There must be scope for further development of services if the towns and cities served by the West Coast route are to prosper. West Coast services cannot stand still until the delivery of HS2. So I was very disappointed when Network Rail turned down our recent proposals to offer new direct services from London to Blackpool and to Shrewsbury.

Network Rail claimed that just eight services a day would compromise its ability to deliver punctual services, not just for Blackpool and Shrewsbury but across the West Coast network. The Office of Rail Regulation has been clear that Network Rail has not been doing everything it should to deliver reliable infrastructure. So the answer to improving reliability is that Network Rail should up its game, not that it should stand in the way of innovation.

Stakeholders in the Blackpool and Shrewsbury areas have made clear to us the importance they attach to the services we have proposed. Other timetable improvements such as additional stops at Motherwell also depend on using capacity which would be released by the introduction of new services to Blackpool. We hope that commitments by Network Rail to improve its performance will be realised and have re-submitted a proposal to run these trains from May 2014.