edit] Track record of the partners

Renaissance Trains are a partner in Hull Trains, an open-access operator which has provided services between Hull and London Kings Cross since 2000. Hull Trains' punctuality record is 94.8%, the second-best punctuality figures amongst all long-distance train operating companies in Britain.^[19] They were also awarded the Golden Spanner in 2005 and 2006 for the reliability of their trains.^[20]

In the United Kingdom, DB Regio are the owners of Chiltern Railways (also previously part of Laing Rail).^[21] 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^[22] while being the third most punctual train operator in the UK with a record of 94.5% for the second financial quarter of 2007/2008.^[23] Chiltern Railways already operate services between London Marylebone and Kidderminster along part of the Wrexham & Shropshire route. In December 2007, Henderson Group, the parent company of John Laing plc announced the sale of the Laing Rail division, which comprises the stake in Wrexham & Shropshire, as well as the Chiltern Railways franchise and a 50% stake in London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL). Two bidders emerged, Deutsche Bahn and NedRail,^[24] with DB ultimately being successful.

[edit] Operations

Trains are stabled overnight in the previously disused bay platform at Wrexham General and the previously disused offices there serve as the train crew depot.^[25] Customer services are based in Coton Hill, Shrewsbury WSMR also have a customer service team in the ICC Banbury, Headed up by Jenny Payne.^[26]

[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.^[27] 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 would be open to all train operating companies.^[28]

[edit] See also

• Railways of Shropshire

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wrexham & Shropshire

• 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
• Laing Rail
• Renaissance Trains
• Shrewsbury Council Overview Committee Minutes 6th April 2006