Castle Cary speed restriction for Glastonbury?

[brad465]

Last week when passing through this station on non-stop runs, in both directions the services I was on slowed down before the station to something notably below the 90mph normally permissible (felt like around 40-50mph), despite no sign of other trains in the area restricting signalling, and no TSR boards that I could see. The most logical explanation based on what I could see was that drivers were ordered to slow down through the station in case there was a risk to large crowds present associated with Glastonbury festival passengers, but want to double check if this was why?

 

[TurboMan]

Yes, you're correct.

 

[RailWonderer]

A bit silly to me, who would be walking down a load of country back roads with no pavement for 15 miles to get to the Castle Cary area?

 

[contrex]

A bit silly to me, who would be walking down a load of country back roads with no pavement for 15 miles to get to the Castle Cary area?

There was a free shuttle bus for Festival ticket holders running between Castle Cary Station and the Festival Bus Station throughout the Festival.

 

[AM9]

A bit silly to me, who would be walking down a load of country back roads with no pavement for 15 miles to get to the Castle Cary area?

It was the same last year when I travelled back from a holiday in St Ives, there was an announcement as to why the train was slowing through Castle Cary. As far as "
Walking down a load of country back roads with no pavement for 15 miles" goes, - there was a collection of buses and coaches in the station car park that were running a shuttle service to Worthy Farm entrance. When trains s stop there the platforms become packed with people which could be hazardous if trains were also passing through at linespeed.

 

[The exile]

A bit silly to me, who would be walking down a load of country back roads with no pavement for 15 miles to get to the Castle Cary area?

Just Google “Castle Cary Glastonbury crowds” if you don’t believe it!

 

[RailWonderer]

It was the same last year when I travelled back from a holiday in St Ives, there was an announcement as to why the train was slowing through Castle Cary. As far as "
Walking down a load of country back roads with no pavement for 15 miles" goes, - there was a collection of buses and coaches in the station car park that were running a shuttle service to Worthy Farm entrance. When trains s stop there the platforms become packed with people which could be hazardous if trains were also passing through at linespeed.

Just Google “Castle Cary Glastonbury crowds” if you don’t believe it!

There was a free shuttle bus for Festival ticket holders running between Castle Cary Station and the Festival Bus Station throughout the Festival.

I see. It's one of those 'you've got to see it to believe it' things though I'm not much into pop music myself anyway. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

There was a free shuttle bus for Festival ticket holders running between Castle Cary Station and the Festival Bus Station throughout the Festival.

Free? Blimey!

The shuttle bus from Derby to Donington Park for Downlad Festival cost £12 PER DAY!

Just Google “Castle Cary Glastonbury crowds” if you don’t believe it!

Reading and London Paddington would also see huge crowds on the platforms heading to or coming back from Glastonbury. Regulated by the use of a dedicated plarform for glastonbury revellers which also made revenue protection much easier.

 

[TheSeeker]

Eurostar put on special trains for the "Tomorrowland" festival in Belgium. As far as I could make out sitting in St Pancras this was for flights into Heathrow. The place was full of young Americans and Japanese.

 

[contrex]

Free? Blimey!

The shuttle bus from Derby to Donington Park for Downlad Festival cost £12 PER DAY!

Yes. Glasto was £335 + £5 booking fee for a weekend and Download was £345 for 5 days

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Free? Blimey!

The shuttle bus from Derby to Donington Park for Downlad Festival cost £12 PER DAY!

It’s not so much free but complimentary (included in Glastonbury ticket price)

 

[bluegoblin7]

Yes. Glasto was £335 + £5 booking fee for a weekend and Download was £345 for 5 days

Glasto is also five days (gates open Wednesday with some entertainment also) and the size makes Download pale in comparison. For what you get (significantly more than a 'pop festival', you'd be hard pressed to find a genre not represented) it's a bargain.

 

[brad465]

Yes, you're correct.

Thank you for confirming. Do you or anyone know if there were TSR boards in place, or was it just pre-set but unmarked boundaries briefed to drivers (such as key signals in the area)?

 

[DelW]

A bit silly to me, who would be walking down a load of country back roads with no pavement for 15 miles to get to the Castle Cary area?

I see. It's one of those 'you've got to see it to believe it' things though I'm not much into pop music myself anyway. Thanks for the explanation.

According to Google maps, the site is only about 7.5 miles by road from Castle Cary station, which is the closest railhead (at least since the demise of the S&D). The festival site is closer to Shepton Mallet than it is to Glastonbury.

 

[TurboMan]

Thank you for confirming. Do you or anyone know if there were TSR boards in place, or was it just pre-set but unmarked boundaries briefed to drivers (such as key signals in the area)?

According to the MOM who was assisting at Castle Cary, there were boards in place. In previous years it's been down to Westbury signaller to caution each driver but there are workload implications for that.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Jun 2023 ==

Glastonbury is always a major event for GWR, so lots of extra staff to manage numbers, a queuing system, lots of RPOs, and support from BTP. This year 12,000 people came through the station.

 

[randyrippley]

According to Google maps, the site is only about 7.5 miles by road from Castle Cary station, which is the closest railhead (at least since the demise of the S&D). The festival site is closer to Shepton Mallet than it is to Glastonbury.

Begs the question............would Cranmore have been closer? Run passenger specials on the quarry lines to the East Somerset?

 

[brad465]

Begs the question............would Cranmore have been closer? Run passenger specials on the quarry lines to the East Somerset?

I doubt the distance difference is worth it, and there will also be line capacity issues given it's a single track line that already has some slow freight trains on it. In a hypothetical scenario where Beeching hadn't happened, unless the East Somerset railway was heavily upgraded, Castle Cary station with bus shuttles would probably still be the best option for festival-goers travelling from/via London.

 

[yorksrob]

I doubt the distance difference is worth it, and there will also be line capacity issues given it's a single track line that already has some slow freight trains on it. In a hypothetical scenario where Beeching hadn't happened, unless the East Somerset railway was heavily upgraded, Castle Cary station with bus shuttles would probably still be the best option for festival-goers travelling from/via London.

In such a scenario, Evercreech would have been a good option from the North and South, assuming the Highbridge line hadn't survived.

 

[Snow1964]

I doubt the distance difference is worth it, and there will also be line capacity issues given it's a single track line that already has some slow freight trains on it. In a hypothetical scenario where Beeching hadn't happened, unless the East Somerset railway was heavily upgraded, Castle Cary station with bus shuttles would probably still be the best option for festival-goers travelling from/via London.

Had the line not closed, Worthy farm could have had its own excursion platform, part of the site it often referred to as the old railway. It was the original Somerset & Dorset line to Highbridge, which became a branch when line to Bath opened from Evercreech. It was a single line with passing loops.

The nearest station would have been Pylle which originally had 2 platforms, but was reduced to single platform in 1920s until closure in 1966.

The loss of lines also means the huge Bath and West Showground which is between Evercreech and Shelton Mallet is also not reachable by rail anymore

 

[dutchbedford]

According to the MOM who was assisting at Castle Cary, there were boards in place. In previous years it's been down to Westbury signaller to caution each driver but there are workload implications for that.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 29 Jun 2023 ==

Glastonbury is always a major event for GWR, so lots of extra staff to manage numbers, a queuing system, lots of RPOs, and support from BTP. This year 12,000 people came through the station.

Wrong way round. It used to be TSRs, now trains are cautioned.

 

[Falcon1200]

Wrong way round. It used to be TSRs, now trains are cautioned.

That seems a very unsatisfactory way of managing the issue; Unless perhaps only some trains are cautioned, depending on the situation at the station, or just the few non-stopping trains are cautioned?

 

[306024]

I’ve no idea about the signalling at Castle Cary, but at Chelmsford when similar events have required speed restrictions through the station a technician in Liverpool St IECC would make the signals on the end of the platforms approach controlled, which had a similar effect of a 20mph TSR, but without all the hassle of erecting TSR boards, and cautioning while they were erected.