Racegoers warned of 'very busy' Gold Cup day as Cheltenham Festival to clash with major rugby final in Gloucester

Racegoers can expect travel to be exceptionally busy on Gold Cup day with the final day of the Cheltenham Festival set for a major clash with a Premiership Rugby Cup final in nearby Gloucester on March 15.

Gloucester Rugby will host Leicester Tigers at its 16,115-capacity Kingsholm Stadium less than ten miles away from the racecourse, with a kick off at 7.45pm coming just over two hours after the conclusion of jump racing's biggest meeting in front of an expected sell-out crowd of 68,500.

Great Western Railway (GWR), which services Cheltenham Spa and Gloucester, have warned racegoers that services will be very busy and said it would look to strengthen its capacity with three additional raceweek-specific train services, extra carriages and more buses.

According to data from the Jockey Club, more than 130,000 customers visit Cheltenham Spa station during the four-day festival while 80,000 used the shuttle bus service transporting racegoers from the racecourse to the town and train station.

A spokesperson for GWR said: "We'll provide additional train services, and add more carriages to existing services, to support travel to and from this year's festival. We'll also be sourcing some contingency buses to support the train service.

"Those looking to travel for the Cheltenham Festival are advised to travel early, especially if returning home after the races, as the station and trains will be very busy and you are likely to have to queue to access the platform and board trains safely."

Last season, railway strikes during Cheltenham Festival week were among reasons put forward by the racecourse's boss Ian Renton for a drop in attendances.

Cheltenham's chairman Martin St Quinton is also the owner of Gloucester Rugby, who will be looking to end a nine-year wait for a trophy. His son Charlie is assistant to the region's leading trainer Fergal O'Brien.

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