Arriving & Departing by Train (2 questions)

[Alanhathaway]

Hi all, looking for help with regard to travelling by train from London to Castle Cary. I have 2 questions:

1. My train arrives in Castle Cary at 6pm on the Wednesday, how long (approx.) will it take to get to the site and through the gates? (I'm hoping to have my tent up and a beer in hand by 8pm..)

2. My train leaves Castle Cary at 11am on the Monday. At what time do you think I should leave in the morning to give myself adequate time to get back to Castle Cary?

I haven't been to Glasto in 13 years and travelled by spaceship the last time, so any advice/feedback is greatly appreciated. 

[russycarps]

I've got the train from london the last couple of years. 

1. You'll get off the train straight on to the shuttle bus and go to gate A where there will be no queue at that time. So even if you are heading to south park 2, which is about as far as you can get from gate A, you'll be all set up by 8pm easily.

2. On the way back it's a fuckfest. You have to queue for shuttle buses for an unknown amount of time and will then queue for the next london train. I dont think it's possible to aim for an exact train really.

 

 

 

[Alanhathaway]

Sounds perfect getting in and a nightmare getting out!  I'll take that though.

Many thanks for the response- looks like I'll have to leave early on the Monday then as I have a connecting train to Newcastle which will be a nightmare if I miss.

[russycarps]

4 minutes ago, Alanhathaway said:

Sounds perfect getting in and a nightmare getting out!  I'll take that though.

Many thanks for the response- looks like I'll have to leave early on the Monday then as I have a connecting train to Newcastle which will be a nightmare if I miss.

Yeah that's about the size of it. But I have never left early on the monday, I think it was about midday last year which is obviously peak times. We queued for around an hour to get on to a shuttle bus, then had to wait at castle cary for a while for the next train. Probably only around 30mins there. I cant remember if trains were running on time or not by then, as we were just getting any old train. It was all fine though as it was blazing sunshine.

There might be less of a queue to get off site earlier on (though a lot of people do seem to get up early!). Hopefully someone else can clarify. 

 

[Joshuwarr]

Yes that sounds about right. The leaving has the potential to be horrific. Just make sure that if you want to leave early you commit to it. You may well be in a queue on the site for a few hours and then another queue at Castle Cary for just as long. In the blistering heat last year it really was not fun...

[russycarps]

I should also add that the train back to london wasnt absolutely jam packed and everyone had seat. This has been my experience every time, but I'm not sure if I have just been lucky!

 

[Joshuwarr]

Yeah, there was a lot of space on the train back for me.

[russycarps]

40 minutes ago, Joshuwarr said:

Yeah, there was a lot of space on the train back for me.

what time did you join the queue to leave the site? I didnt mind the heat at all, but luckily I was well stocked with water and had suncream. I can imagine the unprepared would have suffered quite badly!

 

[Alanhathaway]

Appreciate the feedback,  reckon I'll try and head off around 7am.... Monday is a killer no matter what, but hey ho, ya cant have the highs without the lows.

[Joshuwarr]

Just now, russycarps said:

what time did you join the queue to leave the site? I didnt mind the heat at all, but luckily I was well stocked with water and had suncream. I can imagine the unprepared would have suffered quite badly!

 

I think I joined the queue around 10ish. I struggle with hot weather so it was rather unpleasant for me. The free water at Castle Cary was helpful though!

[sime]

I pack up my tent etc on Sunday morning, leave them at a lock up and then collect them around 4am Monday morning after staying up doing stuff all night. I then catch an early shuttle bus around 5.30-6am and early train back to Southampton and then am at home in bed sleeping by about 10am. I love that post Glastonbury sleep.