Paddington, Liverpool Street, Cannon Street, London Bridge and Charing Cross essentially closed for Christmas – full details here

Rail passengers have been warned by the boss of Network Rail of severe disruption to travel over the Christmas period, with record levels of maintenance and work taking place for the third year running.

Preparations to complete both the Crossrail and Thameslink projects form part of the biggest ever programme of work undertaken by Network Rail. It will see Paddington, Liverpool Street and London Bridge all but closed for the festive period, and the cancellations of many services in and out of Waterloo, Cannon Street, and Charing Cross.

24,000 staff will start laying new track and installing signals from Christmas Eve onwards. £45m is being spent across the Christmas period linking new Crossrail tunnels together with the surface-level network. The first services on Crossrail will start in December 2018.

Details of the exact disruption can be found below:

Paddington service cancellations

• No services to and from Heathrow Airport from 24th-29th December. Find a lift to Heathrow Airport
• No services to and from Ealing Broadway from 24th-29th December. Find a lift to Ealing
• No services to and from the Hereford area from 24th-29th December. Find a lift to Hereford
• No services to and from the Oxford area from 24th-29th December. Find a lift to Oxford
• No services to and from Bristol, South Wales, the South West, Reading or Basingstoke from 24th-29th December. Find a lift to Bristol
• No services to and from Greenford from 24th-29th December. Find a lift to Greenford
• No services will call at Burnham or Taplow from 24th-29th December. Find a lift to Burnham

Alterations to services that would have been to/from Paddington

• Services to Bristol Temple Meads will run hourly, with most services stopping at Didcot Parkway. Find a lift to Bristol
• Services to Reading will run hourly. Find a lift to Reading
• Services to/from Cheltenham Spa will start/end at Swindon. Alternative arrangements should be made to get to Swindon. Find a lift to Cheltenham
• Services to Exeter St Davids, Plymouth and Penzance may see additional stops added to Pewsey, Westbury, Castle Cary, Taunton and Tiverton Parkway. Find a lift to Exeter 
• Services to Exeter St Davids will be extended to start/end at Plymouth. Find a lift to Exeter 
• Service timetables between Twyford and Henley-on-Thames will be amended. Find a lift to Twyford
• Services to and from Newbury and Bedwyn will start/end at Reading. Find a lift to Newbury
• Fast services to and from Oxford will additionally call at Maidenhead and/or Didcot Parkway. Find a lift to Oxford
• Local services to and from Oxford and Reading will run on a reduced timetable. Find a lift to Oxford.

Liverpool Street service cancellations

• No services to and from Ingatestone or Billericay from 24th-27th December. Find a lift to Ingatestone
• No service to and from Newbury Park from 24th-27th December. Find a lift to Newbury Park
• No direct service to and from Norwich, Ipswich or Colchester from 28th December-2nd January. Find a lift to Norwich
• No direct service to and from Witham from 28th December-2nd January. Find a lift to Witham
• No TfL Rail services on 27th December.

Alterations to Liverpool Street services

• Four trains per hour will run to and from Chadwell Heath from 28th December-2nd January. Find a lift to Chadwell Heath

Charing Cross service cancellations

• All lines closed from 24th-27th December.

London Bridge service cancellations

• All lines closed from 24th-27th December.

Cannon street service cancellations

• All services cancelled from 24th-27th December; with the exception of four trains per hour to and from Dartford, calling at Deptford.

Waterloo service cancellations

• No direct service to Chessington South on 24th December. Services will start and end at Wimbledon. Find a lift to Chessington
• No service to and from Dorking on 24th December. Find a lift to Dorking
• No direct service to and from Guildford on 24th December. Services via Cobham and Stoke D’Abernon will start and end at Surbiton. Services via Epsom will start and end at Wimbledon. Find a lift to Guildford
• No direct service to and from Hampton Court on 24th December. Services will start and end at Surbiton. Find a lift to Hampton Court
• No direct service to Haslemere on 24th December. Services will start and end at Woking. Find a lift to Haslemere
• No service to and from Salisbury on 24th December. Find a lift to Salisbury
• No direct service to Poole on 24th December. Services will start and end at Basingstoke. Find a lift to Poole
• No service to Weybridge via Hounslow on 24th December. Find a lift to Weybridge
• All services after 8pm on 24th December are cancelled.

Alterations to Waterloo services

• Services to and from Alton on 24th December will run to an amended timetable, and call additionally at Bentley. Find a lift to Alton
• Services to and from Basingstoke on 24th December will additionally call at Clapham Junction, Wimbledon, and West Byfleet. Find a lift to Basingstoke
• Services to and from Portsmouth Harbour on 24th December will have additional stops. Services via Guildford via call at Clapham Junction. Some services will additionally call at Farncombe, Godalming, Liphook, Liss, Bedhampton, and Hilsea. Find a lift to Portsmouth
• Services to and from Weymouth on 24th December will additionally call at Clapham Junction, Surbiton, Woking, Farnborough and Basingstoke. Find a lift to Weymouth
• Services to and from Woking on 24th December will run at a reduced timetable, and will additionally call at New Malden and Raynes Park. Find a lift to Woking.

Rail users are already coming together to share their journeys by using Liftshare, and giving and receiving lifts rather than taking costly and convoluted train journeys. You can either offer out your spare seats or book onto others and save cash and carbon for your trips. If you need any help with the site, just contact us!