Avanti West Coast: MP in plea to reconsider suspending rail service

MP Mark Pritchard said the operator had "lost a huge amount of goodwill"

An MP says he will write to a rail operator asking it to reconsider a decision to suspend a direct service from London to Shropshire.

Travellers from Shrewsbury, Wellington and Telford Central were advised to use connecting services from Wolverhampton, ahead of Avanti West Coast introducing a reduced timetable on Sunday.

Conservative MP for The Wrekin, Mark Pritchard, said the direct London to Wellington service was "well-used".

The firm apologised over the timetable.

It has stated changes were being brought in because of "the current industrial relations climate which has resulted in severe staff shortages in some grades through increased sickness levels".

The majority of drivers had made themselves "unavailable for overtime in a co-ordinated fashion" and at short notice, the company said.

Speaking about the London to Wellington service, Mr Pritchard stated the operator had, "in one ill-advised decision, just lost a huge amount of goodwill throughout Shropshire".

He said he would write to the managing director "as a matter of urgency" asking the firm to reconsider the decision.

Mr Pritchard stated he was "hugely disappointed" MPs were "neither informed nor consulted in advance of the decision".

Avanti West Coast has said the decision over the reduced timetable "was not taken lightly"

Although there were only two direct trains a day connecting the county with London, they were introduced after intense lobbying by Shropshire businesses and politicians.

Avanti West Coast has said the amended timetable was being introduced "to ensure a reliable service is delivered so our customers can travel with greater certainty".

It plans to run four trains an hour from London Euston, one to each of Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, and said the decision over the reduced timetable "was not taken lightly".