Gloucester railway station

Gloucester railway station (formerly known as Gloucester Central station) serves the city of Gloucester. The station is unusual as it is located off the main Bristol-Birmingham line, meaning trains that call at Gloucester usually have to reverse. Only trains that continue along the line to Chepstow do not have to reverse. At 602.69 metres (1977 ft. 4 ins.) Gloucester has the longest railway platform in Great Britain. The reason for this extreme length is due to a break-of-gauge between the Great Western Railway (7ft 0¼ in (2140 mm)) and London Midland and Scottish Railway (4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)) tracks here prior to the latter's adoption as standard gauge in 1892.

The footbridge had a direct connection into Gloucester Eastgate railway station until that station closed in 1975, due to level crossings affecting the city's road traffic. Eastgate station provided sharply curved through platforms on the Bristol-Birmingham (former Midland Railway) Line, avoiding the current problems with trains having to reverse.

The station is served by several operators.

Arriva Trains Wales operate an hourly local service between Maesteg, Cardiff Central and Gloucester.

Central Trains operate an hourly Cardiff-Nottingham "Citylink" service with 2 trains in the early morning stopping at Lydney, Chepstow, Caldicot and Severn Tunnel Junction.

First Great Western operate services to London Paddington and local services to Swindon via the Golden Valley Line, and an hourly Taunton & Bristol to Worcester & Great Malvern service.

Virgin Trains serve the city as part of their Cross-Country operations. However, only 1 train in each direction stops at Gloucester a day as this avoids the train having to reverse (Thus the intention of the new Gloucestershire Parkway station located on the main Bristol to Birmingham line just before the branch). Instead passengers for Gloucester have to change at Cheltenham Spa for a connecting service.

1 Current Services & Ticket Office Information
2 Greater Western Franchise New Timetable from December 2006
3 Further Service Changes at Gloucester
4 External links

[edit] Current Services & Ticket Office Information

Gloucester station is served on a Monday to Friday by:
> about 6 trains every hour
> a 2-hourly service to/from Ashchurch, Worcester & Great Malvern provided by First Great Western, former Wessex Trains routes
> an hourly service to/from Swindon with 2-hourly extentions to/from London, provided by First Great Western
> 1 train a day in each direction to/from Plymouth & Edinburgh by Virgin Trains
> an hourly service to/from Taunton & Bristol
> 1 slow (Arriva Trains Wales) and 1 fast (Central Trains CityLink) service an hour to Cardiff
> an hourly Central Trains CityLink service to/from Nottingham
> 3 trains an hour to/from Cheltenham Spa.

The station does have a ticket office, located just inside the Station entrance, which is open for the majority of the day 7 days a week:
Monday - Friday: 0600 to 2000
Saturday: 0600 to 1930
Sunday: 0900 to 2030

The station is also staffed for about 19 hours a day, opening at 0530 on Mondays to Saturdays and 0800 on Sundays.

Ticket Machines can be found in the booking hall itself.

Snacks & Drinks are also served in the cafe on platform 2.

[edit] Greater Western Franchise New Timetable from December 2006

First Great Western's new timetable has come into effect. It has bought in a number of improvements for train services at Gloucester, including:
> A new hourly clockface timetable between Cheltenham & Swindon, with a train every 2 hours during the day continuing to Reading & London, thus also giving an extra train an hour to/from Cheltenham. This timetable also gives Stonehouse, Stroud & Kemble a solid hourly train.
> All Weston-Super-Mare to Great Malvern local journeys will extend to Taunton with some to Exeter, giving an hourly sevice at Highbridge & Burnham and Bridgewater. A constant 2-hourly timetable to Ashchurch, Worcester & Great Malvern has been kept. A new hourly-clockface service at Cam & Dursley has also been introduced.

[edit] Further Service Changes at Gloucester

In November 2007, Central Trains and Virgin Cross-Country franchises will end and will join to become the Cross Country Franchise. The bidding process for this franchise is currently taking place.

[edit] External links

Train times and station information for Gloucester railway station from National Rail
Map and aerial photo of Gloucester railway station from Multimap.com

Preceding station		Following station
Lydney	Arriva Trains Wales Maesteg-Cardiff-Gloucester	Terminus
Lydney Limited Service in the early morning	Central Trains Cardiff-Nottingham	Cheltenham Spa
Newport	Central Trains Cardiff-Nottingham	Cheltenham Spa
Stonehouse	First Great Western Intercity services Golden Valley Line	Cheltenham Spa
Cam and Dursley	First Great Western Local services Taunton/Exeter - Great Malvern	Cheltenham Spa
Stonehouse	First Great Western Local services Golden Valley Line	Cheltenham Spa
Stonehouse	First Great Western Local services Cheltenham-Swindon-Westbury	Cheltenham Spa
Bristol Parkway	Virgin Trains Cross-Country Route Limited Service at Gloucester 1 train a day in each direction	Cheltenham Spa

Railway stations in Gloucestershire
Mainline:	Cheltenham Spa - Gloucester
On the Golden Valley Line:	Kemble - Stonehouse - Stroud
On the Bristol-Birmingham Line:	Ashchurch for Tewkesbury - Cam and Dursley
Others:	Lydney - Moreton-in-Marsh
Heritage railway stations in Gloucestershire
Dean Forest Railway:	Lydney Junction - Lydney Town - Norchard - Parkend - St Mary's Halt - Whitecroft
Glos-Warks Railway:	Cheltenham Racecourse - Gotherington - Toddington - Winchcombe
Railway stations in Gloucestershire