Chappel Viaduct (Credit: Greater Anglia)
Greater Anglia has today (9 October) issued travel advice to passengers planning to use train services over the Christmas and New Year period, with engineering work affecting services to/from London Liverpool Street and to/from Cambridge.
Rail passengers are reminded to check before they travel this Christmas and New Year, so they are aware of earlier last train times on Christmas Eve, and timetable changes due to bank holidays and engineering works.
Many services to/from London will terminate at or start from Stratford with connections to/from central London via the Elizabeth line and London Underground services.
Customers can find all train times using the journey planner on the Greater Anglia website or app.
On Christmas Eve, there will be an early shutdown with most services finishing by 22.15.
There will be no services on Christmas Day, and only a revised Stansted Express service will run on Boxing Day.
Customers are advised that there are major changes to services throughout the entire period between Christmas and New Year as Network Rail undertakes engineering projects.
Strengthening work on Bishopsgate Tunnel and projects to improve the passenger experience at London Liverpool Street mean the station will be closed from Wednesday 25 December to Wednesday 1 January inclusive, with services resuming on Thursday 2 January.
Great Eastern Mainline services and West Anglia services will start/terminate at Stratford. Stansted Express services will start/terminate at Tottenham Hale.
Engineering work including track renewals, renewal of the signalling system in the Cambridge area, and construction work for the new Cambridge South station, means there will be no services between both Royston/Audley End and Cambridge/Cambridge North between Tuesday 24 December and Monday 6 January. Rail replacement bus services will be in place between affected stations except on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (so from 27 December to 5 January inclusive).
Network Rail will also be continuing to build the new station at Beaulieu Park, including signalling and track work. This means there will be rail replacement bus services between Billericay and Witham on 27 and 28 December.
On New Year’s Eve, most normal scheduled services will operate, with rail replacement buses between Audley End and Cambridge, and between Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge.
Bank holiday timetables will be in place on New Year’s Day and normal services will resume on Thursday 2 January.
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 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 2025.
“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.”
As part of its strategy to maintain and improve the railway across the east of England over the Christmas and New Year period, Network Rail is planning to deliver a large package of maintenance and construction programmes.
Lawrence Bowman, Route Director, Network Rail Anglia, said:
“Christmas gives us the chance to get out on track for longer and get a huge amount of work done. This year, we’ll be making the most of the time when trains aren’t running to continue to deliver two brand new stations, Cambridge South and Beaulieu Park. Lots of improvement work is also happening at London Liverpool Street, while engineers will be carrying out maintenance, repairs and upgrades across the region.
“We’re really sorry for the disruption to services over this period, but the work is vital to maintaining reliability and building a better railway for the future.”
Passengers should be aware that some additional services will be retimed. Details can be found via the journey planner on the Greater Anglia website or app. Key alterations to Greater Anglia services over the Christmas and New Year period are as follows:
Tuesday 24 December (Christmas Eve)
A revised service will run with all services finishing by 22.15 at the latest.
Wednesday 25 December (Christmas Day)
No Greater Anglia services will operate.
Thursday 26 December
Only a reduced Stansted Express service will run.
Stansted Express services will start/terminate at Tottenham Hale. Customers are encouraged to use the Victoria line to/from Tottenham Hale.
No other services will operate.
