Please check before you travel during the Christmas and New Year festive period

A very warm welcome to our Christmas and New Year Bank Holiday travel advice for 2026 / 2027.

The period covered by this guide is for Wednesday 23 December 2026 until Monday 4 January 2027 inclusive.

There will be lots of planned essential engineering works and upgrades taking place as Network Rail works to improve the railway. In addition, some train companies will be making changes to their timetable, and to some train times, to match services to the number of customers travelling.

Planning and checking your journey

You can plan and check your journey before you travel using the National Rail Journey Planner. Important information and useful travel advice relating to your journey may show with warning symbols on your journey results.

Please be aware of the following:

• Thursday 24 December - train services on many routes will finish earlier than normal on Christmas Eve. Please don't assume that the normal timetable will be operating - check that your entire journey will be possible on this day

• Friday 25 December - there will be no National Rail services on Christmas Day as usual

• Saturday 26 December - most train operators will have no service - however, there will be a very limited train service operated by a small number of train operators

• Monday 28 December - this year, the Boxing Day bank holiday is on a substitute day, Monday 28 December. Trains will be running on this day

• Thursday 31 December - train services on some routes will finish earlier than normal on New Year's Eve. Please don't assume that the normal timetable will be operating - check that your entire journey will be possible on this day

• Friday 1 January 2027 - after midnight on New Year's Eve, a number of London area routes will have special train services into the wee small hours on New Year's Day, Friday 1 January 2027. Our guide to these extra services will be published here in early December.

Please note that Journey Planner information is subject to change as timetables are still being finalised. Please continue to check your journey until you are due to set off – this will give you a chance to adjust your journey plans in advance if necessary, and avoid any last-minute disappointment.

You can also check our Status and Disruptions page for up-to-date real-time service disruption information.

Find out more about your rights if a train changes.

Christmas and New Year changes being made by your train company

​​​​​​​Details of the service each train company will be providing will be listed below nearer to the time (these pages are currently showing information for the next bank holiday period):

• Avanti West Coast

• c2c

• Caledonian Sleeper

• Chiltern Railways

• CrossCountry

• 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

Major Improvement work on your railway during Christmas and New Year

A considerable number of engineering and improvement projects will be undertaken by Network Rail at Christmas and New Year. Details of the major works will be published here when available.

For information on all future work taking place you can find details of all forthcoming engineering works on our website.

Travel by Train to the Airport over the Christmas and New Year Festive Period

Getting to the airport can often be the most stressful part of your trip, but it doesn’t have to be. Opt for the smart way to start your journey: travel by train. Whether you’re jetting off on business or embarking on a long-awaited holiday, the rail network offers regular connections to London airports and many major British airports.

Britain’s airports are expected to be especially busy during the festive period. To help you with your travel plans we have produced a guide, Travel by Train to the Airport on Bank Holidays, for getting to and from your chosen airport. It contains details of any service changes and engineering work that may affect your arrangements for getting to Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport, London Stansted Airport, London Luton Airport and Manchester Airport.

Social media

For the latest rail travel news, why not follow National Rail on X? Nearly 1 million people follow @nationalrailenq on X. Our team are available 24/7 every day (except Christmas Day) to answer your rail queries and supply you with the latest real-time travel updates.

Follow #ChristmasRailWorks on X for updates.