Gloucestershire is being promoted as a ‘Great Rail Experience’ thanks to a grant of £30,000 each from Great Western Railway and long-distance operator CrossCountry.

Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership is spearheading work to provide Taste for Travel trails and experiences. The trails, which can be booked in advance, will encourage visitors to look upon their rail journey as part of the adventure, before leaving the station to explore nearby local attractions and experience what local businesses can offer.

Train operators are committed to funding projects proposed by their Community Rail Partnerships as part of their franchise agreements with the Department for Transport.

The Taste for Travel project is working with Visit Gloucestershire, district destination marketing organisations and the private sector, to secure local benefits and encourage visitors to discover the county using sustainable modes of transport.

Through developing strategic destination management tools, the project aims to identify best-practice models around partnership working. This will allow rail experiences to be replicated nationally to support a sustainability agenda and help the recovery of the visitor economy.

Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership Co-Director Hannah McDonnell said: “We are extremely grateful for the support from both Great Western Railway and CrossCountry. As part of our Taste for Travel bookable experiences, we have already worked on a food and farm trail and a cycling and walking trail for Stonehouse, as well as a food and drink trail in Cheltenham, and a food, farm and forest trail in Lydney.

“The idea is that people step out of the station to enjoy an experience, make the most of local businesses and even stay at a local hotel. It’s about making it a ‘Great Rail Experience’.

“This ties in nicely with our plans to develop a strategic destination management experience to benefit Community Rail Partnerships across the country. We want to create a robust and resilient strategy, where rail users can recognise the potential to reduce carbon through rail experiences.

“In five years’ time you could be anywhere in the country or visiting from abroad – with the development of this strategy you’ll be able to learn about amazing rail experiences right on your doorstep.”

Visit Gloucestershire director Steve Gardner-Collins said: “We are delighted and excited to be working with GCRP and partners to deliver this great project that incorporates everyone’s favourite experiences. Food and drink is a perfect example of how visitors to Gloucestershire can get a flavour of what’s on offer throughout the area.

“Combining travel and food we can encourage visitors to choose sustainable transport methods whilst giving our county-wide producers an opportunity to showcase their products and services and give our visitors memorable experiences.”

Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie said: “It is great to see Stroud and Stonehouse featuring in the new Taste for Travel programme. Gloucestershire CRP, GWR and CrossCountry are to be congratulated on such a great initiative. Not only does it support local businesses and our local communities, but it promotes sustainable travel by train, by foot and by bike.

“I’m supporting many local initiatives for sustainable travel and I hope that this and other projects will mean we see many more visitors to the area.”

GWR Community Rail Development Manager Ann Jenner said: “We have a specific pot of money designed to support the Community Rail Partnerships on our network who in turn work with their local communities. These are two pioneering projects which will not only help to encourage rail travel, but boost local economies and put communities at the heart of the development process.”

CrossCountry Stakeholder Liaison Manager David Jones said: “CrossCountry is delighted to support these exciting projects to encourage visitors and residents of Gloucestershire to use rail travel as part of a packaged bookable experience. Our long-distance trains directly serve Ashchurch for Tewkesbury, Cheltenham Spa, Gloucester and Lydney stations, which are all gateways to a host of experiences in different parts of Gloucestershire. These are ground-breaking community initiatives.”

More of what Gloucestershire has to offer can be seen on Facebook: @discovergloucestershire or Instagram: @visitglosuk