
Passengers travelling home for the Christmas holidays have been urged to plan ahead as Network Rail is set to carry out engineering works.
A £152 million programme of planned engineering works will be carried out over Christmas and New Year, with major stations and routes closing while upgrades are carried out.
Although most of the rail network will remain open, passengers are being urged to check their journeys before travelling.
People prepare to board trains at London Paddington on December 24, 2022
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Here’s a full list of the planned closures:
London Paddington – December 25 to January 3: Paddington will close to train services from Christmas Day for track and overhead line upgrades, including work at Dolphin Junction near Slough.
This includes Elizabeth line services and the Heathrow Express. Both services will resume operations to and from Paddington starting on New Year's Eve.
Some GWR services will terminate at Reading or divert to London Euston.
London Liverpool Street / Great Eastern Main Line – 25 December to 3 January: The railway through Forest Gate in east London will close for 10 days for major track replacement work.
Greater Anglia and Elizabeth line services will be disrupted, with no trains running through the affected area until the early hours of Monday, January 4.
Redhill / Brighton Main Line – 20 December to 3 January: The railway through Redhill will close for track and points replacement. Rail replacement buses will operate between Reigate and affected stations from Earlswood to Purley.
Services to Brighton and Gatwick Airport will continue, although passengers should expect alterations. Work is due to finish in the early hours of Monday, January 4.
London Charing Cross, Waterloo East and Cannon Street – 1 January to 3 January: All three stations will have no Southeastern services between these dates. Most trains will be diverted to London Victoria, with limited services from London Bridge. Several south-east London stations, including Hither Green, Grove Park, Lee and New Eltham, will be served by replacement buses instead.
London Euston – 27 December to 3 January: Avanti West Coast will operate a reduced service, while London Northwestern Railway trains will run to amended times. This is partly to accommodate GWR trains diverted from Paddington.
Euston will not closing, so passengers can still catch trains to and from the station.