The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has rejected proposals for new passenger services between London and Wrexham, Rochdale and Blackpool after concluding that additional trains would likely worsen performance on the already congested West Coast Main Line.
Applications submitted by Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway Company (WSMR) and open access operator Lumo have been turned down, alongside a request from Avanti West Coast to introduce further services between Blackpool and London Euston.
WSMR had applied to operate four return services between Wrexham and London Euston, while Lumo proposed up to four return services linking Rochdale with the capital. Avanti West Coast also sought approval for additional Blackpool-Euston trains.
Following what the regulator described as a detailed and extensive assessment, ORR concluded that network conditions on the southern section of the West Coast Main Line have not improved sufficiently since similar applications were rejected in 2025.
An independent external review commissioned by ORR supported its findings.
According to the regulator, capacity currently reserved within the timetable plays a critical role in maintaining network resilience. These gaps allow operators to recover services following disruption, helping to prevent delays from spreading across the wider network.
ORR determined that introducing additional train services into those timetable margins would reduce operational flexibility and increase the likelihood of delays and cancellations affecting a greater number of passengers.
Despite rejecting the new service applications, the regulator has approved Avanti West Coast's weekday 19:29 Chester to London Euston service to carry passengers until December 2030.
The train already operates as a fully crewed empty stock movement, meaning the decision does not add an extra service to the route but instead makes more efficient use of an existing path while offering additional travel options for passengers.
"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."- Stephanie Tobyn, ORR's Director of Strategy, Policy and Reform, said.
The ruling is likely to reignite debate over access to the West Coast Main Line and the balance between increasing competition, improving passenger choice and protecting operational performance on one of the UK's most intensively used railway routes.
Image credit: ORR
