With the stability offered by a franchise running to 2017, we have been keen to offer services to Blackpool and Shrewsbury. Our proposal was recently endorsed by the Department for Transport, but Network Rail has rejected it.

We do not accept Network Rail’s rationale that the addition of services to Blackpool and Shrewsbury would have ‘a significant negative impact on performance for the thousands of other passenger and freight services that rely on this route every day.’ We believe Network Rail’s decision is unreasonable and based on poor evidence and we will be objecting through the Office of Rail Regulation.

While there are genuine issues around the reliability of infrastructure on the West Coast, we look to Network Rail to pursue positive and pro-active solutions to address its own performance and improve network reliability, not to restrict the development of new services.

Network Rail's decision has attracted parliamentary attention, including a question to the Prime Minister.