Cheltenham Spa railway station

Cheltenham Spa railway station is a railway station serving Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England. Situated on the Bristol-Birmingham main line, it is managed by First Great Western and is about one mile from the town centre.

History
The first railway to Cheltenham was the broad-gauge Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway (C&GWUR), authorised by Act of Parliament in 1836, and opened between Cheltenham and Gloucester in 1840. In the same year the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway (B&GR) opened its line between Cheltenham and Bromsgrove, whence trains ran on mixed-gauge tracks to Gloucester. Both railways had their own stations in the town, and the principal one, Cheltenham Spa (Lansdown), named from the principal road in the area, is the only one remaining, although without its secondary title. It was opened by the B&GR on 24 June 1840; was renamed Cheltenham Spa (Lansdown) on 1 February 1925 by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and again renamed Cheltenham Spa by British Railways at some point after 1 January 1948.

The C&GWUR was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1844, and the B&GR by the Midland Railway in 1846. Within the town there were three other passenger railway stations: Malvern Road, St James's and Cheltenham South and Leckhampton; there was also High Street Halt and the Racecourse Platform, open only on race days.

Cheltenham Spa Malvern Road West Signal Box, and its east equivalent, had the longest namesigns on the GWR.

Services


Cheltenham Spa station has a staffed ticket office and two passenger-operated cash-and-card self-service ticket machines. There is a buffet on southbound platform 1, and extensive car parking. The station is served by approx 8 to 12 trains every hour during the daytime on Mondays to Saturdays (less frequent on Sundays).

First Great Western operate approx hourly Cheltenham Spa-Swindon via Gloucester services, some (operated by InterCity 125 High Speed Trains) extended to Reading & London Paddington. beyond Cheltenham Spa to/from Worcester; a few extend at the Swindon end via Chippenham, Melksham, Westbury and towards Southampton Central.

First Great Western also operates local services on the Bristol (Temple Meads/Parkway), Yate, Cam & Dursley, Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa route, most extending north to Ashchurch/Worcester (and some beyond there to Great Malvern). South of Bristol, many services operate through from stations on the Bristol TM/Bath Spa/Westbury route continuing to Weymouth, Salisbury/Southampton or Portsmouth Harbour/Brighton.

CrossCountry Trains serve Cheltenham Spa on two routes, the Cardiff to Birmingham New Street/Nottingham service and the longer-distance Penzance/Cheltenham Spa/Aberdeen route, giving Cheltenham excellent and frequent rail connections to Birmingham, Manchester, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley.

Arriva Trains Wales operate approx. hourly with a Maesteg via Bridgend, Cardiff & Newport to Chepstow/Lydney/Gloucester/Cheltenham Spa service.

Stagecoach in Cheltenham Bus Service D serves the station forecourt, providing a very regular link to Cheltenham Town Centre which is a mile approx (2 km) to the North-East.

The London Midland Worcester to Gloucester service was discontinued from the start of the December 2009 railway timetable due to low passenger usage, however, London Midland still operate a service to Gloucester on early Saturday mornings, departing at 00:09.

The Future
In early 2012 Cheltenham Council released a Railway Station concept statement, promoting enhancements at the station. See:

http://www.cheltenham.gov.uk/site/scripts/download_info.php?fileID=2716

In March 2013, the newly formed Gloucestershire Local Transport Body (LTB), asked for bids from the local area for transport projects which could be funded in the period 2015 to 2019. The Cheltenham Development Taskforce decided to seek support from the railway industry and key local supporters, to promote a scheme first raised in 2008. This 2008 scheme proposed to significantly enhance the facilities at Cheltenham Spa Station, with new passenger facilities and a new south-facing bay platform to enable terminating London and South Wales services to clear the mainline and utilize a new bay platform facility.

During the development and optioneering phase of the stage 1 LTB submission, it was discovered that to ensure operational flexibility and to provide sufficient capacity, that two new bay platforms were actually required. This configuration formed the basis of a station regeneration proposal that was submitted to the Gloucestershire Local Transport Body for consideration in early March 2013. Following shortlisting to stage 2 a second funding proposal was submitted on 10 May 2013. Cheltenham Spa Station and the other various transport scheme proposals were all published for public consultation on the LTB website on 13 May 2013. See:

For stage 1 Cheltenham Spa Station submission see: http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=55015&p=0

This story was reported on in the local paper:

http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Blueprint-pound-15million-platform-project/story-18409520-detail/story.html#axzz2TCf3NKwU

For stage 2 Cheltenham Spa Station submission see:

http://www.gltb.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=55883&p=0

Feedback on the scheme can be made to the LTB by 7 June 2013 see:

http://www.gltb.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=113226&contactid=113230&type=email&contact=yes