Is my train running today? Passengers face rail disruption as UK’s two busiest stations closed

The UK’s two busiest railway stations, Liverpool Street and Paddington in London, are closed

After Christmas, millions of people are on the move around Britain. But anyone planning to travel by train during the remaining four days 2024 faces possible disruption due to a combination of rail engineering work and strikes.

Even though most stations and routes have reopened after three days of closure, the UK’s two busiest stations – Liverpool Street and Paddington in London – remain shut, with disarray elsewhere.

Overrunning engineering work means that Ealing Broadway, which was a replacement terminus for London Paddington, is also closed, with many cancellations.

Most trains through Wolverhampton in the West Midlands were cancelled due to signal failure, and London Northwestern Railway has cancellations between London Euston, Birmingham and Stafford.

Eurostar services between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were also in disarray on Friday after a train broke down in the Channel Tunnel. Passengers on the stricken train had to change to another service at Calais and were five hours late in the French capital.

All the advice and information you need is here.

London Liverpool Street

Main lines to Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire are all closed until Thursday morning, 2 January 2025. The Elizabeth Line, however, is working again.

Between Norwich, Ipswich and London, journey times are typically doubled. Passengers from East Anglia can take a train to Witham in Essex, where they board a bus to Billericay. From here they travel by train to Stratford, which has connections with the London Underground, Overground and Elizabeth Line.

Passengers between London and Stansted airport can use the Stansted Express trains starting and ending at Tottenham Hale.

London Paddington

The hub for South Wales and the West of England, will remain closed until Monday 30 December. Great Western Railway passengers from Cornwall, Devon, Swansea and Cardiff will have hourly trains to and from at London Euston.

They are advertised as nonstop between Euston and either Taunton or Swindon, but in fact they will stop at Reading – where boarding and alighting is not permitted – to change drivers.

Journey times are extended by about half-an-hour, and fewer trains will run.

London St Pancras

The line north from London St Pancras International is closed just outside the station for the replacement of a bridge, with no trains to Luton, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham or Sheffield. It will reopen on Monday 30 December.

Thameslink trains to Luton (including the airport) and Bedford are also closed.

London Euston is once again taking some of the strain, with passengers advised to travel to Milton Keynes Central by Avanti West Coast or London Northwestern train and take a connecting bus to Bedford.

West Coast main line

Crewe, one of the UK’s most important junctions, is closed all day on 27 December. Avanti West Coast trains between London Euston and Glasgow are diverted via Stoke and Manchester. No Avanti trains will run to or from Liverpool or Chester.

Eurostar

Passengers were stuck on a Eurostar train in the Channel Tunnel for two-and-a-half hours on Friday morning after an apparent breakdown of the London to Paris service.

The train eventually started moving at 9.30am UK time, 70 minutes after it was due to arrive in the French capital. Passengers were taken to Calais Fréthun station to await a replacement train. They were five hours late arriving in Paris.

At London St Pancras, arrivals from Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were running 30 to 70 minutes behind schedule.

A spokesperson for Eurostar said: “The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our priority. We are keeping them informed as we resolve the situation and we’re really sorry for the delay to their journey today.”

Train services appear to be back on time for Saturday morning - but worth checking Eurostar’s live timetable before travel here.

Avanti West Coast strikes

On New Year’s Eve train managers working for Avanti West Coast will begin a five-month series of strikes. The members of the RMT union will also stop work on 2 January and every Sunday from 12 January to 25 May inclusive. The dispute is over pay for working on rest days. Train managers have been offered £250 for weekdays and £300 at weekends, but they want more; train drivers earn a flat £600 for working on a day off.

A significantly reduced Avanti West Coast timetable will be in place on the first two strike days, 31 December and 2 January – with fewer services running during limited operating hours. The first train of the day will depart Euston around 8am and the last train of the day before 5pm.

North Wales, Blackpool and Edinburgh will have no Avanti West Coast services on strike days.

Tuesday 31 December

Avanti West Coast will run one train per hour between Euston and each of Birmingham, Manchester, and Preston with a limited services to Glasgow. One train every other hour between Liverpool and Crewe will also run. No Avanti West Coast trains will serve Macclesfield.

Thursday 2 January

The intercity operator will run one train per hour between Euston and each of Wolverhampton (via Birmingham), Crewe and Manchester. There will also be a limited service between Glasgow and Preston. No Avanti West Coast services will serve Warrington Bank Quay or Wigan North Western.