What are thought to be the first journeys made by a nine-coach InterCity Express Train along the Cotswold Line took place on Monday, May 14, when GWR IET 800032 worked a test train both ways between Oxford and Worcester.
The 40th Annual General Meeting of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group heard that there had been welcome signs of improvements in the reliability and punctuality of services on the route after several months of cancellations and delays to trains.
GWR will be holding a number of Meet the Manager events at stations along the Cotswold Line later this month and in June.
Great Western Railway has given advance warning that train services on the Cotswold Line will be altered on a number of weekends and during school holidays later this year, while work takes place to extend platforms at most stations along the route.
Notice is hereby given that the 40th Annual General Meeting of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group will be held in the W.I. Hall, New Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, on Saturday 12th May 2018 at 10.30am
Passengers travelling between the Cotswold Line and London will have to change trains at Oxford over the early May bank holiday weekend, due to the closure of the Great Western main line at Slough for engineering work.
Cotswold Line passengers can now travel without a traditional ticket after Great Western Railway (GWR) expanded its mobile ticketing scheme, allowing journeys to be made using a digital ticket on a smartphone or tablet.
Cotswold Line Promotion Group members, supporters and friends enjoyed an evening out on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway, riding on a steam charter train as part of the group's 40th anniversary celebrations.
Cotswold Line train services will be altered due to weekend engineering work for the rest of April and during the half-term holiday at the end of May.
GWR managing director Mark Hopwood has written to CLPG chairman John Ellis about problems with train services on the Cotswold Line in recent months and has agreed to us publishing the letter online so that members can see what he had to say
