Cathedrals Express

The Cathedrals Express was a named passenger express which ran on the Western Region of British Railways. It connected the cathedral cities of Hereford and Worcester to London Paddington.

The service was introduced on 16 September 1957 and was operated six days a week until the 12 June 1965. It departed Hereford at 7.45 with the return service leaving Paddington at 16.45. Coaching stock was in the GWR chocolate and cream livery, not the BR standard maroon of this period.

The service also stopped at Oxford, another cathedral city, although this was already well-served by other London services. Although a named train, the Cathedrals Express was by no means a fast service throughout. Between Hereford and Worcester it was at most a semi-fast.

In later years the number of stops increased. The timetable in summer 1963 was: Hereford (d. 8.00), Ledbury, Colwall, Great Malvern, Malvern Link, Worcester Foregate Street, Worcester Shrub Hill (d. 9.10), Evesham, Moreton-in-Marsh, Oxford, Reading and Paddington (a. 11.55; 12.09 on Saturdays) – returning from Paddington at 17.15 and reaching Hereford at 20.59 (21.18 on Saturdays).

There was a restaurant car service east of Worcester. Through carriages from Kidderminster to London and v.v. were also attached/detached at Worcester.

This was the last named express with a headboard to be introduced on British Railways in the steam era.

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