Leaf Fall Timetable Changes: Autumn 2025

There are millions of trees next to the railway in Britain and, every autumn, thousands of tonnes of leaves fall onto the tracks. Windy conditions can cause heavy leaf-fall in a short space of time and rain means they are more likely to stick to the rails. When trains pass over leaves, the heat and weight of the trains bake them into a thin, slippery layer on the rail. This is equivalent to black ice on the roads.

How are trains affected?

Slippery rails make it hard for trains to accelerate and brake effectively. Safety is our priority, so when this happens, drivers have to pull out of stations more slowly and brake much earlier for stations and signals to make sure they stop in time. This can lead to longer journey times and delays. 

What we do about it – autumn timetables

In areas with very heavy leaf-fall some train operators publish special autumn timetables with revised journey timings. These timetables allow extra time for train drivers to drive more cautiously than at other times of the year, so they can get you to where they need to go safely and reliably. Leaf-fall timetables operate from late September / early October until Saturday 13 December 2025 (unless stated otherwise below).

The following leaf-fall timetable changes have been announced for autumn 2025:

Information will be updated throughout September 2025, when the affected train companies announce details of any changes.

Avanti West Coast

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

c2c

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

Caledonian Sleeper

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

Chiltern Railways

The Chiltern Railways Autumn (Leaf Fall) timetable starts on Monday 29 September 2025.

The Leaf Fall timetable only affects trains that run on the Aylesbury Vale Parkway - Amersham - London Marylebone line in the Southbound direction (towards London).

Trains between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Rickmansworth heading towards London will have their departure times altered and will leave up to 3 minutes earlier than before.

CrossCountry 

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

East Midlands Railway

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

Elizabeth line

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

Gatwick Express

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

Grand Central

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

Great Northern

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

Great Western Railway (GWR)

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

Greater Anglia

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

Heathrow Express

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

Hull Trains

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

Island Line

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER)

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

London Northwestern Railway

From 1 October until 13 December, journey times on the London Northwestern Railway route between Bletchley and Bedford have been extended by up to 2 minutes.

Services from Bletchley towards Bedford:

• Trains from Aspley Guise, Ridgmont, Lidlington, Millbrook and Stewartby will depart a minute later than usual

• Trains from Kempston Hardwick and Bedford St Johns will depart 2 minutes later than usual

Services from Bedford towards Bletchley:

• Trains from Stewartby, Lidlington, Ridgmont and Aspley Guise will depart a minute later than usual

• Trains from Woburn Sands, Bow Brickhill and Fenny Stratford will depart 2 minutes later than usual

London Overground

Awaiting details of any timetable changes.

Lumo

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

Merseyrail

From 6 October to 13 December 2025, Merseyrail will have extended journey time timetables on their Chester / Ellesmere Port services, and between Southport and Liverpool Central.

Northern

From 6 October to 13 December 2025, Northern has leaf-fall timetables for the following routes:

• Newcastle – Hartlepool – Middlesbrough

• Newcastle – Carlisle

• Middlesbrough – Whitby

• Blackpool – Colne

• Blackburn – Manchester Victoria via Todmorden

• Manchester – Clitheroe

• Manchester – Hazel Grove - Buxton

• Manchester – Hadfield and Glossop

• Sheffield – Huddersfield

ScotRail

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

South Western Railway

From Sunday 21 September to Saturday 13 December 2025 South Western Railway are running an autumn timetable, with minor changes to train times across the network.

Services will depart between one and five minutes earlier than usual, to give trains more time to accelerate and brake during leaf fall season. For example, all services between Dorking and London Waterloo will depart Dorking two minutes earlier than usual.

Following challenging conditions last year which led to poor performance across the South Western Railway suburban network, stops have been removed at Kempton Park and Upper Halliford to improve performance on the Shepperton branch line and in the Wimbledon area, and at West Byfleet to improve performance in the Surbiton area. Full details of the affected trains, and alternatives, can be found on the South Western Railway website.

Southeastern

Southeastern will be changing to an autumn timetable from Sunday 12 October to Saturday 13 December 2025. To help keep their trains on time during autumn, some trains will be retimed and departure times throughout the day may be slightly earlier or later.

A few morning and evening metro trains have amended calling patterns on weekdays:

• West Dulwich, Sydenham Hill, Penge East and Kent House will have 3 trains per hour off-peak rather than 4

• At St Johns, a few morning and evening trains will not call at the station, but there will still be between 6 and 8 trains during this time

Downloadable timetables and more background information is available on the Southeastern website.

Southern

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

Stansted Express

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

Thameslink

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

TransPennine Express

No leaf fall timetable changes are usually made.

Transport for Wales

No leaf fall timetable changes will be made.

West Midlands Railway

From 1 October until 13 December, some West Midlands Railway trains from Birmingham towards Shrewsbury will depart from Wolverhampton a minute earlier than usual.

• Trains that call at all stations from Birmingham to Shrewsbury will depart a minute earlier than usual from Wolverhampton, Bilbrook, Codsall, Albrighton, Cosford, Shifnal and Telford

• Train services from Shrewsbury towards Birmingham are unchanged