Until now, Glastonbury has had no direct public transport service to its nearest train station, Castle Cary, around 15 miles away. Those who need to take the train have had to take circuitous and very long public transport journeys, pay for a taxi (over £40), or drive, with the chances of parking at the station uncertain. Heavy traffic on the fast country roads also makes cycling dangerous.

In August 2025, FIT provided a small grant of £1,350 to campaign group Glastonbury TrainLink, which requested support to run a survey of local residents that would be essential data for funding applications to pilot the service. Over 1,000 local residents completed the survey, which demonstrated overwhelming support for the introduction of a new route. Some comments showed how essential such services are for people’s lives: “I’ve had to turn down work because of poor transport links” said one respondent, “I have refused hospital appointments due to transport” said another.

With the data gained, Glastonbury TrainLink joined with its partners, which include local councils and the famous Glastonbury Festival, to apply for grants and build support with local businesses and interested parties. And in August 2026, Somerset Council launched a new service: the 567 connecting Glastonbury and Street with Castle Cary train station. The service will be piloted for six months, with Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council’s lead member for transport and waste services, saying: “The route needs to be sustainable in the long term and well used, so we need people to make the most of it. Arrival and departure times at Castle Cary Station to and from London have been set to ensure there is a sufficient gap between bus and train arrivals and departures to support reliable connections.”

After almost one month, reports from users are that they are very happy with the service, with comments including:

I think the bus to Castle Cary station is a FANTASTIC innovation, long may it continue.

Beautiful buses. Fantastic service. Give it a go!

On Monday 7th September I caught the 567 to Castle Cary. It turned up on time at 11.33 and proved to be comfortable and surprisingly speedy. There were six people going to the station and others doing shorter journeys. I considered with pleasure how much I was going to save on parking as we trundled through the Somerset countryside. What a great thing this service is.

Susannah Clemence from Glastonbury TrainLink said:

While it is not the exact route we campaigned for, it’s a significant change for residents and visitors, and already proving popular. FIT’s contribution made a big impact, giving us resources to communicate with a large proportion of local people and the wider population, run a website, a large survey, do presentations and conduct ongoing communication. This all helped us get a result.

For more information on the route and Glastonbury TrainLink’s campaigning work, visit: https://www.glastonburytrainlink.org/home