Rail users on key Flintshire route hit out as cancellations keep climbing
Rail users on the Wrexham–Bidston line, which serves key Flintshire stations including Shotton, Hawarden, Buckley, Hope and Penyffordd, say cancellations and delays have reached “unacceptable” levels.
The Wrexham Bidston Rail Users’ Association (WBRUA) has published figures showing weekly cancellations climbing steadily since April, while around one in five trains that do run are regularly late.
In a statement, the group said: “Our analysis of service cancellations since April shows them at an unacceptable level and the trend is getting worse.
“Of the trains that run, one in five or more are regularly running late (based on TfW’s on-time to 3 metric). This year’s leaf-fall season is imminent, and likely to worsen the situation for passengers.
“Publicly available data shows that performance on the Wrexham–Bidston line continues to be significantly inferior to comparable TfW routes in South East Wales as well as that of the nearby Merseyrail network.
“The WBRUA’s Chairman has, on 24 September, written to James Price, CEO of TfW, asking that TfW visibly prioritise and resolve the ongoing performance issues with its Wrexham–Bidston service and actively publicise what it is doing.
“As with the early morning service the WBRUA fought for, we will continue to lobby for a better service that the line and its users expect and deserve.”
[Weekly cancellations on the Wrexham–Bidston line since April 2025. Source: Wrexham Bidston Rail Users’ Association]
A Transport for Wales spokesperson said: “TfW is investing £800 million in brand-new trains across the Wales and Borders network and overall this is improving the customer experience and resilience on the network.
“We’re aware of the recent performance issues affecting services on the Wrexham to Bidston line and service levels have not met the standards expected by our customers.
“The challenges we’ve experienced can largely be attributed to issues with our fleet of Class 230 trains, which operate on this route. Our teams are actively working to resolve these issues to improve the punctuality and reliability of these trains, with a dedicated project team in place.
“In the last month, this route saw an on time to 3 rating of 82.1%, which is the best the route has seen in 12 months. However, we know that there is still much to improve and we remain focused on improving rail performance.
“TfW and Network Rail have a comprehensive plan in place and are taking proactive steps to improve resilience across the network this autumn.
“This includes vegetation clearance and specialist rail-cleaning to reduce delays and safety risks. Our teams continue to monitor weather conditions closely, with contingency plans in place to respond swiftly to flooding and high winds.”
Why the line matters
The Wrexham–Bidston line, also known as the Borderlands line, links Wrexham Central with Bidston on the Wirral and connects with Merseyrail services into Liverpool.
It provides a key cross-border link and supports freight traffic serving Deeside Industrial Park and Padeswood Cement Works.
As part of the North Wales Metro programme, the Welsh Government rebranded it the “Wrexham–Liverpool line” earlier this year.
Plans include increasing services to two trains per hour within three years, with the longer-term aim of running direct services into Liverpool by 2035.
New Class 230 trains were introduced in April 2023 but have been affected by reliability issues since entering service. Class 197s also run on the line, and there have been proposals to use Merseyrail’s new battery-powered Class 777s in future.
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