Mr Lucas has attacked objections made by Arriva Trains and Virgin Trains about the proposed link, which would be operated by the WSMR company.

He said: "Neither Virgin nor Arriva have proposed a direct rail link between Wrexham and London. It is clear that WSMR's proposal will create an entirely new link and will meet the needs of many of my constituents by doing so. Virgin and Arriva are, I believe, acting to protect their own private interests and not the interests of rail passengers in Wrexham."

"WSMR's bid is a worthy one and the train companies objecting to it should instead concentrate on encouraging passengers to use their own services, both of which are subsidised by the taxpayer through franchise agreements."