Christmas travel chaos: Everything you need to know about getting around the UK this festive season

Planned strikes on the Central and Bakerloo lines, and a walkout by Virgin Atlantic pilots, have all been cancelled at the last minute

The phrase “travel chaos” gets trotted out almost every year at Christmas, usually for good reason, and 2018 is no exception. In fact, with multiple train strikes and engineering works – not to mention Gatwick Airport flights disrupted for three days due to drones flown over the airfield – this festive season is set to be more chaotic than most for those travelling around the UK.

Here’s everything you need to know about rail, road and air travel over the big Christmas getaway.

Rail travel

South Western

A one-day South Western Railway (SWR) strike will affect routes on Saturday 22 December, playing havoc with many passengers’ Christmas travel plans. Two further days of walkouts impacting train travel over the New Year are planned for Thursday 27 December and Monday 31 December.

A reduced service will run on most of the South Western Railway network on the strike days. Some routes will not have a train service or a replacement bus service and engineering works may also affect passenger journeys.

Action will apply across the network and impact journeys into London terminating at Waterloo and Richmond stations; the Island Line on the Isle of Wight will operate as normal.

Northern

Northern Rail services will be disrupted on Saturday 22 and Saturday 29 December, with the train operator running a much-reduced schedule in response to a planned strike.

Northern will be running approximately 700 services – but with very few running after 5pm.

Some routes won’t have any services running, while others have a limited service. On those routes where trains are operating, all services are expected to be extremely busy in the run up to Christmas. There are also replacement bus services available on some routes where trains aren’t running.

RMT members will have staged walkouts on 19 consecutive Saturdays by the end of the year, with further plans to go on strike for every Saturday in January 2019 also confirmed by the union.

GWR and TfL Rail west

From Sunday 23 December until Boxing Day and on Sunday 30 December there will be be no Great Western Railway services between Paddington and Slough while Network Rail carries out work on Crossrail, which was due to open two weeks ago.

There will also be no TfL Rail or Heathrow Express services between Paddington and Heathrow A rail replacement bus service will run between Slough and Ealing Broadway, calling at Southall and Hayes & Harlington. Train tickets will be accepted on local buses for Acton Main Line, Hanwell and West Ealing stations.

From Thursday 27 until Saturday 29 December and on New Year’s Eve there will be a reduced service on the Heathrow Express between Paddington and Heathrow; and TfL Rail between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington.

From Thursday 27 until Saturday 29 December, trains will not call at Acton Main Line, West Ealing or Hanwell. On New Year’s Eve, trains will not call at Acton Main Line.

Greater Anglia and TfL east

From Sunday 23 until 12pm on Thursday 27 December there will be no TfL Rail or Greater Anglia services between Liverpool Street and Shenfield while Network Rail carry out improvements for Crossrail. There will be Rail replacement buses running between Stratford and Romford (except Maryland) and between Newbury Park and Shenfield, calling at all stations via Chadwell Heath.

From 12pm on Thursday 27 December until Tuesday 1 January there will be no TfL Rail service between Liverpool Street and Romford and no Greater Anglia service between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. Rail replacement buses will run between Stratford and Romford (except Maryland) and Newbury Park and Romford via Chadwell Heath. Trains will run around every 15 minutes between Romford and Shenfield.

TfL Rail will run a special all-night service on New Year’s Eve. Trains will run every 15 minutes on all routes from 12.30am until 8am, with free travel between 11.45pm and 4.30am.

London Underground and Overground

There will be no service on the tube, buses, TfL Rail, London Overground, DLR, Trams, River bus, Emirates Air Line and National Rail on Christmas Day, and no London Overground, TfL Rail or River services on Boxing Day. There will be a reduced service on London Underground and the DLR on the latter.

From 12.30am on Saturday 29 until 5am on Monday 31 December, Central line services, including Night Tube on Friday and Saturday night, will not stop at Bank station. TfL advises using nearby Liverpool Street station and walk or use local bus services to Bank.

On Sunday 23 December, there will be no service between Aldgate and Wembley Park on the Metropolitan line before 9.30am and after 8.30pm due to track replacement work.

On Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, there will be no service between Earl’s Court and Kensington (Olympia) on the District line.

There are multiple amendments to the normal Overground and DLR schedule; see all service alterations on the TfL website.

On New Year’s Eve, a special all-night service will run on the tube, with travel free on all lines between 11.45pm and 4.30am.

Air travel

Heathrow

Those travelling to Heathrow from London by train should be aware that there are no TfL Rail or Heathrow Express services between Paddington and Heathrow from Sunday 23 December until Boxing Day and on Sunday 30 December. There’s also a reduced Heathrow Express service from Thursday 27 until Saturday 29 December and on New Year’s Eve.

Gatwick

Those flying to or from London Gatwick may have their travel plans disrupted after drones were flown over the airfield for three days commencing Wednesday 19 December.

Virgin Atlantic

A Virgin Atlantic pilots’ strike planned for 22-25 December has been “postponed” after the airline was granted an injunction by a High Court Judge.

The planned industrial action was instigated by the PPU, a union that claims 300 Virgin pilots as members – 72 per cent of those balloted voted in favour of a strike.

The airline said in a statement: “We’re pleased that the High Court has granted an injunction. We took the decision to go to court reluctantly, but we felt it necessary to ensure that our customers will be able to travel over the festive period as planned.

“With the significant disruption to flights already caused by today’s closure of Gatwick Airport, our utmost priority is now getting our customers to their destinations over the festive period.”

A PPU statement said: “Naturally we are disappointed in the outcome of today’s hearing where the injunction application was partially upheld on a ballot technicality. We will study the judgement detail and prepare our next move. The strike action planned to commence on December 22 must be postponed meantime.”

It added: “Despite this setback we hope that a tangible agreement can be achieved, one that recognises the PPU as an independent union, a union that represents hundreds of VA pilots.”

Road travel

Mark Souster, RAC Patrol of the Year, advises drivers to plan ahead before their journey.

“It’s vitally important every driver planning a trip gives their car a once over to make sure it’s up to the job, as a single breakdown can bring some roads to a grinding halt, slowing down the Christmas getaway for all of us,” he said.

“A few moments spent checking things like fuel, oil, coolant and screen-wash levels and the condition and pressure of tyres could make the difference between a stress-free journey and one plagued by a breakdown.”

Best times to travel by car this Christmas

Saturday 22 December: before 9.30am or after 7.30pm

Sunday 23 December: before 11am or after 8pm

Monday 24 December: before 11am or after 1pm