Bus from Castle Cary Station

[tjb7]

So i'll be getting to glastonbury via train this year to Castle Cary station. I know there's a bus service they do from there to the festival site bus just wondering how much it is and if there is normally a long wait to get on a bus?

[balti-pie]

It's free, and typically when you get off the train there's 2-3 waiting to be filled up. It depends which direction you come in from, how packed your train is and whether it's cleared from the previous trains, but if it's not 8-12 on Wednesday then you'll pretty much cruise straight on to a bus. 

If it is between 8 and 12 on Wednesday, then its tricky to say - but you'll not be waiting for longer than half an hour unless you're really unlucky. It's about five or six miles from the station to the site, so not really walkable with all your stuff - there's not much in the way of pavements either 

[tjb7]

Awesome cheers, I was thinking it would be more like an hours wait haha!

[MetaKate]

I arrived to castle cary at around 230pm last year and we definitely waited at least an hour to get the shuttle to site.  

[kingcrawler]

I've got the train the last 3 years, got to Castle Cary early morning, mid morning and mid afternoon and early morning was definitely the shortest wait. That's balanced out by the festival queues being busier at that time though. Just your luck really depending on how many trains have arrived recently.

[danielharris627]

What's it like for getting back on the Monday morning?

[MetaKate]

Quite a long queue to get the shuttle bus off site (I think it was 2 hours and we got in line around 11) once you get to the station it goes quickly and lots of room on the train. 

[Joshuwarr]

So here is my advice: If you're getting the train to Castle Cary and want to be on a shuttle bus early then make sure you don't try and bother with the comfort of a seat. I always make sure I'm one of the last to get on the train because it means I'll be the first off upon arrival. 

Everyone is faffing around for ages with their stuff when trying to exit the train to the point that when some people are off I'm pretty much already on one of the first shuttle buses. 

However, this may not be too appealing if your train journey is a long one. I managed it from Reading to Castle Cary though and it was quite uncomfortable at times (to the point where I spent the last 20 minutes stood in the toilet to make space!)

[justperfect]

Staying on the bus theme, has anyone done the bus into Glastonbury town and back to do a supermarket run (Morrison's i believe).

How long? Where does the bus run from? Pros and cons basically.

I'm fed up of hauling 5 days worth of beer from the coach park at gate A to my camp.

As usual any information and advice will be greatfully received

[joeruss]

We've booked our train back on the Monday from Castle Cary to London (getting a minibus on the Weds with all our stuff, booze etc) at 3pm... is it best to give ourselves say 2hrs then?

Are the trains to London absolutely heaving full?

[MetaKate]

7 hours ago, joeruss said:

We've booked our train back on the Monday from Castle Cary to London (getting a minibus on the Weds with all our stuff, booze etc) at 3pm... is it best to give ourselves say 2hrs then?

Are the trains to London absolutely heaving full?

Last year was my first year and it seems like you get on whichever train is leaving when you get to the station. If you're waiting in line for the shuttle bus and the train you're supposed to be on leaves ....you just get on the next train.  That's how it worked last year anyways. 

[kingcrawler]

Yeah I wouldn't recommend getting a specific ticket as there's no way of knowing what train you'll end up on, I've just got a general off peak return so I can use any of the ones after 9. As MetaKate says it's just your luck what train you end up on really, hopefully the timings work out for you and since there's not loads of trains you'll probably be alright. Giving yourself at least a couple of hours should be fine for getting there around then and tbf they do manage to get a lot of people on each train.

[Waapster]

Do the shuttle buses on to site on Wednesday have a clear route? We sat in our car for bloody hours last year and have train tickets for this year. Is it a smooth transfer?

[Bisque]

33 minutes ago, Waapster said:

Do the shuttle buses on to site on Wednesday have a clear route? We sat in our car for bloody hours last year and have train tickets for this year. Is it a smooth transfer?

Yes but not quite. Plus the roads are narrow which slows the buses a bit.

[Joshuwarr]

6 hours ago, Waapster said:

Do the shuttle buses on to site on Wednesday have a clear route? We sat in our car for bloody hours last year and have train tickets for this year. Is it a smooth transfer?

Certainly has been smooth for me in previous years. Never takes too long and is usually quite an exciting little journey