Direct Virgin services to Blackpool and Shrewsbury rejected by NR

摘要

Plans by Virgin Trains to operate direct services from London to Blackpool and Shrewsbury from December this year have been rejected by Network Rail. In the case of the Shrewsbury service, Virgin planned to route the trains via Telford, then use the Oxley Jct-Bushbury Jct line to run north to Stafford, where the train would reverse before heading down the Trent Valley to London. The Blackpool service would have been a diversion of an existing Lancaster service, yet despite that, a Network Rail spokesman said:"Today there are twice as many trains using the West Coast Main Line as a decade ago and, just like a busy motorway during rush hour, more trains mean that if something goes wrong, the knock-on effects can be significant.