175 years of trains at Cheltenham Lansdown station - 1840 to 2015

With two railways - the standard gauge Birmingham & Gloucester and the broad gauge Cheltenham & Great Western Union - planning to serve Cheltenham,there were proposals for a joint station before any train had ever run, but it never happened, to the detriment of passengers to this day, some might say.

Concerning the GWR's station at St James, an extensive article in 'The Railway Archive' magazine issue 43, June 2014, 'The Broad Gauge in Cheltenham 1844 - 1872' by Roger Langley covers the history of the standard and broad gauge lines between Gloucester and Cheltenham.  

Wednesday 24 June 2015 was an auspicious anniversary date in the history of Cheltenham Spa railway station. It was exactly 175 years to the day since the first public train, operated by the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway, departed from the station and headed  towards Ashchurch, going on to Bromsgrove, from where passengers had to endure road transport to get into Birmingham.While the B & G line between Cheltenham and Gloucester opened in November 1840, the railway onwards from Bromsgrove opened in stages, and it was 17 August 1841 before Birmingham & Gloucester trains entered Curzon Street station in Birmingham.

Passengers on that first day, Wednesday 24 June 1840, would be totally bemused by the sights and sounds of our life now, but might find some comfort in recognising large parts of the railway station as dating from their era. Today's travellers are probably not so impressed that a lot of the station layout dates back to 1840 and there have been many calls for complete modernisation, but not a great deal has happened in 175 years to change the basic structure.  The station handles far more trains and passengers – or is that customers - than was dreamt possible in 1840, but it manages to cope, which is a tribute to the pioneers of railway building. People nowadays complain that it is in the wrong location, too far from the town centre and so on, but spare a thought for those hardy souls who had to make their way to the station in 1840. 

From the start of 1845 the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway was worked as one with the Bristol & Gloucester Railway. There was a problem though as the former was standard gauge, 4 foot 8.5 inches, and the latter broad gauge, that is Brunel's 7 foot. Gloucester saw scenes of chaos as passengers and goods transferred from one to the other, leading to questions in Parliament and the eventual adoption of the 4 foot  8.5 inches wide tracks as the standard for railways on the UK mainland. The Midland Railway worked both lines from May 1845, with the companies amalgamating in 1846. But it was May 1854 before trains between Bristol and Gloucester ran on the standard gauge, making possible through carriages and trains to Birmingham and beyond. Another important development was the opening of Birmingham New Street station on 1 June 1854.

The early history of Lansdown, extracted from my book Steam Routes Around Cheltenham, published in 1993.The station only became known as Cheltenham Lansdown in more recent years, it was just 'Cheltenham' in timetables in 1860,1902 and 1914. Also sometimes known as 'Queens Road'.

The main station building - in 1840 and 2015 - is a lovely Regency specimen designed by Samuel Whitfield Daukes, the architect engaged by the Birmingham & Gloucester Railway between 1839 and 1842, who was also responsible for many of Cheltenham’s fine villas. It originally had this spectacular stone portico at the front supported on a hefty row of Doric columns. Regrettably the powers-that-be had it removed in 1961.^^ A fine collection of motor cars - mostly taxis - await passengers.

Now a look at services over the years. 

The Gloucester - Birmingham train service in November 1840 operated four times a day at 8.21am, 11.51am, 1.51pm and 5.21pm from Cheltenham, taking just over two hours to get to the then terminus at Camp Hill. But what a great advance - you could leave Cheltenham at 8.21am, get to Camp Hill at 10.45, return from there at 5.30pm, back into Cheltenham at 7.53pm. How long would that journey have taken before the railway? Worcester was reached by changing onto a road coach at Spetchley.There were also four local trains daily between Cheltenham and Gloucester.

On 14 November 1842 through carriages from Gloucester and Cheltenham to London Euston via Birmingham Curzon Street were introduced, operated jointly by the Birmingham & Gloucester and London & Birmingham Railways. The up train left Gloucester at 1pm, with arrival in Euston at 9pm. From Euston the carriages departed at 9.45am with arrival in Gloucester at 5.15pm. Not that fast, but a huge improvement in the time it took before railways came along. Up until nationalisation in 1948, it was possible to go from Cheltenham to London via Birmingham for the same fare as the usual route through Swindon.

In the early years, there were no trains on Sundays, due to protests by the Rector of Cheltenham, Francis Close.

A Parliamentary Act of 1846 enabled the running of trains from Lansdown on Sundays. It was 1852 before Birmingham & Gloucester trains traversed the loop between Abbot's Wood Junction and Stoke Works Junction, thus serving Worcester Shrub Hill. Before that all trains used the 'Old Road' through Spetchley, whose station became redundant, closing to passengers in 1855.

The Midland Railway time table from June 1860 shows the service between Birmingham and Bristol Temple Meads through Cheltenham when all trains travelled via the Camp Hill line* out of Birmingham and on through Worcester:

Down Trains

At 4.26am was the mail train which left Birmingham at 2.45am and carried on to Gloucester and Bristol, arriving there at 5.55am. The 7.5am Government train, so called because it was regulated to charge one penny per mile for the fare, was an all stations stopper, at Cheltenham at 9.47am. The morning fast left Birmingham at 9.15am and Cheltenham at 10.52am. At 12.21pm was the 10am from Birmingham, another stopper.

The next train was the 1.35pm from Birmingham, at Cheltenham at 3.40pm. The fast was 4.25pm from Birmingham, departing Cheltenham 6.12pm. At 4.50pm the stopper left Birmingham, due Cheltenham at 7.14pm. Last passenger of the day was another Government train, 7.10pm from Birmingham, at Cheltenham 9.54pm, only going as far as Gloucester.

Up Trains

The mail train which left Bristol at 12.45am only went as far as Gloucester, due there at 2am. So the first train from Cheltenham at 6.40am was the 6.20am Government train from Gloucester.The 6.35am stopper off Bristol departed at 8.48am. The fast left Bristol at 8am, Cheltenham at 9.38am, with arrival in Birmingham at 11.20am. The 11.20am ex Bristol departed Cheltenham at 1.15pm, due Birmingham at 3.25pm.

Cheltenham's next up service left at 3.32pm, off Bristol at 1.25pm, and into Birmingham at 5.55pm. The fast left Bristol at 3.10pm, Cheltenham at 4.40pm, getting to New Street at 6.20pm. The Government train from Bristol at 4.10pm departed Cheltenham at 6.29pm. Last up train of the day was the 6.50pm ex-Bristol mail, due away from Cheltenham at 8.39pm and arriving in Birmingham at 10.30pm. 

A note in the time table stated that: 'Neither Private Carriages nor Horses are taken by Fast and Mail trains.'

A very early railway photograph, from the autumn of 1863, depicting a down train at the station. Many of the station features seen here are recognisable today, though obviously the trains have changed somewhat! The large building at ground level on the right was the goods shed, demolished in the late nineteenth century to make way for a bay platform used for MSWJR trains when these started using the station in 1890. The bay has been and gone, but most of the main station building still exists. The tracks curve between the two platforms which are still in their original positions though extended these days to accommodate longer trains. Photo P Witts collection

A view looking into the station from the down platform, in late Victorian or Edwardian days, judging from the clothes on display. Note the milk churns on the right. The view itself is not much changed today.

A view including the new, but somewhat short, south end bay platforms, brought into use in January 1900. There was a station sign, visible in this picture, on the wall which included the words 'CHANGE HERE FOR PARIS'. This was possible by catching an MSWJR train to Southampton for the boat to the Continent. There were also through carriages from the North of England which were transferred here to MSWJR services.

The Cheltenham Examiner newspaper reported that a new station at Tewkesbury Road Bridge opened on Monday 1 September 1862, with three trains to Bristol and three to Birmingham calling there on weekdays. A month later, the station name was changed to Cheltenham High Street(). It was about a mile north of Lansdown station and adjacent to the area which became the Midland Railway's main goods depot for Cheltenham.

Around 1868 the proposal of the Midland Railway to renovate its station at Lansdown prompted the Improvement Commissioners to suggest to Cheltenham Borough Council  that the Company and the Great Western Railway co-operate to build a single Central Station.  A Special (Midland Railway Station) Committee was set up by the Council in 1874 to consider the possibility of one central station but, sensible as this seemed, it never happened. Where would it have been sited, one wonders. It would need to be a through station catering for all routes to avoid the operating problems that bedevil nearby Gloucester to this day, with most Birmingham - Bristol express services  bypassing the city, prompting recent proposals to build a completely new station there.

Instead the GWR built its own route from Birmingham via Honeybourne and constructed its own through station at Malvern Road - near Lansdown but not close enough if you were a passenger with luggage who had to transfer between the two stations.

Information about services in the early 1900s, at the height of through carriage working, is contained in the article 'Midland Railway Services in 1910'.

The station saw lots of military activity during the First World War, here is one report from the Cheltenham Chronicle: 'On Monday 26 April 1915 the 9th Battalion  Gloucester Regiment, which had been billeted in Cheltenham for some months, and had come to be looked on as 'Cheltenham's Own' left for Fovant near Salisbury, there to continue and complete its training on the Plain. Thousands of Cheltonians assembled outside the Midland Railway station, and gave the Regiment an affectionate farewell.'

Below: Troops, families and well-wishers at Lansdown station during the Great War.

In the British Railways 1955/56 timetable, regular weekday passenger and parcel services, all steam worked, were as follows:

Down Trains

The early hours saw overnight trains which are no longer a feature of services in 2015. Arriving at 12.15am was the 10.5pm Birmingham - Bristol parcels, which spent 15 minutes at Lansdown. Parcels traffic was important in those days.There was a class 'A' passenger from Bradford, leaving there around 9pm which got to Lansdown about 3am, going on to Bristol, due in at 4.36am. The 12.40am Leicester to Bath Green Park parcels working spent nearly 15 minutes doing its business at Lansdown from 3.30am. The important Newcastle - Bristol mail train with limited passenger accommodation was next, leaving the former at 7.5pm, into Lansdown at 3.55am.The 2.15am Derby - Bristol parcels spent 20 minutes at the station, leaving at 5.33am. The train was an erratic timekeeper, I sometimes saw it on the way to school! Another important working was the Fish train, 5.53am from Birmingham New Street to Gloucester, into Lansdown at 7.37am. This brought fresh fish from northern and eastern ports for local fishmongers, so it was important to be on schedule. On the few occasions I saw it, the loco was a 2P 4-4-0 with a short train of vans. The smell of fish pervaded the station for quite a while after departure! All these services came down via Worcester.

The first daytime passenger started at Worcester Shrub Hill, arriving at Lansdown at 8.36, departing at 8.40am.Motive power was a GW type, 'Mogul 2-6-0 or 2-6-2T. A four minute 'dwell' time would be unthinkable on today's railway. The first express was the 6.10am Derby - Bristol, a 'limited load' train, about 6 or 7 carriages. After stopping at Bromsgrove, there was a period in later steam days when it covered the 31 miles to Lansdown in even time - 31 minutes - making it the fastest service of the day on that section. Loco was usually a Stanier 'Black Five' 4-6-0, sometimes a 'Jubilee' 4-6-0. Another stopper followed , the all stations 7am from New Street to Bristol Temple Meads, via Worcester which took a leisurely 4 hours 16 minutes for the journey. One noteworthy feature was the regular use for some time of a Fairburn 2-6-4T, 42186 of 21B Bournville, working throughout,a journey of around 91 miles, quite a distance for a tank loco. At 10am was the departure of the Cheltenham Lansdown to Southampton passenger over the MSWJ via Cirencester, Swindon Town and Andover. The loco was usually a 'Manor 4-6-0 - or a GW 'Mogul 2-6-0 - from Malvern Road shed, worked throughout by Malvern Road men. The 7.35am Nottingham - Bristol also had regular power, in the form of the only 'Patriot' 4-6-0 shedded on the Leeds - Bristol route at the time, 45509 The Derbyshire Yeomanry, which hailed appropriately enough from 17A Derby. The loco had a reputation as an indifferent performer. After this departed at 10.44am, there was nothing passenger-wise until 12.20pm when the 8.6am from Sheffield to Gloucester arrived, operating as a stopping service from Birmingham via Worcester. This was closely followed by the first real long distance express in the daytime, the 7.35am from Bradford to Bristol, another 'limited load' train, which took 59 minutes non-stop from New Street to Lansdown, arriving at 12.26pm. This was only four minutes after the 8.6am Sheffield departed, so some smart operation was called for - not at all guaranteed in those days! 

After lunch, the first train was the 10.20am Manchester London Road to Bournemouth West, the 'Pines Express' which went down to Bath and then over the Somerset & Dorset route. In Lansdown from 1.43pm to 1.50pm, it connected into the 2pm from Lansdown to Southampton Terminus, which went over another much-missed cross-country line, the Midland & South Western Junction. In former years, there were through carriages from Manchester, Sheffield and other places which got shunted at Lansdown onto the MSWJ train. A few minutes after departure of the MSWJ train at 2pm - which still carried a class 'A' express headcode -  the 12.15pm from New Street to Gloucester via Worcester arrived, usually hauled by a 'Compound' 4-4-0. 2.34pm witnessed the arrival of the important 8.15am Newcastle - Cardiff and Bristol express, often heavily loaded and sometimes double-headed as a consequence. The Bristol portion was detached at Gloucester Central with the main train carrying on to Cardiff. In later years, the Bristol portion became a separate train from the north. Just ten minutes later came the 'Devonian' 9.25am Bradford - Paignton, normally a well-kept 'Jubilee' from Bristol Barrow Road or Leeds Holbeck depots. Crews worked throughout between Leeds and Bristol, working home the next day.

There was nothing then until teatime, with the appearance of the 12.30pm York - Bristol express at 5pm. This stopped at Ashchurch at 4.47pm and was well used by workers going home to Cheltenham and Gloucester from the Dowty factories there. It also provided a connection into the 5.25pm Lansdown to Andover passenger over the MSWJ. Incidentally none of the MSWJ trains used the bay platform specially built in the late nineteenth century for the services; the train sat in Alston sidings until drawn into the down platform. The 4.48pm from Worcester provided a stopping service from stations en route. Parcels traffic came to the fore again with the 1.58pm Derby - Bristol occupying the platform from 5.51pm to 6.4pm - though the working was a bit wayward in its timekeeping, so was often well out of its scheduled path. The 4.35pm from New Street was again well patronised by commuters and students returning from college in Birmingham. Travelling via Worcester, it was a pretty slow journey to Cheltenham, arriving at 6.26pm. The 12.40pm Newcastle - Bristol express came in at 7.7pm, having left New Street at 6pm, after the 5.45pm stopper to Bristol which took two hours to get to Lansdown.  Nominally a class 'A' train but really a stopper was the 5.15pm Sheffield to Gloucester, which arrived at Lansdown at 9.32pm. The last express of the day was the 4.45pm Bradford - Bristol, due in at 10.41pm, which carried mails from Derby. Apart from stopping at Ashchurch, it also made an unadvertised five minute stop at Wadborough - for what reason I do not know and would like to find out why. Was it connected with the mails?

Up Trains

First train in the up direction was at 1.6am, the heavily loaded 11.45pm Bristol Temple Meads to Derby parcels, which had ten minutes at Lansdown. Usual motive power was a 'Jubilee' 4-6-0. The 1.10am Bristol – Sheffield mail train arrived at 2.27 and departed at 2.34am. I caught this a few times in later years and had to hang around at Birmingham New Street from arrival at 4am for three hours to get the first train to somewhere like Leicester or Crewe. The mail was closely followed by the 2.35am Gloucester Eastgate – Sheffield parcels. There was then a long gap until the 6.53 Gloucester Eastgate to New Street slow passenger, which departed Lansdown at 7.17am, arriving in Birmingham at 9.28am - I did say slow! It stopped at every station via Worcester except Fernhill Heath and Bournville. The 7.50am Eastgate – New Street stopper was a bit faster, leaving Lansdown at 8.7am, into New Street at 9.57am, running non-stop from Barnt Green. The first daytime express was the 7.35am Bristol – Bradford, away from Cheltenham at 8.54am, stopping at Ashchurch, then to New Street for arrival at 10.4am. The 8.30am Cardiff – Newcastle express added a portion from Bristol at Gloucester. It left Lansdown at 10.23am and was often heavy enough to be double-headed, usually a 2P or Compound 4-4-0 and a 'Jubilee', 'Black Five' 4-6-0 or BR Standard class 5 4-6-0. The shortish platforms at Lansdown meant up trains often needed to draw forward to get the rear coaches on the platform, thus causing delay - this train had a six minute stop in the timetable. Five minutes after the Newcastle departed the 10.14am Eastgate – Worcester Shrub Hill stopper arrived, usually an ex-GW loco which worked down earlier in the morning. The first arrival from the MSWJ route was due at 10.48am, this was the 7.50am ex Andover. The 10.20 Bristol – Newcastle express came in at 11.31am; that was followed by the 11.28am Eastgate – Birmingham slow.

In the afternoon, the 9.45am Bournemouth – Manchester arrived at 1.11pm. This was the 'Pines Express' which had travelled over the Somerset & Dorset line.  The 10.10am from Southampton Terminus over the MSWJ – a class 'A' train - arrived at 1.35pm – not much use if you wanted to get to Manchester, but it did connect with the 'Devonian' ,  9.15am Paignton – Bradford, into Lansdown at 1.49pm. The standard time from Cheltenham to Birmingham for up expresses was 65 minutes, which included three minutes recovery time and a stop at Bromsgrove for bankers to buffer up at the rear of the train and assist up the two miles long 1 in 37 Lickey Incline. Virtually every passenger train had at least one banker, even those with only three or four coaches – more to do with the fear of couplings breaking and trains running away down the bank, as most locos could cope with no problem on light loads up such a gradient. Experiments were carried out on the incline in the 1950s with heavier loads going up unassisted, but nothing changed. The 1.50pm Eastgate – Worcester – New Street stopper came next, shortly after the 'Devonian'. It was 3.25pm when the 2.15pm Bristol – York arrived, leaving at 3.30pm. The 4.17pm Eastgate – New Street stopper was next, departing at 4.37.

Another Bristol – York was due in Lansdown at 5.58pm – this was the return working for 45509 The Derbyshire Yeomanry mentioned in the down trains section. There were two evening stoppers from Bristol, the 5.15pm - with the loco off the 7am ex New Street - , in Cheltenham at 7.8pm, and the 6.30pm, in at 8.15pm. Just ahead of the latter came the 4.36pm from Southampton Terminus, hauled by the loco which went out on the MSWJ train at 10am. One of the most important passengers of the day was the 7.20pm Bristol – Newcastle mails, arriving at 8.38pm. It was possible to go onto the platform and post a letter into one of the Royal Mail sorting carriages! This train always seemed to have draw up due to its length, though allowed just six minutes at Lansdown. On rare occasions, it could be double-headed and often one loco would need to take water, causing delay. The 8pm Bristol –Leeds parcels came in just before 10pm and stayed 22 minutes! That was it for up passenger and parcels workings.

This was the basic service pattern. There were day excursions like seaside specials and holiday relief trains, especially on Fridays and at peak periods such as Christmas and Easter. Then there were summer Saturdays when many, many extra trains operated, starting with down trains from late Friday night and throughout the early hours of Saturday. Line capacity was stretched to the limit, with any delay having a serious knock-on effect over a very wide area.  Not all summer extras stopped at Lansdown.

1961 - Main line diesels arrive at Lansdown

1964/65 - Platforms lengthened

One of the operating problems at Lansdown was the relative shortness of the two platforms compared with the length of trains stopping there. Expresses often had to draw up to bring the rear coaches alongside the platform for passengers to get on and off, causing trains to 'dwell' (to use today's terminology)  for several minutes. It was even worse in steam days on a double-headed train if both locos needed to take water at the single water column, causing more delay.  The platforms were eventually lengthened, on the up side in December 1964 and the down in October 1965, by removing the up and down sidings at the Lansdown Junction end of the station. This led to Cheltenham - London services starting and terminating at Lansdown rather than St James, which enabled closure of the latter at the beginning of 1966, with all passenger services transferred to Lansdown.^

Unlike bigger stations, there are no goods lines, so passengers need to stand well back while heavy freight trains thunder past the platforms.

Services in 2015 (updated in 2024)

A look now at current day services at Lansdown, all provided by private train operating companies since the demise of British Rail.The station is operated by First Great Western, one of the train operating companies. FGW provides various services with others operated by Arriva Cross Country and Arriva Trains Wales+. Virgin used to work the Cross Country sector until losing the franchise.

I am not aware of any regularly scheduled passenger trains nowadays that pass through Lansdown without stopping. In bygone years, some trains did not stop, including, in 1965 for example, the up and down 'Devonian'; there were others, particularly Summer extras.

A typical weekday was Thursday 30 April 2015. On the up side, that is going north and using Platform 2, there were 54 through trains and another 27 that terminated at Lansdown. On the down, Platform 1, were 27 trains starting here and 57 through trains, giving a total in the 24 hours of 165 passenger trains.Services that start and terminate at Lansdown include those to and from London Paddington, also to and from Maesteg via Cardiff. Years ago St James was the terminus for London and South Wales services. The sidings at Alston just outside Lansdown are in daily use by these terminating services, long after trains over the MSWJ, for which Lansdown was the terminus, have ceased.

Though the MSWJ is now just a memory,it is still possible to get on a train at Southampton and get off at Lansdown without changing.The current 08.27 from Southampton Central arrives in Lansdown at 11.47, a journey time of 3 hours 20 minutes via Salisbury, Westbury, Bath and Bristol. A hundred years earlier the 10.5am from Southampton Terminus over the MSW took just 2 hours 40 minutes to get to Lansdown, via Andover, Marlborough, Swindon and Cirencester (thanks to Mike Barnsley for this information). So the journey today takes longer than a hundred years ago - progress not!

In BR steam days there were through trains between Newcastle and Bristol and Cardiff - in 2015 there was an Aberdeen - Plymouth service via Newcastle and Bristol. These services were run by the BR 125mph HST High Speed Trains starting in the late 1970s. Whilst newer types have come along since privatisation in the 1990s, it is pleasing that some cross-country trains were operated by HSTs until mid September 2023 including Leeds to Plymouth. And though HSTs no longer operated the GWR's Cheltenham - Paddington services 1n 2023, the shorter HST 'Castle' class sets occasionally worked some Bristol- Worcester turns with the last time probably being 16 November 2023 when I did a round trip in an HST: Cheltenham - Worcester Foregate Street - Bristol Temple Meads - Cheltenham. The unit I caught actually worked through to Weston - Super-Mare and return to Temple Meads as well on that day. 

A journey from Cheltenham to Great Malvern was possible until 1952 by changing at Ashchurch and getting the branch train via Tewkesbury and Upton-on-Severn. Nowadays there are several trains a day between the two via Worcester - again taking about the same time as steam days. Some of the Great Malvern trains go to or come from Brighton or Weymouth - only possible in steam days with one or more changes of train. These current services stop at virtually every station en route - in a two car unit, not the most comfortable way to travel long distances!

Possibly the most unlikely through train in 2015 is service 1L00 from Gloucester to Stansted Airport, a real cross country ramble, leaving Lansdown at 07.18, calling at Ashchurch, Bromsgrove, University, Birmingham New Street, Coleshill Parkway, Nuneaton, Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Oakham, Stamford, Peterborough, March,Ely, Cambridge, Audley End and arriving at Stansted Airport at 11.40. A fascinating journey if you are a railway enthusiast, connecting with the West Coast main line at Nuneaton; Midland main line at Leicester; East Coast main line at Peterborough; and Great Eastern main line at Cambridge.The nearest equivalent in steam days was a pre-war Summer only Gloucester - Lowestoft service - that would have been another interesting journey!

Another through train takes the traveller from Lansdown to Weymouth, again not possible in steam days without a change or two, while Brighton is also possible without changing. Going over the border to Scotland, Aberdeen is reachable without change - though you need plenty of stamina for these long, crowded journeys.

A big difference nowadays compared with earlier years is the sheer number of services through Cheltenham on the Birmingham - Bristol line.

On the other hand, the frequency of through Cheltenham to London services had not altered that much over the years, changing at Swindon was often  still necessary. In late 2017, Lansdown's platforms were  lengthened to accomodate the new IEP - Intercity Express Programme - units, which finally happened in December 2019 with hourly services to and from Paddington.

Numerous services from the Gloucester direction terminate at Lansdown's up platform, mostly stabling at Alstone carriage sidings on the down side just north of the station. Some terminating units go to Cheltenham High Street loop, before crossing to the down line and returning to the station. 

For several years  the old trackbed from the site of St James station, on through the Malvern Road station site to Lansdown station has been a popular footpath and cycle route. The Lansdown car park extension in 2020/21 finally did away with the remains of the earth bank which used to separate the Midland area from the GWR line out of Malvern Road and was a useful vantage point for trainspotters and photographers. A new pedestrian entrance off Queen's Road was completed in 2021, which is in almost the same spot as one which existed over a century earlier, but was bricked up by the 1950s. For many years it was possible to use the footbridges over the station platforms as a public path, but the advent of ticket gates has put a stop to that - at least when they are closed....

Lansdown was the first railway station in Cheltenham and has outlived the other two main stations - Malvern Road and St James - which came in later years, but closed at the beginning of 1966.There were proposals back in the 1860s for a central station in Cheltenham, but nothing happened. Plans were outlined in recent times to provide new platforms for terminating trains, on the Honeybourne line trackbed alongside Lansdown, but the chances of that appear slim.

Footnotes:

The Cheltenham Local History Society newsletter had this fascinating article on proposed railways for Cheltenham at the height of the 1840's 'Railway Mania' https://www.cheltlocalhistory.org.uk/journal/J26.pdf

^^ Acknowledgement to https://cheltonia.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/cheltenham-spa-railway-station/

* Trains to and from Cheltenham used the Camp Hill route until 1885 when the Birmingham West Suburban Railway from King's Norton through Bournville, Selly Oak, University and Five Ways to New Street was opened. In 2015 some passenger trains - particularly ones going to or coming from the north-west - and all freights still use the Camp Hill line.

() It closed to passengers on and from 1 July 1910.

+ London Midland had a solitary train through Lansdown in 2015 - 1V30 which left Birmingham New Street at 23.00 on Friday nights only, stopping at University, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Worcester, Ashchurch, before pausing at Lansdown at nine minutes past midnight Saturday morning, arriving in Gloucester at 00.20. There did not appear to be a return, so presumably it headed north as empty stock. When the London Midland franchise ceased, so did the train. 

^ See '31 October 1964'  article for other changes which affected services at Lansdown station.