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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 Great Western Railway (despite most services being operated by CrossCountry, which does not manage any stations) and is about one mile from the town centre. The official name of the town is simply Cheltenham, but, when the station was renamed in 1925, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway chose to add Spato the station name.  The station is a key regional interchange and is the fifth busiest rail station in South West England.

History[]

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

Former MR Johnson 1P 2-4-0 20216 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-gaugetracks to Gloucester. Both railways had their own stations, but the B&GR station, which was then on the edge of the town and was named Lansdown after a housing development in that area,is the only one remaining. The buildings were designed by the architect Samuel Daukes and the station was opened by the B&GR on 24 June 1840 as Lansdown.

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'sand Cheltenham South and Leckhampton; there was also High Street Halt and the Racecourse Platform, open only on race days.

From 1892 there was a route from Cheltenham to the docks at Southampton, via Andoversford and the Midland and South Western Junction Railway.

The station was renamed Cheltenham Spa (Lansdown) on 1 February 1925 by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and renamed again as Cheltenham Spa by British Railways at some point after 1 January 1948.

Stationmasters[]

  • William Turnbull 1844–1872 (discharged for failing to report his ticket collector for fraud)
  • Joseph Vizard Bendall 1872–1900 (formerly station master at Harpenden)
  • Henry Ward 1900–1907 (afterwards station master at Bedford)
  • Horace E. Horne 1907–1909 (formerly station master at Harpenden)
  • Charles Williams 1910–1913 (formerly station master at Hay)
  • G.Preston Heggs 1913–1914 (afterwards station master at Sheffield)
  • Henry Pitt 1914-1918 (formerly station master at Rushden)
  • Arthur Ernest Chandler 1918–1928 (afterwards station master at Burton upon Trent)
  • John Richard Needham from 1956 (formerly station master at Lancaster Green Ayre)

Services[]

Cheltenham Spa Railway Station

  • v
  • t
  • eRailways around Cheltenham

Cheltenham Spa station is served by approx 8 to 12 trains every hour during the daytime on Mondays to Saturdays (less frequent on Sundays).

Great Western Railway operate approx hourly Cheltenham Spa – Swindon via Gloucester services. Some (operated by Class 800s) extend through to Didcot Parkway, Reading and London Paddington.

Great Western Railway also operates local services on the Bristol (Temple Meads/Parkway) to Gloucester, Cheltenham Spa and Worcester Shrub Hill route. These serve Cheltenham every two hours each way, with some southbound services continuing onwards to Westbury and Weymouth.

CrossCountry trains serve Cheltenham Spa on three routes, the Cardiff Centralto Birmingham New Street/Nottingham service, the longer-distance Penzance/Plymouth – Cheltenham Spa – Glasgow Central, with extensions to Aberdeen, and the Bristol Temple Meads – Manchester Piccadilly routes. All three of these services run hourly each way, giving a net half-hourly service to Bristol Temple Meads and three departures per hour to/from Birmingham New Street. CrossCountry also operate a morning service to Stansted Airport as well as summer Saturday trains to Newquay.

Transport for Wales operate approximately hourly with a Maesteg via Bridgend, Cardiff Central, Newport and Chepstow to Gloucester and Cheltenham Spa service.

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Gloucester Transport for WalesMaesteg – Cheltenham Terminus
Gloucester CrossCountryCardiff – Nottingham Worcestershire Parkwayor Ashchurch for

Tewkesbury

Bristol Parkway CrossCountrySouth West – North East and Scotland Birmingham NewStreet
CrossCountryBristol – Manchester
Gloucester Great Western RailwayCheltenham – London/Swindon Terminus
Gloucester Great Western RailwayGreat Malvern – Westbury Ashchurch forTewkesbury
Historical railways
ChurchdownLine open, station closed Midland RailwayBirmingham and Gloucester Railway Cheltenham High StreetLine open, station closed
Disused railways
Terminus Great Western RailwayMidland and South Western Junction Railway LeckhamptonLine and station closed
 Proposed Heritage railways
Cheltenham Malvern RoadLine and station closed Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Terminus

Redevelopment proposals[]

In early 2012 Cheltenham Council released a Railway Station concept statement, promoting various enhancements at the station. In March 2013 the 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. A proposal to significantly enhance the station, with new passenger facilities and install a new south-facing bay platform enabling trains to reverse was put forward.

During the development and optioneering phase of the submission, it was that two new bay platforms were 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 short listing 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.

In February 2014 the scheme was shelved after both Network Rail and train operator First Great Western refused to back the portion of the proposals relating to the additional platforms, though they were supportive of the need to upgrade other passenger facilities (station building & taxi/bus interchange improvements and better car parking).