Manchester could get new direct rail service to London as London Northwestern plans are lodged

Plans put forward by London Northwestern Railways would see Victoria given a further direct link to London Euston. This would be done by extending the line that currently stops at Crewe. 

In addition to this, the current services between Stafford and Crewe would be extended to Manchester Airport. The plans will create new direct links from Rugeley, Lichfield, Tamworth and Atherstone in the West Midlands to Manchester and Warrington, and this would be from the summer of 2026.

Ian McConnell, managing director of West Midlands Trains, operator of London Northwestern Railway, said: “This proposal puts passengers at the heart of the railway and is the common sense solution to increase connectivity between the North West and the West Midlands following the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2.

“With platform space at Euston at a premium, the best way to provide new journey opportunities to Manchester is simply to extend existing services, rather than trying to squeeze more trains onto the congested West Coast Main Line. Additionally, unlike the Open Access model, the millions of pounds of extra revenue our proposals would generate will be returned to the taxpayer, providing a win-win for rail passengers.

“Just as we have shown with our existing long-distance services to Birmingham and Liverpool, our green and environmentally-friendly new electric trains will provide an affordable alternative to the car and coach, with fares up to 50% cheaper than the main intercity operator.”

London Northwestern Railway will formally submit its plans to the Office for Rail and Road (ORR) later this year. If approved, the new services could commence from May 2026 once additional train crew have been recruited and trained.