Getting to Glastonbury: GWR tickets now on sale for Glastonbury 2022 but passengers asked to reserve a seat and leave the sack barrow at home.
GWR train tickets for the first Glastonbury Festival since 2019 are now on sale, but passengers are being asked to reserve a seat and only bring what they can carry.
The Glastonbury Festival returns for the first time since 2019 and runs for four consecutive days, with the site open for campers from Wednesday 22 to Monday 27 June.
GWR is set to run over 50 trains to Castle Cary from London Paddington between the Wednesday and Friday and will provide almost 12,000 additional seats to take revellers to the world-renowned music festival.
Arrival dates between Wednesday 22 June and Friday 24 June are expected to see almost 20,000 extra customers travelling with GWR to Castle Cary station in Somerset.
Those looking to reduce their carbon footprint and travel by train are being asked to reserve a seat, and not to bring sack barrows or trolleys as these will not be allowed on to services.
The additional travellers mean Castle Cary goes from being one of the quietest to one of the busiest stations overnight.
Castle Cary station manager Ben Scott explains:
“Glastonbury Festival is one of the busiest events on the GWR network and we want to get everyone here in a timely, safe and affordable manner.
“To offer the very best experience for all of our passengers, that means limiting what can and cannot be brought on board and providing people with the best information we can to let them take advantage of less busy trains.
“Reserving a seat allows us to see which trains are the busiest, so we can let people know on our website where there is more availability.”
Advance Purchase tickets are now available at GWR.com, allowing travellers to see specifically which trains they can book a seat on, and at the cheapest cost.
Outbound GWR tickets go on sale on Thursday 31 March and return tickets for travel on Monday 27 June are expected to go on sale from 7 April.
The industry’s Book with Confidence scheme has been extended until the end of September so that customers can change their travel plans up to the evening before departure without being charged a fee, or if they choose not to travel, are able to receive a refund on their unused ticket.
If your plans change, you can amend when you travel fee free up until 6pm the day before you travel. Applies to Advance tickets purchased until 30 September 2022. Fare price difference may apply. Advance tickets purchased online can be exchanged for a voucher for future journey.
In the run-up to the start of the festival, 51 trains will stop at Castle Cary with 18 additional services running. Passengers will need to be able to carry their luggage over the footbridge at Castle Cary before boarding the shuttle bus service to the festival site.
Festival goers should only bring what they can carry (and will fit on a bus), charge their phone if using electronic tickets, and remember to bring their railcards with them.
Staff will be on hand to assist customers travelling to the festival across the GWR network.
For more information on trains to Glastonbury Festival, including luggage and shuttle buses from the station, visit GWR’s guide:
Notes to editors
First Greater Western Limited, trading as “Great Western Railway” (GWR), operates trains across the Great Western franchise area, which includes South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, across southern England and into London. GWR provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services, and before the covid-19 pandemic helped over 100 million passengers reach their destinations every year. GWR was recently awarded an extension to its direct award franchise (called DA3), which shall run up to 31 March 2023, with an option to extend for a further year.