Passengers are advised to plan ahead this Christmas while a significant programme of railway upgrades is carried out causing travel disruption through Doncaster.
The railway works will be taking place over the festive period, with no services able to call at or pass through Doncaster station on Christmas Eve.
Network Rail engineers will renew 11 switches and crossing units - which allow trains to move between tracks - at Marshgate Junction, one of the busiest and most important pieces of railway infrastructure in the area.
At the same time, teams will renew more than 640 metres of track through Doncaster station. The work will replace assets that have reached the end of their working life, helping to reduce faults and improve the long-term reliability of train services on the East Coast Main Line.
To help minimise disruption, the project will start in the early hours of December 24, 2026 - a day when fewer services run - and continue over Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when no passenger trains operate on the East Coast Main Line. Trains are planned to resume through Doncaster on Sunday, December 27, 2026.
Passengers should also note that a major upgrade of overhead power lines will mean no services to or from Birmingham New Street from December 24 to 28, 2026.
Joint head of performance, LNER and Network Rail East Coast, John Grainger, said: “This important investment at Doncaster will help deliver a more reliable railway for passengers and freight on one of the UK’s busiest rail routes.
“We’re sorry for the disruption these essential upgrades will cause. We’ve planned the work to take place when fewer trains are running to minimise the impact as much as possible, and we encourage anyone travelling over the festive period to check their journey in advance with their train operator or National Rail.”
A spokesperson for the train operators said: “We’re working closely with Network Rail to help customers travel on Christmas Eve during this essential programme of railway upgrades at Doncaster.
“While there will be changes to services on this date, these improvements will help deliver a more reliable railway.
“Customers should check before they travel and allow extra time for their journey where rail replacement buses or coaches are in operation.”
The Doncaster work will mean the following changes to services on December 24, 2026:
CrossCountry will have no service between Reading and Newcastle via Doncaster, and no trains will call at Wakefield Westgate.
For East Midlands Railway, the 6.33am Peterborough to Doncaster train will terminate at Lincoln at 7.44am and will not call at Saxilby, Gainsborough Lea Road or Doncaster.
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A connecting rail replacement bus will run between Lincoln and Doncaster, calling at Saxilby and Gainsborough Lea Road. For the rest of the day, buses will replace trains between Lincoln and Doncaster.
There will be no Grand Central, Hull Trains or East Coast Lumo services.
LNER services will run between London King’s Cross and Retford/Lincoln and between York and Scotland. Rail replacement coaches will run between Newark North Gate/Doncaster and York, and between Retford and Leeds calling at Doncaster, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds.
Northern services will not run between Hull and Sheffield; Scunthorpe and Doncaster; Leeds and Doncaster, or Leeds (via Moorthorpe) and Sheffield. As well as this:
- Trains between Scarborough and Sheffield will run only between Scarborough and Hull.
- Trains between Hull and Doncaster will run only between Hull and Hatfield and Stainforth.
- Trains between Adwick and Sheffield will run only between Conisbrough and Sheffield.
- Replacement buses will run between Wakefield Westgate and Doncaster; Goole and Meadowhall (calling at Doncaster only); Goole and Conisbrough (calling at Hatfield and Stainforth, Kirk Sandall and Doncaster); and Scunthorpe and Conisbrough (calling at all stations normally served by trains).
TransPennine Express services between Liverpool Lime Street and Cleethorpes will run between Liverpool Lime Street and Sheffield and between Scunthorpe and Cleethorpes. A replacement bus service will run between Sheffield and Scunthorpe.
The Christmas 2026 work at Doncaster is the first half of the overall project, with the remainder of Marshgate Junction’s switches and crossings being upgraded over the same dates in December 2027.
Passengers using rail replacement services are reminded to only bring luggage they can carry comfortably, which doesn’t exceed the limits of the operator they are travelling with, and be mindful of transfer times between train and bus/coach.
Keep up to date with your journey by visiting your train operator or National Rail website before travelling.