£40 flat rate for trains to capital

Train passengers in the West Midlands can now get to London for £40 after a company started offering fixed price tickets.

But people wanting to catch the service in Wolverhampton will have to go to Cosford because the service is banned from picking people up in the city. Wrexham & Shropshire today became the first British train company to introduce flat fares allowing passengers to travel at the same price, regardless of when they book or the time they travel.

The service runs between Wrexham in North Wales, through Shrewsbury and Telford into London Marylebone.

Tickets bought on the day of travel will be the same price regardless of whether passengers are travelling in rush hour or off peak and will be available for the same price whether bought on the company website, at a ticket office or on board the train.

The announcement comes as new research out today reveals that a third of train passengers feel confused by the number of train tickets available and the pricing structures.

Wrexham & Shropshire began running five services a day last April but can only drop off passengers in Wolverhampton rather than pick them up as Virgin Trains own the contract over train pick-ups to London.

The return service from London Marylebone to Wrexham picks up people from Wolverhampton, with journey times from London to the Black Country due to take approximately two hours 50 minutes.

It goes via Tame Bridge Parkway and Banbury with four trips a day in each direction on weekdays and Saturdays and three on Sundays.

Meanwhile bosses at rival Arriva Trains Wales are preparing to submit plans for a new direct service to London Marylebone which would pass through Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

The company is now working on a formal submission to the Office for Rail Regulation.

Price of fares

Costs of travelling by Wrexham and Shropshire under the new system –

Return to London Marylebone from Telford: Standard class £40; first class £149; Virgin standard class £148; Virgin first class £249.

Return to London Marylebone from Shrewsbury: Standard class £40; first class £163; Virgin standard class £162; Virgin first class £267.

The route to London through the region: Shrewsbury, Wellington, Telford, Cosford, Wolverhampton (alight only), Tame Bridge Parkway

Banbury, London Midland.

Times, Shrewsbury to London: 5.52am, 8.07am, 12.07pm, 16.07pm

www.wrexhamandshropshire.co.uk