There are several major events taking place near the South Western Railway (SWR) network this summer.

If you’re planning to travel to any of these events by train, please plan your journey carefully, and before you travel, remember:

• To purchase your ticket online, or via the SWR App, to avoid queuing at ticket machines and at the ticket office
• Make sure you have a valid ticket for your journey and have it ready when you arrive at the station
• Allow plenty of time to complete your journey, as queuing systems may be in place at key stations
• Services in the hours leading up to an event and immediately afterwards may be busier than usual
• To come prepared for warm weather. Always carry a bottle of water with you and look at our hot weather travel advice page before you travel here 

Boomtown Festival, Wednesday 12 to Sunday 16 August 2026

The Boomtown Festival takes place in the Winchester area between Wednesday 12 and Sunday 16 August.

While we’ve added extra carriages on some services between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke, and between London Waterloo and Weymouth, some services towards Winchester will be much busier than usual.

Large numbers of customers heading to the event are expected to arrive on the afternoons of Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13.

If you are planning to travel to the event, please plan ahead and allow plenty of time to make your journey.

Queuing system

A special shuttle bus operated by the Boomtown Festival will run from the station car park to the festival site.

Due to the large number of customers expected, a queuing system will be in place at the front of the station. The longest queue times are expected between 1200 and 1600 on Wednesday and Thursday, with a wait time of around 45 minutes.

To facilitate the queuing system, the Andover Road car park will be closed between Monday 10 and Thursday 13 August. Alternative parking is available in the Stockbridge Road car park.

Other important information

Customers are also reminded to check our luggage policy before they travel and only bring the number and size of items allowed. More information can be found on our website here and on the National Rail website here.