Cheltenham Festival Travel Advice: Almost 5,000 extra seats every day
Cheltenham Festival goers will benefit from almost 5,000 extra seats every day this week as train operator GWR lays on extra services to support the renowned race meeting.
Culminating in the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday, the four-day festival between Tuesday 13 and Friday 16 March attracts thousands of supporters – many choosing to start their journey with a glass of Champagne on board a GWR service from London Paddington to Cheltenham Spa.
With over 50 extra trains being provided over the course of the week passengers are reminded that a queuing system will be in place at London Paddington taking customers towards Cheltenham and at Cheltenham Station for the return journey, enabling trains to be boarded safely.
Cheltenham Spa Station Manager Richard Morrish said:
“The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most popular in the race calendar, bringing thousands more people through the station every day.
“We will as always have additional staff on hand to help keep people moving, and I would like to thank passengers in advance for their patience as a queueing system will be in place to allow trains to be boarded safely.”
- Almost 20,000 extra train seats in total provided
- Over 20 extra toilets provided (including extra accessible toilets) at the station
- Over 40 additional station staff every day
- 875 metres of crowd control barriers
Trains will depart from London Paddington to Cheltenham at:
- 07:36
- 08:00
- 08:35
- 09:15
- 09:36
25 GWR trains have been timetabled to take race goers home again, as well as those provided by other operators. Passengers are reminded to check for their latest connecting service before they travel.
Notes to editors
Great Western Railway (GWR) provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services. We help over 100 million passengers reach their destinations every year - across South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, and large parts of Southern England.
We’re currently seeing the biggest investment in the network since Brunel so we can offer more trains, more seats, and shorter, more frequent journeys and continue the network’s heritage of helping connect more businesses to new and prosperous markets. Through a series of initiatives we aim to be a good neighbour to the communities we serve and are committed to making a positive social impact in those regions. Learn how we're Building a Greater West at GWR.com. GWR is a FirstGroup company.