Our exclusive coach travel partner National Express have been working with festivals and events for over 20 years to carry thousands of people all over the country - so they really are the experts! They will again be providing fantastic services from all over the UK direct to the Reading festival site. You are now able to purchase a travel and admission package from National Express.

Five top tips for taking coach...
1. It's direct - you'll get dropped off and picked up from the festival site.
2. You won't have to listen to the woman on the sat nav or try reading an upside down map whilst driving - the lovely drivers at National Express know exactly where they're going.
3. You'll be tired - after a weekend of late nights it's going to be safer letting someone else do the driving.
4. The fun can begin as soon as you get on the coach - it will be full of your fellow festivalers.
5. It's greener - everyone on a coach instead of separate cars means less of an impact on the environment.

Booking coach travel to Reading Festival is easy

Click www.nationalexpress.com/reading
Call 08717 81 81 81 (calls cost 10p per minute)
Visit Your local outlet

You are likely to get a lot less sleep on site than you would at home and so please ensure you have a good exit strategy with a sober and well rested driver by the time you come to leave the car parks.  Do not let anyone drive that shouldn’t be as they are too tired, not yet sober etc.  Coffee won’t do it. 

It is too risky.   

Please note that our car parks are located on grass fields, some with metal trakway approach roads and some parts have unmade road approaches that may not be suitable for all car suspensions. If you have any doubts about bring a very precious car, then maybe re-think your plans.

Car parking is limited and will be in nearby fields and a park. A free shuttle boat service will run between the Green car park and the festival site, dropping you off at Green gate which will allow you to enter the campsites. There is a pedestrian bridge that will easily get you from the White car park to the main site.

Tickets for the car park will be £5 in advance and can be purchased through Seetickets, Ticketmaster or Ticketline. Car parking tickets will be £TBC if purchased on the gate at the festival.(subject to availability)

White passes are for weekend ticket holders and are ideal for those travelling from the North or the West or for people who want to stay in the White Campsite or close to the bridge; Green weekend passes are best suited for those travelling from the South or the East. Day parking passes are available in the Green day carpark for anyone coming from any direction.  Spaces are limited and once they are sold out, customers should try the Garrard Street NCP carpark in Reading.

Car parks open as per the times of the campsites. Day ticket holders can only enter on the day their ticket states - the Arena will open from 11am.

See Tickets and Ticketmaster are set up so that people buying tickets from them will do the following:

• Any weekend vehicles coming from the M5, M4 Eastbound, M3, West/M40, North West/Birmingham etc should go to White car park (please see our new routes which are detailed in our new White Car Park section)
• Any weekend vehicles coming from the East/North East/London/M1/M25 etc should go to Green car park
• All public campervans and caravans will go to White
• All day ticket holders will go to Green car park
• All disabled customers will be provided information on how to get to site in their information packs. Car passes and site maps will be issued on arrival at the Disabled Check in cabin.

Please ensure you follow the colour-coded AA signs to your car park.

Garrard Street NCP car park, opposite Reading Train Station, is available for weekend parking. You can then use the shuttle bus that leaves from outside the train station, which is only £1 per single trip! More information on this shuttle bus is available here: www.reading-buses.co.uk

Life’s a journey – share it!

If you would like to reduce your carbon footprint, help other people travel to Reading Festival and save money, why not offer your empty car seats to festival-goers on goCarShare?

goCarShare is built around facebook; you can log in quickly and look at people’s profiles before deciding whether you would like to travel with them.

goCarShare is a green, fun and good value way to travel to Reading Festival.

For more information, visit the website here: www.gocarshare.com

Further Driving Information:
Frixo is a road traffic reporting site which provides users with live traffic information and gets updated every 3 minutes using various road sensors. For more information, please visit www.frixo.com

The Highways Agency displays the latest traffic information for your journey to Reading. For more information, please visit www.highways.gov.uk

NCP car parks are offering a limited number of guaranteed car parking spaces for the Reading Festival in their NCP Garrard Street car park. The car park is located opposite the main Reading train station, from where you can then get a shuttle bus direct to the site, or walk the 15 mins to site.

Further information on how to book will be provided here when available.

Free goCarShare Priority Parking

We are excited to announce that goCarShare Priority Parking will be returning to Reading this year. Cars involved in the car share will be able to park right by the festival entrance, and will be entered into a draw to win a pair of tickets for 2014.

Laurel Collective Session, goCarShare 2012

Why Travel by goCarShare?
goCarShare creates an exciting new way to travel. It connects drivers and passengers heading the same way, so that they can both save money and have fun journeys. It's built around Facebook so you can see if people heading the same way like the same music or are friends' friends.

Join in here!

Terms and Conditions / How it Works
The first 300 drivers who add a car share request and confirm two passengers on goCarShare will receive a special bumper sticker.

To be sure to receive your bumper sticker you'll need to have a minimum of two confirmed passengers on goCarShare by August 12th. Add your details on the site as early as possible to maximise the chance of travelling in a full car and being eligible.

Drivers confirm passengers that have messaged them by logging in to gocarshare.com and clicking on the 'My Journeys' tab at the top of the page.

Drivers will receive their bumper stickers at least a week in advance of the competition. You will need to display your bumper sticker on the car to get entry to the priority car park.

All eligible cars that have a minimum of two confirmed passengers (three people in total) by the cut off date of August 12th will receive a special code.

Entrants should hand in their code upon arrival at the goCarShare priority car park for a chance to win two tickets for 2014.

If you have any questions about anything please contact hello@gocarshare.com.

Festival Republic reserves the right to amend the competition details if necessary circumstances arise.

Entrants must be 18 years or older.

Safety Advice
·          Arrange to meet in a public place
·          Notify a friend of your travel details: who you are travelling with, where you are travelling to and when you expect to arrive.
·          Show each other valid ID (e.g. a driving licence or photo identification) before travelling.
·          Having a home telephone number for the person you are sharing with is a sensible precaution.
·          Take your mobile phone with you.
·          Festival-goers can choose to restrict car sharing solely with members of the same sex if they prefer.
·          Festival-goers are reminded that they are under no obligation to share a journey with the person arranged, if you have any doubts about the person you have agreed to share with or the vehicle, you are advised not to make the journey.
·          Remember that the festival does not arrange car sharing or have any liability to or for car sharers. All arrangements that you make are private arrangements between yourself and the other sharers.

However you travel to the festival, make sure you do it in the most green way possible. We've teamed up with a number of travel partners to get you to the festival on time. Find out more to the right.

Please note that due to planned changes to our festival site layout, some of the information provided in this section could change, so we encourage you to come back at a later date to ensure you have the most up-to-date information. At the time of release, this information is correct.

This service runs from Kings Meadow car park (Green car park) and goes straight to and from site and takes about 5 minutes on the river. It's completely free and the service starts when the campsites open and runs through until campsites close at 12 midday on Monday 26th.

On Wed, for Early Entry Pass holders only, the service runs from when the campsites open until 12 midnight.

On the Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun the service will run from 8am until 1am. 

On Monday the service will run until 12 midday.

Please note that other unauthorised boats may offer a paid service – we cannot guarantee the safety of individuals on this boat and we would not recommend that they are used.

Do you have a weekend white car park pass? Using your sat nav might be very tempting, but it can actually take you longer to physically get to site! We highly recommend following our directions when you get closer to the site – then before you know it, you’ll be parked up and pitching your tent!

If you are travelling from the M5 / M4 Eastbound – leave the M4 at Junction 12, joining the A4 towards Newbury. At the next roundabout, turn right onto the A340 towards Pangbourne. As you approach Pangbourne town centre, follow signs for A329 towards Oxford, where you will pass Pangbourne station on your left hand side. Follow the A329 where you will reach Winterbrook and turn right onto Nosworthy Way (A4130). At the end of this road you will want to turn right onto Port Way (A4074). Continue along the A4074 until you see the Pack Saddle Pub on your left – you will want to turn right at this junction and then follow the festival signs with white patches, which will direct you into the White car park.

If you are travelling from the M3 Northbound – leave the M3 at Junction 6, joining Ringway East. Continue until you join Ringway North, following signs for the A340 to Theale. Turn right onto the Aldermaston Road (A340) and continue until you reach the Bath Road (A4). Turn right towards Theale, following signs for the A340. Turn left at the roundabout, joining the A340 towards Pangbourne. As you approach Pangbourne town centre, follow signs for A329 towards Oxford, where you will pass Pangbourne Station on your left hand side. Follow the A329 where you will reach Winterbrook and turn right onto Nosworthy Way (A4130). At the end of this road you will want to turn right onto Port Way (A4074). Continue along the A4074 until you see the Pack Saddle Pub on your left – you will want to turn right at this junction and then follow the festival signs with white patches, which will direct you into the White car park.  

If you are travelling from the M40 or A34 – continue to leave the M40 at Junction 9, continuing on the A34. Take the A4142, then the A4074. You’ll see the Pack Saddle Pub on your left – you will want to turn right at this junction and then follow the festival signs with white patches which will direct you to the White car park.

WANT TO AVOID THE TRAFFIC ON YOUR WAY HOME TOO?

Reading town can easily get grid locked on the Bank Holiday Monday, as most people leaving white car park needlessly drive through Reading to get to the main roads – usually directed by Sat Navs that work out the quickest way home by distance, not by traffic!

If you want to avoid that traffic and get home quicker, please follow the 3 white exit routes that we suggest. The mileage may be more but it will work out much, much quicker for you. Noone wants to sit in traffic on a Bank Holiday Monday!

If you are travelling towards the M3 or M4 Westbound – you should turn LEFT out of White car park onto the A4074, turning left onto Nosworthy Way (A4130) then turning left again onto the A329 towards Pangbourne. As you enter Pangbourne, you will want to take the A340 towards Theale, then at the roundabout turn left onto the Bath Road (A4) to join the M4 at Junction 12, or you can continue on the A340 towards Basingstoke for the M3 (Joining at Junction 6).

If you are travelling towards the West / M40, North West/Birmingham, etc - You should also turn LEFT out of White car park onto the A4074 and follow the signs towards Oxford/your destination.

If you are travelling towards the M25 or M4 Eastbound – you should turn RIGHT out of white car park and follow the signs towards your destination

Remember – the peak exit time is 8am – 1pm on the Bank Holiday Monday 26^th August.

Make sure you check out our travel pages HERE. 

There will be no public first entry at orange gate and so you must first be wristbanded at another gate before you will be allowed entry in at orange gate.

Do not attempt to drop off or pick up anywhere near Richfield Avenue. Follow the AA road signs to the pick up/drop off point (green car park). Once at Kings Meadow, you should follow the signs to the boats and get the free shuttle boat service to the site.

- Private hire drop off/pick up is now on Cremyll Road, off Tessa Road.

- Hackney Carriages/black cabs drop off/pick up is in Tessa Road.

- Parents/friend drop off/pick up is at Kings Meadow.  NOT AT WHITE CAR PARK.

Garrard Street NCP car park, opposite Reading Train Station, is available for weekend parking (price £TBC) You can then use the shuttle bus that leaves from outside the train station, which costs just £1. More information on this shuttle bus is available here: www.reading-buses.co.uk

The deadline to apply to park a private coach at Reading Festival will confirmed nearer the time of the event.

To apply to park a private coach, please email coaches@readingfestival.com   ith the following details:
- Your name
- Number of passengers
- Coach company
- Name of driver
- Date of arrival and departure

Please note all persons must have valid standard festival tickets.

It is free to bring a coach to Reading Festival. You will be sent further routing and gate information nearer the event via email. Private coaches should head to Rivermead Car Park.

Please do not bring any unauthorised coaches to the festival without prior notice and receiving information from us. You will not be permitted to park up.

The PlusBus scheme is a helpful way to purchase your bus ticket at the same time as you buy your train ticket.

For more information, please visit: www.plusbus.info

You can walk to Red gate from Reading station which is approximately a 15 minute walk from the site, but if you prefer you will be able to get a shuttle bus as Reading Bus shuttle buses will take you from the station to near the site and back.

The Reading shuttle bus stops on Caversham Road [98 service], and only costs £1. It is definitely a smart option if you are carrying a lot of baggage with you.

We will upload timetables here when they are available, so you are able to view the timetables for Wed, Thurs, Friday and Monday.

Please visit the Reading Buses website for further information and their timetable: www.reading-buses.co.uk

Please note that Network Rail have a large works depot out front of Reading Station on Station Hill this year and so things have been moved around a bit.  The Hackney Carriage taxi rank is still there but on the left hand side as you come out, and the festival shuttle bus pick up point is just the other side of the works compound, less than 100m away from the station.

Please follow the signs and ask the staff there if you are unsure where to go.

Buses running throughout the festival weekend connect you with Reading town centre for just £1.

Wednesday 21st August
Buses start from Old Bus Station at 8.50am and run between every 10-20 minutes through to 6.30pm.

Thursday 22nd August
Buses start from 7.30am and run between every 10-15 minutes until 8.00pm

Friday 23rd August
Buses will start from 7.30am and run between every 10-20 minutes through to 6.30pm.

Saturday 24th August & Sunday 25th August
Buses start from 8.00 am and run every 20 minutes until 5.20pm.

Monday 28th August
Buses leave festival bus stop from 2.30 am every half an hour until 4.00am and then as a frequent service until 2.00pm.

Night Buses
Night buses from Festival site Monday 27 August only, to Whitley, Lower Earley, Woodley and Calcot. See X5, X21 and X26 timetables for full details.

Full timetables available to view online www.reading-buses.co.uk

Trains

Reading Station is a 15 minute walk from the festival site (or you can make use of the shuttle bus from just outside the station to Richfield Avenue for £1 each way). It is served by major commuter lines to London as well as Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, etc.
 
Customers are advised to book their train tickets in advance to avoid disappointment. We also advise that you plan any journey you wish to make in advance. To check train times and scheduled rail works, please visit the National Rail website: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk.

We recommend that you arrive at least one hour prior to your train’s departure – please ensure you include this within your transport plans and leave site on time to catch your train.

Trainline Works + Replacement Bus Services: Swindown to Kemble doubling works

The next key stage of train line works around the Reading area, is the closure of the line between Swindon and Kemble from Saturday 10 August to Sunday 1 September, with the additional closure on the first two weekends, 10/11 and 17/18 August, of the line between Kemble and Gloucester.

We are working closely with Network Rail to minimise disruption to services as far as possible, and rail replacement bus services will run throughout.

More information is also available at: www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/swindonkemble

REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

We want to try and increase the number of people using public transport and sharing vehicles to reduce the carbon footprint of our festivals overall. Our shuttle buses from the train stations are really convenient. Leave your car at home and let the party start the moment you board the train!

Emissions: If you travel alone to the festival by car, you are emitting approximately TEN TIMES the amount of CO2 than if you travelled to the festival by bus and three and a half times as much as if you travelled by train.

Figures for these calculations were taken From DEFRA July 2007 Report: Passenger Transport Emissions Factors.

Car Travel (average sized petrol car)
- 335 gram C02 per mile (1 passenger)
- 167.5 grams CO2 per passenger mile (2 passengers)
- 83.75 grams CO2 per passenger mile (4 passengers)

Train Travel (National Rail diesel trains – average passenger numbers per annum)
- 96.32 grams per passenger mile

Coach Travel (Annual average figures of coach types and carriageways)
- 32.88 grams CO2 per passenger mile.