New passenger train operator Wrexham & Shropshire launches its services linking Oxfordshire with Shropshire and north-east Wales tomorrow.

Five trains a day on weekdays, with a slightly reduced service at weekends, will call at Banbury to pick up northbound passengers and drop off southbound passengers en route between London Marylebone, Telford, Shrewsbury and Wrexham.

Services will also call at Tame Bridge Parkway, near Walsall; Cosford; Wellington; Gobowen, near Oswestry; Chirk; and Ruabon.

Due to rail competition rules, passengers travelling between Banbury and London will not be able to use W&S services.

The firm, which is half-owned by Chiltern Railways' German parent company Deutsche Bahn, operated a full timetable last week, though without carrying passengers, to ensure its trains and crews are ready for the launch.

Managing director Andy Hamilton said: "Being small sets us apart from our competitors. Our team of just over 50 staff are totally focused on running trains on time and meeting our passengers' needs.

"We have received tremendous support from local people and are keen to become an integral part of the communities we serve."

For the first few weeks, the firm will use hired coaches, while it waits for refurbishment work on its own fleet to be completed, but the trains will be powered from the start by specially-liveried Class 67 diesel locomotives hired from freight operator English Welsh & Scottish Railway, which is also owned by Deutsche Bahn.

W&S tickets can be bought at any staffed railway station, by calling 0845 260 5900 or on board the firm's trains.