Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership

THE MUSIC TRAIN

What is it? In a nutshell it’s this…..

  • You get on the train, go to the pub and back again, hearing live music both on the train and at the pub. 
  • We use a carriage on the usual train service
  • We don’t have exclusive use of the carriage and there will be passengers in the carriage as well, just travelling. 
  • You need to buy a train ticket as usual. 
  • There is NO CHARGE for the music
  • There will be a collection for the musicians to show your appreciation.

The music you will hear

On the MCL Music Trains we get a wide range of music – folk, jazz, swing, bluegrass, blues and sea shanties to name but a few. The musicians play on the train each way and for a couple of sessions at the venue.  The size of the bands varies – it could be as many at 7 members and as few as 2 although the most common are 4 or 5 band members, each with their own talents.

The Music Train programme started way back in 2007 and ran every single year, several times a  year,COVID arrived which meant a temporary stop to the mobile fun.  Over the years, it has built up to an average of 17 Music Trains a year over the summer months with three different ‘journey and pub’ offers, as follows

We have three different packages

Open to All Music Trains

These run from Chester to the Golden Pheasant at Plumley plus, once a season from Chester to the Angel in Knutsford during their Music Festival week. There is no pre-booking needed. People are more than welcome to come along and join the Music Train in Chester or at one of the stations along the Line.

If you want to bring along a group of friends or colleagues on the Music Train, you are very welcome; in fact we actively encourage it!  If you plan to bring a group of 8 or more on a Music Train from Chester to Plumley or Knutsford, please book a table at the pub and let the Organiser know in advance musictrains@midcheshirerail.org.uk. It means we can ensure we have enough room for you all.   

Pre-booked Music Trains

These are from Altrincham to Alexanders Café-Bar in Chester.  Whilst still ‘open to all’, you will need to book a package in advance directly with Alexander’s.  This covers the cost of a meal at the venue and pre-booked taxis from and to the station to the venue.

If you plan to bring a group on the Music Trains from Altrincham to Alexanders in Chester, then just go ahead and book online directly with Alexander’s.  There are 45 places available.  

Bespoke Group Music Trains

These can run from from anywhere to anywhere along the Mid Cheshire Line if feasible to do so. We can organise a Music Trains specially for any group which can be reasonably confident of bringing along 30 people or more.

It’s good value for money – all people need is

  • Their train ticket
  • Whatever food and drink they chose to order
  • A contribution to the musician’s fees

All the organisation of the event is totally free of charge!

So, if you are a member of a group and you would like to share this entertainment experience with your fellow members, we are more than happy to help! .  All we ask is that you give us a couple of photos of the event and a couple of paragraphs about how it went

Interested?  Then just get in touch on musictrains@midcheshirerail.org.uk

Changes might happen

It is always possible that train times might change and a small possibility that a Music Train might have to be cancelled at short notice.  In that case we will email everyone on the mailing list to let people know  – and pop a note on the Community Rail Partnership website and station noticeboards, as well as on our social media accounts @MidCheshire CRP.

So, just keep an eye out in case there are any changes to the planned events

WHY DO WE DO THIS?

Music Trains are arranged by volunteers on behalf of the Mid Cheshire Community Rail Partnership to promote the Mid Cheshire Line.  We want people to use the line, enjoy the experience and come back again – that’s our sole purpose.  The train line is for everyone to use, and we actively encourage this.  So, we run the Music Trains, we produce booklets of circular walks from every station along the line and advertise many events and activities that take place during the year, and you can take the train to get there. 

To find out more, you can

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