Cheltenham Spa railway station

Cheltenham Spa
Cheltenham Spa station
Location
Place	Cheltenham
Local authority	Cheltenham
Coordinates	51.897°N 2.100°W / 51.897; -2.100
Grid reference	SO931220
Operations
Station code	CNM
Managed by	First Great Western
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03	0.881 million
2004/05	1.036 million
2005/06	1.128 million
2006/07	1.206 million
2007/08	1.338 million
2008/09	1.529 million
2009/10	1.599 million
2010/11	1.727 million
2011/12	1.813 million
History
Original company	Birmingham and Gloucester Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	LMS
24 June 1840	Opened as Cheltenham
1 February 1925	Renamed Cheltenham Spa (Lansdown)
?	Renamed Cheltenham Spa
National Rail – UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Cheltenham Spa from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

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

A 1910 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Cheltenham Spa (shown here as Queen's Road, Lansdown)

An Old Stager at Cheltenham Lansdown Station in 1949

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.^{[citation needed]}

Services

Railways around Cheltenham
Legend to Birmingham Cheltenham Racecourse Cheltenham High Street Halt Cheltenham High Street Cheltenham St James Cheltenham Malvern Road Cheltenham Lansdown Cheltenham Leckhampton to Banbury to Gloucester

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. A small number of these services extend 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.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Gloucester		Arriva Trains Wales Maesteg - Cheltenham		Terminus
Gloucester		CrossCountry Cardiff - Nottingham		University or Ashchurch for Tewkesbury or Bromsgrove
Bristol Parkway		CrossCountry South West - North West and Scotland		Birmingham New Street
		CrossCountry Bristol - Manchester
Gloucester		First Great Western Cheltenham - London/Swindon		Terminus
Gloucester		First Great Western Great Malvern - Westbury		Ashchurch for Tewkesbury
	Historical railways
Churchdown Line open, station closed		Midland Railway Birmingham and Gloucester Railway		Cheltenham High Street Line open, station closed
	Disused railways
Terminus		Great Western Railway Midland and South Western Junction Railway		Leckhampton Line and station closed
	Proposed Heritage railways
Cheltenham Malvern Road Line and station closed		Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway		Terminus

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 10th May 2013. Cheltenham Spa Station and the other various transport scheme proposals were all published for public consultation on the LTB website on 13th 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 7th June 2013 see:

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