Great Western Coffee Shop

Ollie has produced a very good summary of the timetable alterations for the Glastonbury Festival: see http://www.iworkforfgw.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=108 for details.

Currently confirmed alterations in the system:

25th June:

1000 Penzance to London Paddington (25th - 27th): ... Exeter St Davids 1300, Tiverton Parkway 1316, Taunton 1330, Castle Cary 1353 for SET DOWN ONLY, Reading 1452, London Paddington 1522

1519 Taunton to London Paddington (23rd - 27th): Castle Cary 1540, Frome 1555, Westbury 1607, Pewsey 1628, Hungerford 1642, Newbury 1652, Thatcham 1658, Theale 1707, Reading 1718, Slough 1732, London Paddington 1753

1415 Paignton to London Paddington (25th, 26th): Torquay 1421, Newton Abbot 1433, Teignmouth 1440, Dawlish 1446, Exeter St Davids 1500, Tiverton Parkway 1516, Taunton 1530, Castle Cary 1554, Reading 1652, London Paddington 1726

1400 Penzance to London Paddington (25th, 26th): ... Exeter St Davids 1700, Tiverton Parkway 1716, Taunton 1730, Castle Cary 1751 for SET DOWN ONLY, Reading 1852, London Paddington

ADDITIONAL 1930 London Paddington to Castle Cary (25th, 26th): Reading 1956, Didcot Parkway 2011, Swindon 2029, Chippenham 2044, Castle Cary 2140.

26th June:

1000 Penzance to London Paddington (25th - 27th): ... Exeter St Davids 1300, Tiverton Parkway 1316, Taunton 1330, Castle Cary 1353 for SET DOWN ONLY, Reading 1452, London Paddington 1522

1519 Taunton to London Paddington (23rd - 27th): Castle Cary 1540, Frome 1555, Westbury 1607, Pewsey 1628, Hungerford 1642, Newbury 1652, Thatcham 1658, Theale 1707, Reading 1718, Slough 1732, London Paddington 1753

1415 Paignton to London Paddington (25th, 26th): Torquay 1421, Newton Abbot 1433, Teignmouth 1440, Dawlish 1446, Exeter St Davids 1500, Tiverton Parkway 1516, Taunton 1530, Castle Cary 1554, Reading 1652, London Paddington 1726

1400 Penzance to London Paddington (25th, 26th): ... Exeter St Davids 1700, Tiverton Parkway 1716, Taunton 1730, Castle Cary 1751 for SET DOWN ONLY, Reading 1852, London Paddington

ADDITIONAL 1930 London Paddington to Castle Cary (25th, 26th): Reading 1956, Didcot Parkway 2011, Swindon 2029, Chippenham 2044, Castle Cary 2140.

27th June:

1000 Penzance to London Paddington (25th - 27th): ... Exeter St Davids 1300, Tiverton Parkway 1316, Taunton 1330, Castle Cary 1353 for SET DOWN ONLY, Reading 1452, London Paddington 1522

1519 Taunton to London Paddington (23rd - 27th): Castle Cary 1540, Frome 1555, Westbury 1607, Pewsey 1628, Hungerford 1642, Newbury 1652, Thatcham 1658, Theale 1707, Reading 1718, Slough 1732, London Paddington 1753

30th June:

None in there that I can see....

Will the Swindon - Castle Cary shuttles be running?

Yes. Isn't really much capacity on the 1000 PNZ-PAD for loads of Festival go-ers!

Correct mr if I am wrong, but I believe it broke down yesterday. I was on the 1255 Plymouth - Paddington. At Taunton, all the passngers from the 1000 PNZ - PAD got on our train. I admit it was a squeeze, but they all got on with a few seats to spare.

It is expected there will be a shuttle between Swindon and Taunton using LHCS.

The timings of which are now in RJIS and TRUST, Ollie.

I'm too lazy to post them though....

From a glance, there's a roughly 2 hourly service between London Padd and Castle Cary, and an oddly timed Swindon - Taunton shuttle on the 26th... not looked any further.

Yeah I have the the timings Tom. Typing them up now. Unfortunately when I had them they were not in the system so was reluctant to post.

Yep, I've got the full timings for the lot too as well now.

There is a mix of 67 and HST hauled services between Castle Cary and London Paddington for the additionals, the Swindon to Tauntons are pretty much all 67s.

Ollie has now provided us with full details of all of the Glastonbury alterations to the timetable - thanks, Ollie!

See http://www.iworkforfgw.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=113&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

Worth clarifying that I have only included the additional/altered services, for other services refer to normal timetable :)

Perhaps I should add that to the post :D

... and finally: an interesting footnote to the Festival.

A police escort was laid on for buses travelling to the Glastonbury Festival after hundreds of people were left stranded at Castle Cary train station.

A fire at a scrap yard in Pylle closed the A37 from Thursday to Saturday afternoon and meant that about 1,000 people were left at the station waiting for shuttle buses which could not get back to the station from the Pilton site. Once the road block was cleared near the fire, an accident involving a lorry closed it again - leaving British Red Cross volunteers supporting 600 people waiting for buses.

Peter Jobson, station manager for First Great Western, which manages Castle Cary station, said: "The problems were mainly because of the road congestion which caused problems getting back from the Glastonbury Festival site. The police did a fantastic job escorting buses through to the site. The passengers actually ended fairing much better, with the route only taking 40 minutes with the escort. There were about 1,000 people queuing for buses at one stage and we had about 7,000 people through the station on that Thursday. The people were very good. They understood the problem. It is easier to understand when they can actually see the fire and the traffic caused because of it."

Dan Mountain, spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police, said: "We did help out by getting buses away from there quicker. If we didn't help out then they would have had to considered closing the station."

See http://thisissomerset.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=147472&command=displayContent&sourceNode=242195&contentPK=21002998&folderPk=113662&pNodeId=251478