It’s fast coming up to the Christmas and New Year period. And like clockwork, it’s time for major engineering works across the UK Rail Network to kick off.
Plan ahead if you can – Image, Network Rail
Why now?
Network Rail notes that this is one of the quieter times of the year to conduct engineering works, with fewer people travelling than normal (given that commuter traffic dies down and people are going to see families and friends instead).
A quieter time means that major works can be completed without impacting commuters and high-paying travellers (although if you’ve bought a ticket on the railway – even a cheap one – it feels like everything is high-priced).
What’s operating?
On the 24th December (Christmas Eve), Services will start winding down early, as the engineers prepare to take possession of the railway. As such, the last trains to destinations will be a lot earlier than normal. National Rail has published the last trains from London; however, you must check your last departure from a station. The chances that it will be a lot earlier than usual will be high.
On 25th December (Christmas Day), there will be no trains operating at all on the UK Rail network.
On the 26th December (Boxing Day), there will be very limited and curtailed services operating on Chiltern Railways, London Overground, Merseyrail, ScotRail, Southern and Stansted Express. Other operators will not operate services.
On the 31st December (New Year’s Eve), there will be some extra services and some cancellations. A list has been provided, so check before you travel (ensuring you have a valid ticket)
During the rest of the period, there will be changes to timetables and operations. As usual, head to National Rail Enquiries as your definitive source of what’s happening.
Major Engineering Works
This is covering some of the bigger works that are happening across the network, with some work occurring in the off period, as well as way into the new year.
London Liverpool Street
No trains will run to or from the London Liverpool Street Mail Line station from Saturday 27 December to Thursday 1 January. Engineering work will be taking place within the Bishopsgate tunnel (on the approach to the station). At this time, there will also be refurbishment work on the roof of London Liverpool Street station.
- The exception is Elizabeth line who have their own platforms serving London Liverpool Street.
- Greater Anglia services will terminate trains at Stratford (London).
- London Overground services will terminate trains at London Fields.
London Waterloo
No trains will run to or from London Waterloo station or Vauxhall on Saturday 27 December and Sunday 28 December. A limited service will run to and from London Waterloo from Monday, 29 December to Sunday, 4 January. This is to enable the renewal of worn-out track, and pointswork will be carried out around Queenstown Road.
- Trains will start from / terminate at Clapham Junction or other stations. If you plan a journey to or from London (All Stations) and it includes a leg between Clapham Junction and London Victoria, you can use your ticket on Southern services for this at no extra cost.
West Coast Main Line
Buses will replace trains between Milton Keynes Central and Rugby / Northampton from Saturday 27 December to Sunday 4 January. A railway junction will be replaced at Hanslope Junction (where one set of tracks from London continues straight to Rugby and the other splits off via Northampton)
- Journeys on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and the Midlands / North West England / Scotland will be significantly disrupted by this work, with extended journey times.
Amended service between Preston and Carlisle from Thursday, 1 January to Wednesday, 14 January. Journeys through this part of the West Coast Main Line will be significantly disrupted, with train diversions and buses replacing trains. The 1960s Clifton Bridge over the M6 motorway is being replaced.
- Economy Class and Beyond has covered this in a Seattle and Carlisle Diversion article, with some services being replaced by a shuttle service, whilst other services will be enjoying a bus replacement service
Buses will replace trains between Carlisle and Lockerbie from Thursday 1 January to Wednesday 14 January while new signalling is being installed at Kingmoor, just north of Carlisle.
- Journeys on the West Coast Main Line between Carlisle and Glasgow / Edinburgh will be disrupted, with buses replacing trains.
East Coast Main Line
Amended service between Leeds and York from Saturday 27 December to Sunday 25 January, due to improvements are being made in the Church Fenton area to the signalling, track and power supply as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade
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- Train services on the main route between these cities will be amended.
Anglia Routes
No trains will run between Cambridge and Cambridge North, Bury St Edmunds and Stansted Airport from Saturday 27 December to Sunday 4 January to allow the commissioning and testing of a new signalling system, which will be taking place to improve reliability and safety.
- Significant changes will be made to journeys in the Cambridge area, and journeys to and from Cambridge station will involve using a replacement bus.
Scotland
Buses will replace trains between Dalmuir and Balloch / Helensburgh from Friday 26 December until Wednesday 31 December, to allow the installation of a new railway bridge at Bowling to take place. This also impacts services to Oban / Fort William / Mallaig, which will run from Crianlarich instead of Glasgow Queen Street.
- Buses replace trains.
This isn’t the full list – and you should check National Rail Enquiries in the first instance, as well as the train operating company. For convenience, all the TOC’s are below.
- Avanti West Coast
- c2c
- Caledonian Sleeper
- Chiltern Railways
- East Midlands Railway
- Elizabeth line
- Gatwick Express
- Grand Central
- Great Northern
- Great Western Railway
- Greater Anglia
- Heathrow Express
- Hull Trains
- Island Line
- LNER
- London Northwestern Railway
- London Overground
- Lumo
- Merseyrail
- Northern
- ScotRail
- South Western Railway
- Southeastern
- Southern
- Stansted Express
- Thameslink
- TransPennine Express
- Transport for Wales
- West Midlands Railway
What about the trips to and from the major airports in London?
With the rail network closed for part of the period, you may need to find alternative methods of travelling.
Heathrow Airport
- Heathrow Express – No services on 25th and 26th December
- Elizabeth Line – No services on 25th and 26th December
- Piccadilly Line – No services on 25th December, Services operate on 26th December
Gatwick Airport
- Gatwick Express – No services on 25th and 26th December
- Thameslink – No service on 25th and 26th December
- Southern – No services on 25th December, with a very limited service on 26th December, with up to two trains per hour operating between Victoria and Gatwick Airport.
Stansted Airport
- Stansted Express
- No services on 25th December.
- Trains operate between Tottenham Hale and Stansted Airport on 26th December.
- Trains operate between Stratford and Stansted Airport until 1st January.
Luton Airport
- East Midlands Railway – No services on 25th and 26th December
- Thameslink – No services on 25th and 26th December
Good luck out there
Having to deal with a change of travel plans is never fun – especially at a busy time of year such as Christmas and New Year. The advice is simple – plan as much as you can, and take not e fo the closure dates.
Be prepared for disruption and know your alternative routes if you need to make another destination.
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