The bid for a direct train service from Newton-le-Willows to London has been rejected by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), ending hopes for a new route that would have connected the town directly to the capital.
The application by LUMO for the new service, which would have run via Warrington Bank Quay, was turned down despite strong local political and community support for the proposal.
Cllr Seve Gomez Aspron, who represents Newton-le-Willows East, had been championing the cause alongside other local representatives. He confirmed the outcome of the bid, saying: “The ORR have rejected the LUMO bid for a new direct service from NLW to London via Warrington Bank Quay. The rejection letter commented on how the political and community support, led by us, was crystal clear and we championed the cause well.”
But the letter cited several infrastructure-related reasons for the rejection, all linked to broader national transport issues.
“The main reason for the refusal is low capacity on the West Coast mainline due to HS2 being cancelled,” explained Cllr Gomez Aspron. “Which is a farce and it never should’ve been cancelled.”
Other factors included deficiency in the power supply near Crewe and Wembley, and congestion on train lines in and around Manchester.
Cllr Gomez-Aspron said his frustration was about the potential knock-on benefits the service could have brought to the area. “It would’ve made Parkside much more attractive to have a very close direct London service,” said Cllr Gomez Aspron. “And it almost certainly kills the idea I’ve been pushing to try and get Hitachi to open a train servicing depot on Parkside.”
But he added that: “We will continue to raise this and champion potential new routes from our stations, but this will require Government investment in key bits of regional infrastructure.”
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