While much of the rail network across the east of England will be open, major engineering work is taking place between Christmas and into the New Year to deliver significant rail projects. Passengers planning to travel by rail over the festive period should check with NationalRail.co.uk or with their train operator.
Service changes for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (24-26 December)
Train services are likely to finish early on Christmas Eve on some routes and passengers should check the departure time of their last train. As usual, train services will not operate on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, except for the Stansted Express which will operate a revised service to/from Tottenham Hale on Boxing Day. No rail replacement services will be available on these two days.
London Liverpool Street station engineering work - Wednesday 25 December to Wednesday 1 January
London Liverpool Street station, the UK’s busiest station, will be closed to train services from Christmas Day for eight days to allow engineering work to take place within the Bishopsgate tunnel approaches. This work includes the installation of steel support girders inside the tunnel, and work to repair existing steelwork to prevent corrosion.
Work within the station itself will continue to take place to install new ticket gates for platforms 1-10. This is to improve gateline capacity for passengers and reduce congestion at peak times. The station concourse and in-station retail shops will also be closed to the public over the eight days.
Preparation work for the roof renewal programme will also be taking place including the construction of scaffolding on Exchange Square at the north end of the Victorian train shed. This work will renew over 600 panels above platforms 1-10 to allow more light into the station, improve the drainage system and renew the roof seals to make the roof more resilient to more frequent storm events.
Greater Anglia and London Overground service changes for London Liverpool Street
From Friday 27 December, Greater Anglia services on the Great Eastern and West Anglia mainlines will run to/from Stratford, except Stansted Express services which will run to/from Tottenham Hale.
London Overground services will run to/from London Fields. Passengers should use Victoria line services from Walthamstow Central and Seven Sisters or local bus services to complete their journeys during this closure.
Cambridge area engineering work - Wednesday 25 December 2024 to Sunday 5 January 2025
From Christmas Day, major engineering work is taking place on the railway in the Cambridge area for up to 12 days. This is to support the continuing construction of Cambridge South station, and also deliver the first stage of the signalling renewal programme of the Cambridge area.
Engineering work at Shepreth branch junction, including track, overhead line electrification and renewal of moveable track sections will be taking place to make the junction more efficient for future services. Engineers will also connect the remaining two lines that run through the new station, to the rail network.
The Cambridge Re-signalling project has been installing new equipment across the area to modernise the signalling system. At Christmas, a new digital workstation at the Cambridge signal box will replace part of the 40-year-old signalling panel, helping signallers to operate the system more efficiently for Cambridge North and Ely.
Additionally, a number of track switches and crossings, that allow trains to move from one track to another, are being renewed at Foxton sidings from Christmas Eve throughout the festive period.
Greater Anglia, Thameslink, Great Northern and CrossCountry service changes for the Cambridge area – Wednesday 25 December to Sunday 5 January 2025
As usual, there will be no trains running on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
There will be no rail services between both Royston/Elsenham and Cambridge/Cambridge North from Friday 27 December to Wednesday 1 January 2025. Rail services between Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds are also affected during these dates. Rail replacement bus services will be in place between affected stations from Friday 27 December.
From Thursday 2 January 2025, rail services will resume between Elsenham and Audley End. Rail replacement bus services will continue to run from Royston/Audley End to Cambridge/Cambridge North. Rail services via Cambridge are planned to resume normal service from Monday 6 January 2025.
Beaulieu Park station engineering work - Wednesday 25 December to Saturday 28 December 2024
Construction of the new Beaulieu Park station will continue over four days from Christmas Day to bring the third line through the station site, into operation. At the same time, the signalling system will be updated to show the new track layout between Chelmsford and Hatfield Peverel for the first time.
Greater Anglia service changes for Beaulieu Park station work
As usual, there will be no trains running on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
After Boxing Day, Great Eastern mainline services via Chelmsford will involve a replacement bus service between Billericay and Witham on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 December to help passengers complete their journey. Train services via Chelmsford are expected to resume on Sunday 29 December.
Lawrence Bowman, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia said: “We’re continuing to deliver major improvements to the Anglia rail network this Christmas to the benefit of passengers and our customers.
“With two big station projects, a huge resignalling programme around Cambridge and improvement work at the UK's busiest station, we’ve got a lot to do over the festive period to get the work done while trains are not running.
“It is important to allow our skilled engineers the time to be able to work safely on the track while trains are not running, and so I want to thank everyone for their patience while we deliver this important work to improve the railway."
Martin Beable, Managing Director, 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 some passengers travelling on both main lines to and from London and in the Cambridge area.
“A rail replacement service will run while the work takes place.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the service alterations, and we urge passengers to check before they travel as some journeys may take longer than normal.”
Jenny Saunders, Customer Services Director for Govia Thameslink Railway which runs Thameslink and Great Northern trains in the area, said: “Christmas is a special time for our communities and we appreciate that Network Rail’s essential improvement work could affect many of our customers. That’s why we’re working together to get the message out early. Please, if you’re looking to use our services then plan ahead now, using the online journey planners either on one of our websites or at nationalrail.co.uk.”
Other significant weekend work in early January in eastern England
Signal engineering work will be taking place on the Great Eastern Mainline from Norwich to Ipswich and between Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds. Rail replacement bus services will be operating between Ipswich and Norwich/Bury St Edmunds on:
- Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 January 2025
- Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 January 2025
- Sunday 19 January 2025*
(*NOTE: Rail replacement services extend from Bury St Edmunds to Ely and Cambridge on Sunday 19 January)
