WREXHAM AND SHROPSHIRE RAILWAY

That this House is dismayed at the decision of Wrexham and Shropshire railway to cease operating from 28 January 2011; notes the decision has been made despite the fact that according to Passenger Focus it was voted best operator by passengers with a 96 per cent. satisfaction rating; is deeply concerned that, because this was an open access operator and not a franchise, the owners of Wrexham and Shropshire railway, Deutsche Bahn, have been able to ignore the social, environmental and economic benefit of the service and instead been free to cut and run purely on financial grounds; believes that, as the Department for Transport gave permission for the service and the Welsh Assembly Government provided start-up investment, the operation should be nationalised to protect the investment of taxpayers and the interest of passengers and also the jobs of the staff who made the railway such a success; further believes that our railways are too important to be left to open access operators who can simply walk away from providing rail services with impunity; and calls for a full public inquiry into this issue.