Cheltenham Spa St. James railway station

Cheltenham Spa St. James
Site of Cheltenham Spa St James' station in 1986
Location
Place	Cheltenham
Area	Cheltenham
Grid reference	SO944225
Operations
Original company	Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Platforms	4
History
23 October 1847 (1847-10-23)	Opened as Cheltenham
9 September 1894	Closed and replaced by new station nearby
11 May 1908	Renamed Cheltenham St. James
1 February 1925	Renamed Cheltenham Spa St. James
3 January 1966	Closed to passenger traffic
31 October 1966	Closed for goods traffic
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z

Cheltenham Spa St. James railway station was a station in the town of Cheltenham.

The first station was opened by the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway (C&GWU) on 23 October 1847, as Cheltenham. It was the terminus of the final section of that company's line from a junction with the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Swindon, which had opened in stages: to Kemble (and Cirencester) on 31 May 1841; to Gloucester on 12 May 1845, and finally to Cheltenham on 23 October 1847. In the meantime, the C&GWU had been purchased by the GWR on 1 July 1843. Originally, the station was laid to the broad gauge, but this was converted to standard gauge in May 1872.

On 9 September 1894 it was replaced by another station also named Cheltenham, on a nearby site, slightly to the east, which had two curved semi-island platforms; two more were added later. An imposing brick-built station building was constructed with a covered carriage approach fronting St. James' Square, whilst a 204 ft (62 m) goods shed was constructed to the north of the site in a yard capable of accommodating 475 wagons. In 1904 the station was able to handle goods, passengers, parcels, furniture vans, carriages, portable engines, machines on wheels, livestock, horse boxes, prize cattle vans and private carriages; there was a crane capable of lifting 8 long tons (8,100 kg). The station was renamed twice, to Cheltenham St. James on 11 May 1908, and Cheltenham Spa St. James on 1 February 1925. It was from this station that the GWR inaugurated the Cheltenham Flyer on 9 July 1923 which ran to London via Swindon. The express covered the 77.3 miles (124.4 km) between Swindon and London in 56 minutes 47 seconds at an average speed of 81.7 miles per hour (131.5 km/h) on 6 June 1932, then the fastest-timed train in the world.