VOLUNTEERS on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway are working flat-out for the first public train to stop at Broadway station for nearly six decades, on Good Friday.

Lord Faulkner of Worcester will unveil a plaque recognising the achievement of all those who have built the new station on the site of the original.

The first train will be headed by the GWSR’s flagship steam loco, Foremarke Hall, which will depart at 9.40am, bound for Cheltenham Racecourse, more than 14 miles to the south.

The station building is mostly complete, using heritage bricks and materials so that it looks almost identical to the old one. It even has a steel roof and platform canopy to the original 1903 design.

Railway chairman Richard Johnson said: “This puts Broadway firmly on the railway map once again.

“British Railways withdrew local train services and closed the original station in March 1960 with the buildings and platforms demolished in 1963. The reopening of the line is a huge triumph for the railway’s 950 or so volunteers.”

Railway patron Lord Richard Faulkner said: “I’m hugely looking forward to flagging the first train out of Broadway station, 58 years to the month since the last one departed.”

Mr Johnson said: “We are expecting huge interest in the opening of Broadway station. However, the facilities are not yet finished – although the booking office and toilets will be complete and functioning.

“There is no car parking at the station itself but there is pay-and-display car parking in the village. As part of the celebrations from Good Friday to Easter Monday, a London Routemaster bus will operate a service between the station and the centre every 20 minutes or so.”