Rail regulator rejects new London services to Wrexham, Rochdale and Blackpool

The Office of Rail and Road has rejected proposals for new West Coast Main Line services to Wrexham, Rochdale and Blackpool over capacity concerns.

• ORR rejected Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway's plan for four daily London-Wrexham return services, plus Lumo's Rochdale and Avanti's Blackpool proposals.
• The regulator said adding services would reduce timetable resilience and increase the risk of delays spreading across the network.
• ORR approved one additional Avanti evening service between London and Chester that would otherwise run empty.
• Stephanie Tobyn, ORR director of strategy, policy and reform, said the line's limited resilience would worsen reliability for all passengers if more trains were added.