Cheltenham Festival bookings

Race goers from across Britain, Ireland and mainland Europe will flock to the historic Cheltenham Racecourse between Tuesday 15th and Friday 18th March and are being advised to avoid the expected congestion by taking the train and the option of a 'bus add-on' ticket - available to buy via crosscountrytrains.co.uk. This 'bus add-on' ticket can be used on the regular Stagecoach-operated shuttle bus service that will be operating between the station and the racecourse.

The train operator has also announced they will once again be operating extra services and extended trains to the popular race meet. Aside from CrossCountry's 94 daily scheduled services stopping at Cheltenham, during race week there will be an additional two trains per day operating south from Derby (via Birmingham New Street) and north from Bristol Temple Meads.

Andy Cooper, CrossCountry's Managing Director said; "The Cheltenham Festival is a highlight in the national racing calendar so it makes sense for us to operate extra services and larger trains throughout that week. We are well prepared for the extra customers and hope everyone planning to travel with us will take the hassle-free option of booking their Cheltenham train and bus add-on tickets through our website. Tickets are now available to book for March and we are looking forward to transporting as many race goers as possible to Cheltenham for what promises to be yet another fantastic four days."

For Cheltenham train arrival and departure times, and to book Cheltenham tickets in advance, log on to crosscountrytrains.co.uk

For more information please call the CrossCountry Press Office on 0121 2006115 or email [email protected]

Notes to editors

CrossCountry started operating on 11 November 2007. The franchise, which is the most extensive in the UK, will run until 31 March 2016. For further information on CrossCountry services and future franchise plans log on to www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk.

CrossCountry is part of the Arriva group, which is owned by Deutsche Bahn. Arriva is a leading pan-European public transport operators with more than 42,000 employees and operations across 12 European countries. The link to Arriva is www.arriva.co.uk. The link to Deutsche Bahn is www.deutschebahn.com.

CrossCountry is now live on Facebook at facebook.com/crosscountrytrains.

Follow CrossCountry on Twitter via twitter.com/crosscountryuk.

CrossCountry facts and figures

STATIONS SERVED: 118
ROUTE MILES: 1,654
WEEKDAY SERVICES: 293
PASSENGERS CARRIED: Over 30 million passenger journeys a year anticipated
ANNUAL TRAIN MILEAGE: Approximately 16 million
EMPLOYEES: Approximately 1,700
LONGEST TRAIN SERVICE: 08.20 Aberdeen to Penzance (774 miles)

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Contact Information

CrossCountry Press Office: [email protected]

About CrossCountry

CrossCountry is a long-distance passenger train operator, with a network stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance and from Stansted to Cardiff and calling at over 100 stations. Based in Birmingham, CrossCountry connects seven of Britain’s 10 largest cities and delivers 240 services every weekday, equating to over 42 million passenger journeys each year.

For further information on CrossCountry services, visit crosscountrytrains.co.uk or visit one of our social media platforms via X @crosscountryuk or Facebook at facebook.com/crosscountrytrains