Bid to run new trains on West Coast Mainline refused
Plans for more trains would “likely increase delays and cancelled trains", the rail regulator says.
Plans to introduce new train services between London and Wrexham, Rochdale and Blackpool have been turned down by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
The regulator said adding more trains on the West Coast Main Line would "likely increase delays and cancelled trains for passengers".
It rejected Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway’s bid for four daily return services between Wrexham and London Euston, along with Lumo’s plan for up to four return services between Rochdale and Euston on weekdays and Saturdays, and three on Sundays.
Avanti West Coast’s proposal for extra services between Blackpool and Euston was also refused 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.