Rail journeys between Telford and London will be slashed by up to 24 minutes under a new and “improved” timetable from the new Wrexham & Shropshire train company later this year.
The move will allow business travellers from the borough to make early morning meetings in the capital.
Wrexham & Shropshire, which runs to Marylebone, has unveiled an updated timetable which will include a number of changes to improve its existing service.
The rail firm says that for business travellers, the changes will mean that it will be possible to arrive in London before 9am on the first train from Telford stations along the route, while improvements to the late afternoon service from the capital are also included.
The company runs services from Wrexham through Shropshire and the rest of the West Midlands and on to London Marylebone.
The new timetable will be introduced on December 14, and the company today said that “most passengers travelling between the county and the capital would see “significant reductions” in their journey time.
Andy Hamilton, managing director of Wrexham & Shropshire, said: “Since we launched direct rail services in April we have always had the intention of improving journey times for our customers.
“We have worked hard to create this new timetable, which brings significant improvements to our service.
“We are very pleased to announce that we have been able to reduce many of our journey times and reschedule some of our services to make them more convenient for passengers.”
The new timetable will also mean that people travelling through to Gobowen on the first train from London can now travel direct, without having to change at Shrewsbury.
The company said that the timetable would also mean people would have “greater flexibility” in planning days out along the route, with the first train arriving in London’s West End before 10.30am on a Saturday.
It said that journey times will also be reduced for people travelling to other attractions along the route.
l The news comes after the previous announcement by the company, that over 50 new car parking spaces have been created at Cosford Station for commuters.
