Castle Cary Station

[j...rox]

Sorry couldn't find an existing topic so just a couple of questions:

I'm arriving 10am on the Wednesday 10 minutes before the first London train gets in, how long can I expect to wait for the shuttle bus to-from the festival.

What time is a reasonable expectation to leave on the Monday, should I buy a ticket when I get to the station or can I buy beforehand?

[j...rox]

Rather should i buy beforehand?

[hazey_jane]

Buy the ticket beforehand.

Try and leave the site before 6am on the Monday unless you're a big fan of massive queues.

Edited April 17, 2011 by hazey_jane

[Bisque]

I'm driving to Taunton & getting the train from there. Honestly the best way to arrive. Sitting on top (only place you can sit) of the double decker Routemaster & riding in is a great way to see the festival. Can't remember the time we arrived at Castle Cary but the wait was about 20mins, including a lot of faffing around.

[SoCalMusicLover]

Is it true that the first train from London gets in at 10 AM? We're staying at a b&b near the festival, and since I won't be doing an overnight in the car park, or queing at 6 AM, my goal is to at least arrive before the first trainload.

Do the majority of people who arrive by 10 AM Wednesday, come by car? Is it already past 10 before the first trains/coaches really start getting to the transportation hub at the site?

[Ketteringsim]

Just checked my return journey and i'm on a train from castle cary at about 2.30 . I'm pretty patient when it comes to queuing, thankfully.

Edited April 17, 2011 by Ketteringsim

[spoiledff7]

I was going to book a train back to London at 744am on Monday morning. I just wanted to know how easy it is to get to the train station (Castle Cary) on the Monday morning. What time will I need to leave the site etc.? Any help appreciated!!

[ukslim]

The shuttles are well organised and will be running in time for the first train on Monday.

However:

Do not expect to get on the train you booked on a Monday. If you start early, you stand a very good chance -- but it's still not a guarantee.

Here's how it works (or has worked in the past):

- outside the festival gate, there's a well organised set of queues for various shuttles and coaches, with tensabarriers and stewards

- at the station, it's more tensabarriers, and station staff take over stewarding.

- they check your ticket, and send you to one of a few holding areas to wait for your train. They don't pay any attention to the time on your ticket. Just where you're headed.

- when the next train is going your way, they empty that holding area onto the platform, telling you to line up as far down the platform as you can go, and to get on at the closest door, regardless of carriage class.

In this way I found myself and three friends on a very comfy 4-seat table in First Class (while other festivalgoers sat in the aisle, admittedly), from Castle Cary to Reading.

So if you want to get somewhere by a specific time, I wouldn't trust the train too much. If you're just concerned about being allowed to travel on a cheap fare with a specific time on it -- I'd go ahead and buy it. They're seldom checked at that time, and even if they were, I think you could make a strong case that you'd made a reasonable effort to be on the right train.

[spoiledff7]

lovely - that's great information. I'm going to try and head down to wherever the shuttle buses go from on Monday morning at about 5am ish. Do you think that's early enough? (sorry my last question!)

[ukslim]

2 hours and 44 minutes sounds like ample time, at that time in the morning I would say.

Although, there's still no guarantees!

[allovicky]

lovely - that's great information. I'm going to try and head down to wherever the shuttle buses go from on Monday morning at about 5am ish. Do you think that's early enough? (sorry my last question!)

Edited April 21, 2011 by allovicky