Editing Cheltenham (section)

===Railways===
[[File:Cheltenham Spa Railway Station.jpg|thumb|right|The entrance of Cheltenham Spa station]]
[[Cheltenham Spa railway station]] is a stop on the [[Cross Country Route|Bristol-Birmingham main line]]. It is located to the west of the [[Montpellier, Cheltenham|Montpellier]] area of the town and is known locally as ''Lansdown''.

The station is served by three [[train operating companies]]:
* [[CrossCountry]] operates long-distance services between the [[South West England|South West]], [[South Wales]], the [[Midlands]], the [[North West England|North West]], the [[North East England|North East]] and [[Scotland]].<ref> {{Cite web |work=CrossCountry |title=Timetables |date=10 December 2023 |access-date=11 December 2023 |url= https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-updates-information/train-timetables |quote=}}</ref>
* [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] connects the town with {{rws|Bristol Temple Meads}}, {{rws|Worcester Foregate Street}}, {{rws|Gloucester}}, {{rws|Swindon}} and [[London Paddington station|London Paddington]].<ref> {{Cite web |work=Great Western Railway |title=Train Times |date=10 December 2023 |access-date=11 December 2023 |url= https://www.gwr.com/travel-information/train-times |quote=}}</ref> 
* [[Transport for Wales]] operates services between Cheltenham Spa and South Wales, usually running through to Maesteg via Gloucester, Chepstow, Newport, Cardiff Central and Bridgend.

The ''[[Cheltenham Spa Express]]'', once known as the ''Cheltenham Flyer'', is a [[List of named passenger trains of the United Kingdom|named passenger train]] connecting Cheltenham with London. The former Cheltenham Flyer was, for a time, the fastest passenger train in scheduled service in the world.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df_N0gJhKI8 | title='The World's fastest train'... The Cheltenham Flyer 1931 | website=[[YouTube]] | date=29 April 2021 }}</ref> 

At its peak, the town had eight railway stations,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/history/forgotten-railway-stations-gloucestershire-7470012 | title=The forgotten railway stations of Gloucestershire | date=21 August 2022 }}</ref> only one of which survives. It is a matter of local controversy that trains are not run directly to London but instead via Gloucester; although routes do exist for a direct and therefore much faster service, as demonstrated during 2023 when a bridge closure in Oxfordshire led to some services to Hereford stopping at Cheltenham.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/cotswolds-rail-passengers-face-long-8369834 | title=Closure of key Cotswold bridge used by 240 trains a day | date=20 April 2023 }}</ref>

[[File:Cheltenham racecourse.JPG|thumb|Cheltenham Racecourse station platforms]]
The restored [[Cheltenham Racecourse railway station]] is the southern terminus of the [[heritage railway|heritage]] [[Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway]]. The [[Honeybourne Line]] was extended northwards to [[Broadway railway station|Broadway]] in 2018,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gwsr.com/Opening_to_Broadway__30_March_to_2_April_2018--post--45.html |title=Opening to Broadway – 30 March to 2 April 2018 |access-date=2 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701030800/https://www.gwsr.com/Opening_to_Broadway__30_March_to_2_April_2018--post--45.html |archive-date=1 July 2018 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> with an aspiration to extend the line southwards to Cheltenham Spa where the line originally branched off from the Bristol to Birmingham main line.