The West Coast Main Line is already under significant pressure, Stephanie Tobyn, from the Office of Rail and Road said

Plans for new train services between London and Wrexham, Rochdale and Blackpool have been rejected by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

The proposal to add more trains on the West Coast Main Line would "likely increase delays and cancelled trains for passengers", the regulator said.

It rejected an application from Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway (WSMR) for five daily Wrexham to London Euston return services, as well as Lumo's proposal for up to four return services between Rochdale and Euston on weekdays and Saturdays, and three on Sundays.

Avanti West Coast's plans for additional services between Blackpool and Euston were also denied by the ORR.

The regulator said: "Gaps in the current timetable need to provide important space for trains to recover when disruption occurs, minimising delays to passengers.

"ORR concluded that adding more services into these windows in the timetable for recovery would reduce that resilience, increasing the risk of disruption spreading to other services and affecting more passengers."

Stephanie Tobyn, from the ORR, said: "New services, destinations and greater choice can bring real benefits for passengers and communities.

"But the West Coast Main Line is already under significant pressure, with performance reflecting limited resilience on a heavily used part of the rail network.

"Our detailed analysis has shown that adding more trains to the current timetable would reduce the ability to recover when disruption occurs, increasing the risk of delays spreading and making reliability of the network worse for all passengers."

The ORR said its assessment and decision came after similar applications were rejected in 2025.

The plans would have seen five services per day between Wrexham General and London Euston, taking about three hours

A petition, external, calling on the UK government to support the plans for new services between Wrexham and London, was created by Julia Buckley, MP for Shrewsbury, and reached the required 10,000 signatures to be discussed in parliament in June this year.

At the time, the Department for Transport said that, while it acknowledged the "potential connectivity benefits", it was "unable to direct the ORR in its decision making".

Reacting to the ORR's rejection of the proposals, Buckley said she was "deeply disappointed".

"This is a setback, but it is not the end of our campaign.... I will continue to fight," she added.

A spokesperson for WSMR said it was "disappointed" by the decision, "especially after the effort we've made to overcome the concerns raised by statutory consultees over the past two-and-a-half years".

"Improving connectivity is a driver of economic growth and productivity, and WSMR would have unlocked much-needed educational, leisure and work opportunities for communities between north Wales, Midlands and London corridor.

"Since our application was submitted in March 2024, we have received overwhelming backing from local people, businesses, councillors and MPs, who all recognise the urgent need for this improved connectivity. We are very grateful for this support."

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