THE decision of Virgin trains not to run a direct service between the county and Ludlow is bad news according to Ludlow MP Philip Dunne.
He expressed his disappointment in Virgin Trains’ decision to drop plans to run a direct rail between London and Shrewsbury due to begin in May of this year.
“Naturally an ideal service would be run at time to maximise use by the public,” said Philip Dunne.
“I believe that a direct rail link would bring significant benefits to the county, but it must be a service that local people want to use.
“Careful consideration must therefore be given to the scheduling of the service, but at the moment Virgin have suggested that the time slots available in the new timetable would not be attractive enough to customers to make the route viable.
“However I understand that Virgin will continue to work with Network Rail to try and find a more sustainable route from December 2014.
“Though it is disappointing that for now Shrewsbury must remain the only county town in England without a direct rail link to London, I remain hopeful that a resolution will be found before too long.
“Ultimately sufficient capacity for a proper service between London and Shrewsbury is only likely to come once HS2 has been built. ”