CrossCountry Travel Advisory for the Cheltenham Races

• CrossCountry services will be much busier than normal from Tuesday 14 March until Friday 17 March
• There will be a significantly reduced service on Thursday 16 March due to planned RMT strike action. Customers are advised to avoid travelling by train if at all possible
• Customers are advised to plan ahead and check the website for the latest information

CrossCountry will be running services to the Cheltenham Festival but warns there will be an extremely limited service on Thursday 16 March due to planned strike action.

There will be crowd control measures at Birmingham New Street, Cheltenham Spa and Bristol Temple Meads stations with queuing systems in place between 08:00 and 13:00 on festival dates for customers travelling towards Cheltenham Spa. Customers are advised to allow extra time when travelling through the stations and be aware of announcements and station signage to direct towards Cheltenham Spa services.

On Thursday 16 March, a strike day, CrossCountry services will run from 0700 until approximately 1900 with services likely to be extremely busy due to the Races.

Huw Margetts, Regional Director for West and Wales at CrossCountry said: “We’re doing everything we can to support customers travelling to the races so that they have an enjoyable day out. However, we are running a significantly reduced timetable on Thursday 16 March due to the planned RMT strike action and services are likely to be incredibly busy.

“We strongly advise customers to make other travel arrangements on that day if at all possible. If travelling by train, we advise allowing plenty of time and leaving Cheltenham in good time ahead of the last service at 1915.”

Customers should check journey planners ahead prior to travelling and allow extra time for their journeys. For more information, please visit https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-updates-information/cheltenham-festival.

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