Passengers heading to Cheltenham Festival next week have been issued key travel tips to help them stay ahead of the pack.

Figures recorded during last year’s race meet show a huge increase in people on train services during the festival, with 12,700 extra people travelling to Cheltenham Spa on rail services compared to a regular week. Similar numbers are expected to travel by train this year from stations including Birmingham New Street to the world-famous race meet which runs from Tuesday 10 March to Friday 13 March.

Railway racegoers looking forward to a trip to Cheltenham are encouraged to: 

  • plan their journeys 
  • check before they travel, and 
  • allow extra time to catch their train 

Paddy Power, Network Rail’s Central Route top travel tipster and head of stations and passenger experience, said: “Cheltenham Festival is an amazing event and we are very excited to welcome everyone travelling through Birmingham New Street.

“Our top tips for success this year are very simple: plan ahead and know what train you’re catching; allow more time than usual because it’s likely to be busy; and check before you travel for the most up-to-date information. We hope everyone has a great time at the races.” 

Lauren Fleming, CrossCountry’s events and resilience manager, added: “We’re ready to help racegoers get to Cheltenham again this year, but there’s a few things they should remember to stop them falling at the first hurdle: they should check before travelling and leave extra time for journeys, especially on the way home, as services between Birmingham and Cheltenham will be extremely busy and queuing systems will be in place at some stations. 

“We’d also ask those arriving at the festival by rail to remain respectful to railway colleagues – or risk disqualification!” Additional staff will be on hand at Birmingham New Street station to help passengers throughout the week. 

The station team has been planning for weeks to get ready for the thousands of extra passengers who use the station to get to Cheltenham Racecourse. A queuing system may be in use to avoid any jockeying for position, but passengers shouldn’t need to wait for long with up to four services an hour direct to Cheltenham.