The 28-mile return trip on steam and heritage diesel trains follows part of the route of the former Great Western main line from Birmingham to Cheltenham.

The preservation group rehabilitated the line, starting steam train operations at Toddington in 1984 over 700 yards (640 m) of re-laid track.

The railway continued to re-lay track west of Winchcombe, through the 693-yard (634 m) long Greet Tunnel, and past the villages of Gretton, Gotherington and Bishops Cleeve.

[8][9] The signalling on the line is a mixture of Electric Key Token (EKT) and One Train Staff working, depending on operational requirements.

[10] The Council has backed the long-term scheme, as this would allow the railway to: Although the GWSR has extended track to (and through) Hunting Butts tunnel, a few hundred yards beyond Cheltenham Race Course station, it owns the trackbed as far as the Prince of Wales stadium at Wyman's Brook.

[12] The primary impediments are firstly a bowstring bridge over Honeybourne Way (at 51°54′09″N 2°05′11″W / 51.9024°N 2.0864°W / 51.9024; -2.0864), built in 2002 to allow continued access by bicycle along the old trackbed alignment to Cheltenham Leisure Centre when planning permission was given for the redevelopment of the former Cheltenham Spa St. James station site as a Waitrose supermarket;[13] the bridge spans a gap in the former railway embankment which was created to provide road access to the supermarket.

[16] GWSR (Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway) could buy the trackbed between Broadway and Honeybourne to protect it from future non-GWSR developments.

However, they are in a very poor state and would cost a significant amount to restore; additionally, the DfT has indicated that it would not grant permission for the GWSR to purchase the trackbed and to take on liability for the bridges.

The landslip forced the closure of the line south of Gotherington, including Cheltenham Race Course Station, which was effectively cut off.

The railway launched a £1m appeal, both to fund the rebuilding of the embankment, and also to undertake preventative maintenance to ensure that similar problems do not happen at other points along the line.

The Chicken Curve landslip was repaired over the summer of 2012, and the GWSR was once again operational as a single unified line from Cheltenham Race Course to the site of Laverton Halt, a total of 12 route miles in length at that time.