Additional early morning Ashchurch service to London

Tuesday 11 December

First Great Western has added an extra stop at Ashchurch on the Worcester to London line creating an additional direct service to London

Working alongside Gloucestershire County Council, First Great Western agreed to add in the extra stop at Ashchurch, on the 05.21 Worcester to Paddington, via Cheltenham Spa service, creating a direct 05.40 Ashchurch to London Paddington service.

Regional Manager, West of England Julian Crow said:

“First Great Western has worked hard with Gloucestershire County Council and the Ashchurch, Tewkesbury and District Rail Promotion Group to improve and promote services on this route.

“This additional stop will allow those in Ashchurch and nearby Tewksbury an additional early morning, direct service to London arriving at 08.00.”

The service began on Monday 10 December and will run on weekdays as part of a year long trial.

Chas Fellows, Cabinet Member for Economy and Environment at Gloucestershire County Council said:

“The new stop in Ashchurch will offer Tewkesbury and Bishops Cleeve residents the opportunity to catch a direct early morning train to London. It will be reviewed after 12 months and if successful we hope it will be taken on by the Great Western franchise.”

Gordon Shurmer, County Councillor for Ashchurch, Cleeve and Oxenton Hill said:

“This new direct early morning train service to London from Ashchurch is excellent news for the local community. It will help local commuters who previously had to drive elsewhere to pick up a service and also helps address the rural isolation that some residents suffer.”