Cheltenham Spa railway station
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Image:Cheltenham Spa station.jpg
Cheltenham Spa railway station is a railway station serving the Cotswold town of Cheltenham Spa. The station is located on the main Bristol-Birmingham line, however the station is not situated right in the town centre. A short bus ride on the newly-improved Stagecoach bus service D will get you into town within 10 minutes. The bus stop is located right outside the station in the car park - you can see it in the picture just to the left of the entrance to the station.
The station is served by several operators.
- First Great Western operate Cheltenham-London Paddington services via the Golden Valley Line. At the weekends, a few services are extended beyond Cheltenham to Worcester.
- First Great Western also operate local services to Swindon via the Golden Valley Line. Cheltenham is the terminus for these services. There are also hourly Bristol-Worcester services, some of which are extended to and from Weston-Super-Mare and Great Malvern.
- Virgin Trains serve the town with services to Bristol Temple Meads, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance to the south, and Birmingham, Leeds, York, Edinburgh, Manchester and Glasgow among other destinations to the north.
- Central Trains serve the town as part of their Cardiff-Nottingham "Citylink" service.
Contents |
[edit] Current Services & Ticket Office Information
Cheltenham Spa station is served on a Monday to Friday by:
> about 8 trains every hour
> a 2-hourly service to/from Ashchurch for Tewkesbury, Worcester & Great Malvern
> a 2-hourly service to/from London with the odd off-clockface train to Swindon
> an hourly service to/from Weston-Super-Mare & Bristol
> an hourly service to/from Cardiff & Nottingham
> a half-hourly cross-country service operated by Virgin Trains
> 2/3 trains an hour to/from Gloucester.
The station does have a ticket office, located just inside the Station entrance on the Car Park side, which is open for the majority of the day 7 days a week:
Monday - Friday: 0545 to 2015
Saturday: 0545 to 1915
Sunday: 0815 to 2015
The station is also staffed between 0500 & 0100 every day.
There is also another ticket office at the top of the stairs of Platform 2 for northbound trains, open in the morning peak Monday-Friday selling tickets for the day's travel.
Ticket Machines can be found at the top of the stairs on platform 1 and inside the booking hall.
Snacks & Drinks are also served on both platforms.
[edit] Greater Western Franchise New Timetable from December 2006
From December 2006, First Great Western's new timetable will come into effect. It will bring in a number of improvements for train services at Cheltenham, including:
> A new hourly clockface timetable between Cheltenham & Swindon, with a train every 2 hours during the day continuing to Reading & London, thus also giving an extra train an hour to/from Gloucester. This timetable also gives Stonehouse, Stroud & Kemble a solid hourly train.
> All Weston-Super-Mare to Great Malvern local journeys will extend to Taunton with some to Exeter, giving an hourly service at Highbridge & Burnham & Bridgwater. A constant 2-hourly timetable to Ashchurch, Worcester & Great Malvern has been kept. A new hourly-clockface service at Cam & Dursley has also been introduced.
[edit] Cheltenham Spa Engineering Works
Engineering work is currently being undertaken between Cheltenham Spa, Ashchurch and Birmingham to upgrade the line. This engineering work is carried out every weekend, until November/December 2006, which when completed (I'm guessing) is to allow the Virgin Voyager trains to tilt around the various corners along the line to improve punctuality and reliability. During this time, at weekends, rail services between Birmingham, Ashchurch, Cheltenham and Gloucester are being cancelled and replaced by buses.
[edit] Further Service Changes at Cheltenham
In 2007, the Central Trains franchise will end and will be split up into the Virgin Cross Country route and other routes as well. Further changes to services can be expected then.
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Cheltenham Spa railway station from National Rail
- Map and aerial photo of Cheltenham Spa railway station from Multimap.com
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucester | Central Trains Cardiff-Nottingham | Ashchurch for Tewkesbury | ||
| Gloucester | First Great Western Intercity services Golden Valley Line | Worcester Shrub Hill | ||
| Gloucester | First Great Western Local services Weston-Super-Mare - Great Malvern | Ashchurch for Tewkesbury | ||
| Gloucester | First Great Western Local services Golden Valley Line | Terminus | ||
| Gloucester | First Great Western Local services Cheltenham-Swindon-Westbury | Terminus | ||
| Gloucester 1 train a day to/from Gloucester | Virgin Trains Cross-Country Route | Birmingham New Street | ||
| Bristol Parkway | Virgin Trains Cross-Country Route | Birmingham New Street | ||
| UK railway stations |
|---|
