Plans to launch a new rail service linking North Wales, the West Midlands and London have been rejected by the 海角视频 Government.
Train and rail infrastructure manufacturer Alstom teamed up with Birmingham-based consultancy SLC Rail to create a new so-called open-access rail operator known as 'Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway'.
Under its proposals announced last year, there would have been five daily services running to and from the capital from Monday to Saturday and four on Sundays, connecting some stations directly for the very first time.
The trains would have stopped at Wrexham General, Gobowen, Shrewsbury, Telford Central, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Coleshill Parkway, Nuneaton, Milton Keynes and London Euston and also taken in the new Darlaston station which is currently under construction.
However, government regulator the Office of Road and Rail has now thrown out these proposals along with two others, saying there was not enough capacity on the West Coast Main Line to cope with the additional services.
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An open-access rail operator runs on tracks and infrastructure owned by a third party but takes full commercial risk for the operation of a train service, falling outside the rail franchise system used by the 海角视频 government.
It would have been the first time that Alstom had operated its own rail service in the 海角视频 as the project aimed to plug holes in the existing network by running routes which did not exist.
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It was estimated the Wrexham to London route would have served a core catchment area of around 1.5 million people outside of the capital.
Separately, Shrewsbury and Telford lost their direct route to the capital last June after Avanti West Coast pulled the service, due in part to low passenger numbers, leaving Shropshire as the only English county without a direct rail service to the capital.
In a statement, Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway said: "We are extremely disappointed with the decision to reject our application - the only current application to receive support from the Department for Transport.
"We have spent the past two years demonstrating that capacity and performance concerns can and would be negated by the industry working together to deliver a better railway for passengers.
"We would have set new standards for how open-access operators can and should work alongside nationalised rail services.
"Since our application was submitted in March 2024, we have received overwhelming support from local people, businesses, councillors and MPs who all recognise the urgent need for this connectivity.
"We will now urgently seek to reengage with the Office of Rail and Road and determine our next steps regarding the future of this vital passenger service."
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The two other bids were from Virgin Trains and Lumo NW which is part of FirstGroup.
Virgin Trains was proposing to launch three new services - two between London and stations in the North West and another four times per day between London and Birmingham New Street. Lumo NW wanted to run services between London Euston and Rochdale.
The Office of Rail and Road is the independent safety and economic regulator for Britain's railways and monitor of National Highways.
Director of strategy, policy and reform Stephanie Tobyn said: "After thorough assessment of each application, it was clear that there was insufficient capacity to approve any of the services without a serious negative impact on the level of train performance that passengers experience on the West Coast Main Line.
"We recognise the potential advantages of competition on the West Coast Main Line. However, it is clear the southern end of the route requires space in the timetable to provide resilience.
"Additional services within the current timetable structure and planned capacity use would further weaken punctuality and reliability, not just at the south end of the West Coast Main Line but elsewhere as well."