Passengers reminded to check their train times this Christmas

London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway are advising passengers to plan ahead and check before they travel this Christmas.

Services are expected to be particularly busy over this weekend (21 – 23 December), as many people travel home and festive events across the network run come to a close.

Amended timetables will be in place from Monday 24 December until Tuesday 1 January, with a reduced service on some routes. Network Rail will also be carrying out planned improvement works at London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street during this time.

The train operators are advising customers to plan ahead and allow plenty of time for their journeys, as services are likely to be busier than usual.

Andy Camp, commercial director at London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway, said: “A lot of people will be travelling over the Christmas and New Year period and we want everyone to get where they need to be as smoothly as possible. We would advise passengers to leave plenty of time to make their journey and to check their train times before setting out. We don’t want anyone to get caught out by amended timetables or to miss their last train home.”

On Christmas Eve, reduced timetables will operate on some routes from 1500 onwards, with services finishing earlier than usual. The last trains from towns and cities are often very busy, so passengers are advised to travel earlier in the day wherever possible.

There will be no trains operating on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. Services will then resume slightly later than normal on Thursday 27 December.

Planned improvement works are taking place from Thursday 27 December until Tuesday 1 January, affecting services across the network.

On Thursday 27 December, buses will replace trains between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey until 1245.

From Thursday 27 December until Tuesday 1 January, London Northwestern Railway services between Birmingham New Street and Liverpool will operate as far north as Runcorn. These trains will operate to a slightly amended timetable. Buses will then replace trains between Runcorn and Liverpool South Parkway, for connections onto Merseyrail services to/from central Liverpool.

From Thursday 27 December until 1200 on Sunday 30 December, a reduced timetable will operate to and from London Euston.

Andy Thomas, managing director of strategic operations at Network Rail said: “This Christmas and New Year thousands of rail workers will be working round the clock to deliver crucial upgrades to the rail network as part of the £50bn railway upgrade plan. This huge investment programme will deliver more reliable infrastructure, improved facilities and services for passengers when they return to work.

“We know that our railway is up to 50% quieter than usual during the festive period so taking on and delivering these huge transformational schemes at this time of year minimises our impact on passengers who, so research shows, understand the need for such activity.”

On Tuesday 1 January, a Sunday level of service will be in operation across the network.

For the latest travel updates over the festive period follow @lnrailway and @westmidrailway on Twitter

ENDS