Fed up with his Festival and Festival goers having to cope with mud every year, Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis has just announced plans to install a mini-monorail around Glastonbury.
Having just received planning permission for the 3.8 mile circular track with 9 'stations', the system will be installed and working in time for this year's Festival in June. The 'stations' – really just put down/pick up platforms – are to be located close by to the major stages, making getting around the huge site far easier and quicker, and if the Festival is unlucky enough to again suffer weather as bad as last years it'll prove a god-send.
Train enthusiast Eavis will be spending £1.3M putting the monorail onto Worthy Farm, and hopes that some of the cost can be recovered by having special 'mono-fests' several times a year, where people will not only be able to ride on the monorail around the farm, but will also have the experience with Michael Eavis himself driving the train.
Trains are often thought of as a green transport solution, and the Glastonbury system has gone further than is normally the case. So that there's no carbon footprint from this new transport system, the monorail is to be partly water powered, using a new site drainage system and the force of gravity to power the single-track train around the site. People riding the train will be able to add their own power too via pedals in front of each seat.
Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis told eFestivals "After the problems some had last year with the muddy conditions, I've given the go ahead for the monorail system. I'm hoping to work with one of the railway companies as a way for them to showcase a modern transport system, the sort of thing we need installed in our cities if we're to properly tackle global warming."
He went on, "The plan has been under consideration for a while, but with the entertainment areas having grown further around the site with the creation of The Park, along with constant bad weather for the festival every year now due to global warming, it's now become a necessity. People coming to the Festival nowadays expect all the comforts of a city, so it was either tarmac over the whole farm or come up with a different and unique Glastonbury Festival solution. I've dreamt of having my own real train set since I was a small child, and I can’t wait to try it out."
Tickets for Glastonbury Festival which takes place at Worthy Farm, Pilton, near Glastonbury, Somerset from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th June will go on sale on this Sunday 6th April, either online or through a free phone call from a normal landline for those who have already registered.
If you've registered for Glastonbury, then why not enter the eFestivals' competition to win yourself a pair of tickets here!
To get the best idea of the acts you'll see over all the stages at the festival in June make sure you keep an eye on our Glastonbury 2008 rumours, which will build up into the most comprehensive list available anywhere before the full line-up announcement is made at the beginning of June.
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