Extra trains are to be laid on for horseracing fans visiting the Royal Ascot event later this month.
The South West Trains – Network Rail Alliance, a train operating company owned by Stagecoach Group and operating the South Western rail franchise, has announced that it will run a special charter train on behalf of the racecourse to assist race goers in getting to the meeting.
The Royal Ascot meeting will take place between June 18 and June 22, and the specially chartered ‘Ascot Express’ will operate on each of those days, leaving London Waterloo railway station at 09.12 am for its non-stop run to Ascot. On arrival at Ascot station passengers will only be a short walk away from the racecourse.
The train company is also laying on extra scheduled capacity during the event.
The South West Trains – Network Rail Alliance customer service director, Jake Kelly, said, ‘We are pleased to be providing a dedicated morning service for race goers, on behalf of Ascot Racecourse. The ‘Ascot Express’ charter train will provide a new travel option to help people get to the racecourse in time for all the action. We will also run a strengthened South West Trains service with four trains an hour Tuesday to Friday and six trains per hour on Saturday during Royal Ascot week. Each year, Ascot station welcomes thousands of extra passengers during Royal Ascot. We will deploy four times our usual level of staffing at the station during the week to assist our passengers and help make it an enjoyable day out for all.’
