In September 2007, the Office of Rail Regulation granted the Wrexham Shropshire & Marylebone Railway (WSMR) Company permission to operate services from Wrexham in North Wales via , Telford and the West Midlands to Marylebone; they started in early 2008, restoring direct London services to Shropshire (Wrexham already being served by a Virgin Trains service to Euston), with five return trips per day on weekdays. This was reduced to four trains a day in March 2009. These services ceased in January 2011 after passenger numbers reduced; the closure was blamed on the Great Recession.