Passengers have reacted with disappointment after it was revealed a Midland rail service will be axed after multi-million pound losses.

Wrexham & Shropshire, which operates trains from Wrexham to London Marylebone, will run for the last time tomorrow with the loss of 55 jobs.

The service was launched three years ago.

It passed through 10 stations including Tame Bridge Parkway on the Walsall- Sandwell border, Cosford and Shrewsbury.

The service initially ran five times a day but then dropped to four and was reduced to three last December.

Mark Fletcher, who works as an engineer in Birmingham, learned the news as he waited for a train at Tame Bridge Parkway yesterday.

“It is a real shame as I use this service once a month to go to London because it is cheaper than other trains,” said the 40-year-old from Derby.

Former Walsall councillor and transport campaigner Richard Worrall used the service and was formerly community liaison manager for Wrexham & Shropshire.

“This is a sad day because when it started the railway was an exciting new direct line to Walsall and Sandwell through to London and northwest to Shrewsbury and Wrexham,” he said.

“I worked for them until August 2009 when I was told I wasn’t needed as they needed to cut costs and since then absolutely nothing was done in this area to get people to use the service.”

Train enthusiast Richard Baker, aged 68, of Streetly, said: “I think it’s disgraceful there is no direct service to London. It’s a shame.”

The company has blamed falling customer numbers for the decision. Chairman Adrian Shooter said the firm had lost £2.8 million in 2010 and that there was “no prospect of providing a return on investment”.