Millions of train passengers face Christmas travel chaos

Millions of train passengers will face serious disruption on the UK’s main railway lines to and from London over the upcoming Christmas period, with warnings that they should start planning alternative routes now.

- SIMON CALDER

This year’s festive season will be the first since 2019 that has not been afflicted by Covid, rail strikes or both – but key rail stations and intercity lines will be closed due to engineering work.

Work on the controversial HS2 project will lead to the closure of London Paddington station for a six-day spell. Some Great Western trains from Wales and Cornwall will be diverted to London Euston – adding pressure on a station described last week as dangerously overcrowded.

Euston will also be the start or end of the journey for many travellers to and from Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield. The line north from London St Pancras International, the usual terminus in the capital, will be closed for nine days for bridge repairs. During this time, passengers will travel on Avanti West Coast or London Northwestern from Euston to Milton Keynes, from where rail-replacement buses will run to Bedford.

Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s director of system operations, said: “The festive period is a unique opportunity, when fewer people are travelling, to do big pieces of work to make services better, more punctual and more reliable. The major projects we’re undertaking would otherwise take many weekends to complete and cause much more disruption.

“Whilst roads are busier during the holidays, it’s actually one of the quietest times on the railway, meaning we can improve things whilst causing less disruption to passengers and freight flows.”

The work involves renewing 45 sets of points, replacing four bridges, installing 40km (25 miles) of new signalling cables, and renewing 17 level crossings. There will also be work on drainage projects in an attempt to stop line closures due to flooding, which have dogged passengers’ journeys in recent weeks.

The worst-affected routes are:

Midland Main Line