Christmas and New Year Rail Travel: Service Alterations Across East Anglia
Rail passengers are being urged to plan ahead this Christmas and New Year as festive timetables and ongoing engineering work lead to changes across the network.
London Liverpool Street station will be closed for eight days while Network Rail replaces ageing roof panels, with additional work taking place in the Bishopsgate tunnel. Many trains to and from London will start or terminate at Stratford, with passengers able to use the Elizabeth Line and London Underground services to reach central London.
Ticket acceptance arrangements have been put in place on multiple routes, including the Elizabeth and Central Lines between Stratford and Liverpool Street, the Victoria Line between Tottenham Hale and King’s Cross St. Pancras, and the Circle, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan Lines connecting King’s Cross St. Pancras to Liverpool Street.
Elsewhere, engineers will continue upgrading signalling systems in the Cambridge area, laying the groundwork for the opening of Cambridge South station in 2026.
On Christmas Eve, most services will end early, around 22:00, while there will be no trains on Christmas Day. Boxing Day will see only a limited Stansted Express service running between Tottenham Hale and Stansted Airport. Between 27 and 31 December, the majority of services will operate, though some adjustments will apply. A bank holiday timetable will be in effect on New Year’s Day, with normal schedules returning on Monday 5 January.
Martin Beable, Managing Director of Greater Anglia, said:
"While most of our services will be running over the festive period, so that people can continue to travel across East Anglia and beyond, engineering work is taking place and will affect passengers travelling on both main lines to and from London and in the Cambridge area. Since the railway tends to be much quieter over this period, Network Rail uses it to carry out essential upgrade work that will help Greater Anglia to continue operating a very punctual and reliable service for customers in 2026. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the service alterations, and we urge passengers to check before they travel as some journeys may take longer than normal."
Image: Greater Anglia