The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has rejected applications for new services between London and Wrexham, Rochdale and Blackpool, saying the southern section of the West Coast Main Line does not have sufficient capacity to accommodate them without increasing disruption risk.
The decisions cover Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway Company’s (WSMR) proposal for four return services between Wrexham and London Euston, Lumo’s application for up to four return Rochdale–Euston services, and Avanti West Coast’s request for additional Blackpool–Euston trains.
Timetable resilience
Following detailed analysis, the ORR concluded that the route’s capacity and performance have not materially changed since similar applications were rejected in 2025. An external review commissioned by the regulator supported that assessment.
The ORR said gaps in the existing timetable provide recovery time when disruption occurs. Filling those windows with additional services would reduce resilience, increasing the risk that delays spread to other trains and affect more passengers.
Stephanie Tobyn, the ORR’s director of strategy, policy and reform, 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.”
Chester service approved
The regulator has approved access for Avanti’s weekday 19:29 Chester–Euston service to carry passengers until December 2030.
That train already operates as a fully crewed empty service, meaning the decision will not add another train to the route. Instead, the existing operation will be opened to passengers.