People heading to the Wilderness Festival at Cornbury Park this week can still get to Charlbury by rail, despite the closure of the route through Oxford for engineering work.
GWR trains continue to run all week on the Cotswold Line between Hereford, Worcester, Charlbury and Hanborough, with connections from and to these services available at Worcestershire Parkway station, which is on the edge of Worcester.
Worcestershire Parkway is served by CrossCountry Trains services on the route between Nottingham, Derby, Birmingham, Cheltenham and Gloucester. The line on to Newport and Cardiff in South Wales is currently affected by weekday engineering work, but will be open to trains on Saturday, August 5, and Sunday, August 6.
Passengers from the North can change to and from the CrossCountry services that call at Worcestershire Parkway at Birmingham New Street station, while passengers from Bristol and the South West – and South Wales on Thursday, August 3, and Friday, August 4 – should change at Cheltenham Spa.
Online rail industry journey planners have full details of train times to reach Charlbury via Worcestershire Parkway – but please note that an overtime ban this week by train drivers who are members of the Aslef trade union may affect CrossCountry services in particular, with some cancellations possible.
During the closure of the main line through Oxford, which continues until Sunday, August 6, GWR is also providing rail replacement buses between Didcot Parkway and Hanborough stations.
Passengers travelling to the Wilderness Festival from London are advised to use Chiltern Railways services between London Marylebone and Oxford Parkway stations to reach the festival on Thursday and Friday. The festival has organised a coach link to take passengers from Oxford Parkway to Cornbury Park on both days, with return coaches to Oxford Parkway on the evening of Sunday, August 6. Click here for coach travel information and to book tickets.
Please note that there will not be any shuttle buses to take people from Charlbury station to Cornbury Park during the event. However, with the main line through Oxford open again on Monday, August 7, a shuttle will operate from Cornbury Park to Charlbury station to help festival-goers catch their trains home.