Kids Go Free at The GWR

30 March – Children across Gloucestershire and beyond won’t have to part with their pocket money this March, thanks to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway Kids Go Free promotion.

Kicking off the popular family attraction’s 2008 season this March, every child who takes a fare-paying adult or senior citizen to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway can travel for free thanks to the Kids Go Free promotion.

The offer is valid on every train running during March, including Easter, and children will enjoy taking a ride on a GWR steam or diesel train all the more for knowing they’ll be saving their parents a few bob – which will come in handy for stocking up on sweets for the ride, no doubt.

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway ran the same promotion last year and saw thousands of visitors flocking to the railway. ‘We noticed a lot of grandparents taking a trip down memory lane while giving their grandchildren a taste of what train travel was like when they were young’, said Ian Crowder from the GWR.

The Stratford to Cheltenham railway – often called ‘The Honeybourne Line’ because it had a junction with the Worcester-Oxford line at Honeybourne – opened in 1906, but it was not until 1908, 100 years ago this year, that fast express trains from Birmingham started using the route to and from the West Country.

Hauling those early trains were engines like the City of Truro – an Edwardian Great Western Railway locomotive which is now 105 years old. Enthusiasts old and new will be pleased to hear the elegant engine is resident on the present day GWR, and will be working some services during March.

What’s more The City of Truro was in fact the first engine in the world to reach a recorded 100mph back in 1904 and, while the driver might not be pushing her quite that hard this March, children, parents and grandparents visiting Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway are in for a very magical ride indeed.

Event: Kids Go Free promotion
Venue: Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway
Dates: Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 March 2008.
Times: Vary, contact GWR for full timetable information and to book ahead.
Tickets: Fares are £10 for adults, £8.50 for senior citizens and £6 for children – but throughout March for every adult or senior citizen ticket sold, one child aged 5 to 15 travels free. Contact the GWR on (01242) 621405 or visit gwsr.com for more information.

SoGlos.com
24 March 2008