Cheltenham Race Course railway station

This article is about the railway station in the United Kingdom. For the railway station in Australia, see Cheltenham Racecourse railway station, Adelaide.

Cheltenham Race Course
Station on heritage railway
General information
Location	Cheltenham, Cheltenham England
Grid reference	SO953250
Owned by	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
Operated by	Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
Platforms	2
Key dates
13 March 1912	Opened as Cheltenham Racecourse [1]
25 March 1968	Closed
16 March 1971	Re-opened
19 March 1976	Closed
7 April 2003	Re-opened in preservation

v t e Railways around Cheltenham
Legend
to Birmingham Gloucs-Warks Railway Racecourse High Street High Street Halt St James Lansdown Malvern Road to Gloucester Leckhampton Banbury & Cheltenham Direct Railway

Cheltenham Race Course railway station ^[2] serves Cheltenham Racecourse on the outskirts of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.

On the ex-Great Western Railway Cheltenham to Stratford line, the station opened in 1912 to serve the new racecourse at Prestbury Park, home of the famous Gold Cup meeting. The platforms were later extended to accommodate trains of up to 14 carriages. The station was only opened on race days and so facilities were rudimentary, but it continued to serve racegoers until the 1976 Cheltenham Festival.

Although most of the stations on the line closed in 1960, the line itself remained open for non-stop passenger services until 1968. ^[3] Special trains on racedays only served Cheltenham Racecourse station from 1971 until 1976. ^[4] The line was also used as a diversionary route with no scheduled passenger services until 1976, when a freight train derailed at Winchcombe and damaged the track. ^[5] The line was officially closed in the same year; the track was lifted shortly afterward.

Cheltenham Race Course is now the southern terminus of the 12-mile-long heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, run entirely by volunteers. ^[6] The line has been reopened in stages. The line trackbed itself was bought in 1984. The track from Gotherington to the racecourse was relaid in 2001. The line was reopened as a heritage railway by the Princess Royal on 7 April 2003. ^{[7] [8]}

The station is in a cutting fringed by Corsican pine trees. Its northern end, where it emerges from the cutting, affords views towards Cleeve Hill. The original station booking office is believed to be the only remaining example of a Swindon-built flatpack prefabricated building that was brought by train and assembled on site. It is perched at the top of the cutting, next to the A435 roadbridge and close to the main entrance of the racecourse. It has a collection of artefacts housed within it. A gentle slope gives access to the platform where there is a new station building with a canopy, toilets and waiting room. The station has two tracks, one adjacent to the platform and the other to allow locomotives to run around the train. A new signal box was opened in 2005 to control the signals and point work around the station. ^[9]

Access to the station by car is only via the main racecourse entrance. There is a large free car park. A bus service runs from the Network Rail Cheltenham Spa station, through the town centre to the Racecourse Park and Ride, about 10 minutes' walk from the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway station. ^[10]

Platform 2 reconstruction

GWR 4200 Class 4270 at Cheltenham in January 2023.

In 2012, as part of a new Development Foundation, the GWSR launched an appeal to reconstruct Platform 2 at Cheltenham Race Course station. Reconstruction of Platform 2 was completed in 2016. ^[11]

References

1. Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
2. "Cheltenham Race Course Station". Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
3. Daniels, Gerald David; Dench, Leslie Alan (May 1973) [1964]. Passengers No More (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 36. ISBN   0-7110-0438-2. OCLC   2554248. 1513 CEC 573.
4. Croughton, G.; Kidner, R.W.; Young, A. Private and untimetabled Railway Stations.
5. Austin, Chris; Faulkner, Richard. "Disconected! Broken Links in Britain's Rail Policy" (PDF). Retrieved 19 July 2020.
6. "Cheltenham Race Course". Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Archived from the original on 27 May 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
7. "Gloucestershire Warwickshire (GWR) Steam Railway". Cotswold Info. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
8. "Princess to open course station". BBC News. 7 April 2003. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
9. "Cheltenham Race Course signal box". UK Railways 1970 till today. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
10. "Steam Train Transfer direct to Cheltenham Racecourse". Classic Hospitality. Archived from the original on 15 March 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
11. "Friday 14th October 2016 and Platform 2 at Cheltenham Racecourse receives its Tarmac Surface!". CRCS magazine. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.

Preceding station	Heritage railways			Following station
Gotherington		Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway		Terminus
	Historical railways
Bishop's Cleeve Line open, station closed		Great Western Railway Honeybourne Line		Cheltenham High Street Halt Line and station closed
	Proposed Heritage railways
Terminus		Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway		Cheltenham Malvern Road Line and station closed

51°55′26″N2°04′06″W / 51.92401°N 2.06833°W / 51.92401; -2.06833