WSMR is proposing to stop at a minimum of seven locations along the route, including stations in the West Midlands, Warwickshire and Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

Its initial bid for five daily services in each direction was rejected by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in July 2025.

The regulator raised concern about added congestion on the West Coast Mainline near London, which would have had “a serious negative impact on the level of train performance that passengers experience”.

In the new application, WSMR has reduced the number of daily services to four and included an additional stop at Wellington, Shropshire.

WSMR’s Mobilisation Director Darren Horley said about a thousand passengers would board its services each day while boosting Shropshire’s economy by about £2.2m a year.

The operator is also jointly behind a proposal to build a Shrewsbury Parkway station near the Preston roundabout on the A5.