Breaking:Travel chaos on the route to Cheltenham
Racegoers heading to the Cheltenham Festival were delayed this morning after trespassers on the line at Gloucester left trains – and thousands of punters – stranded.
Travellers were delayed by up to an hour after trains ground to a halt at 9.30am until police tracked down a trespasser ‘who had been hiding in bushes’, one affected racegoer said.
CrossCountry services between Gloucester and Birmingham New Street, and between Cardiff Central and Nottingham were amongst those affected.
Great Western Railway’s services from Bristol Temple Meads to Worcester and from London Paddington to Cheltenham, as well as Transport for Wales trains between Cardiff Central and Cheltenham, were also affected.
‘We’ve been stuck just outside Cheltenham station for an hour,’ a racegoer said. ‘(There are) intruders on the track, police dealing with it.’
All lines were reopened by 11.45am but the National Rail website said disruption was expected until 1pm, just 20 minutes before the Festival’s first race.
A British Transport Police spokesman said: ‘Officers were called at around 9:33am today (10 March) to reports of a trespasser near Horton Road level crossing.
‘A man was located and detained by officers. He is currently being assessed by paramedics.’
