Media centre

Thursday 22 Oct 2026

Christmas engineering work to improve reliability on the Great Eastern Main Line

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

Passengers using routes into and out of London Liverpool Street are set to benefit from a more reliable railway as Network Rail delivers a major 10-day programme of engineering work at Forest Gate over Christmas.

The vast majority of the railway network will remain open for passengers over the Christmas and New Year period. However, major engineering work will take place on the Great Eastern Main Line at Forest Gate and at Barking station to improve reliability on routes serving London Liverpool Street, the UK's busiest railway station.

The period between Christmas Day and New Year's Day is traditionally one of the quietest times on the railway, with passenger numbers often around half of those seen on a typical weekday. This provides one of the few opportunities to carry out major engineering projects that require extended access to some of Britain's busiest rail routes and stations.

The Great Eastern Main Line at Forest Gate is a critical artery into the capital that supports hundreds of passenger services every day, while also enabling freight trains to transport goods and supplies across the country as part of the strategic freight network.

Engineers will carry out a 10-day programme of work at Forest Gate to renew six sets of points (movable sections of rail that enable trains to change tracks), along with associated rails, sleepers and ballast . This work is essential to maintain a safe, reliable and flexible railway for passengers and freight operators.

Other engineering projects will be taking place across East London including:

• Renewing rails, sleepers and ballast at Barking station on the Tilbury line.
• Repairing platform canopies and replacing roof sheeting at Forest Gate station.
• Renewing two sets of points at Stratford.
• General maintenance work on the Weaver line. 

We're also investing in renewals across East Anglia including:

• Repairing platforms 1 and 4 at Southend Victoria station.
• Renewing three sets of points at Lowestoft.
• Delivering signalling renewal work as part of the Cambridge resignalling project (C3R), along with overhead line and track improvements between Cambridge and Ely.
• Replacing sleepers and track renewals at Trowse swing bridge.
• General maintenance on the Southend Victoria/Southminster lines and at Norwich.

Most of this work will be carried out on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when the railway is traditionally closed. However, the major track renewal programme at Forest Gate will continue for 10 days and will affect Greater Anglia and Elizabeth line services on the Great Eastern Main Line to and from London Liverpool Street. The track renewal at Barking will last for five days affecting c2c services between London Liverpool Street and Grays. 

Customers travelling over the festive period are being reminded to check before they travel and allow extra time, as planned engineering work may affect some journeys to and from London Liverpool Street via Stratford.

Martin Beable, Chief Operating Officer for GBR Anglia said: "While most of the railway will remain open as usual over the festive period, we'll be taking advantage of a quieter time on the network to carry out significant improvements at Forest Gate and Barking station.

"We're also carrying out lots of smaller projects across East Anglia on Christmas Day and Boxing Day which will help us maintain a safe, reliable and efficient railway for the hundreds of passenger and freight services that use these routes every day.

"We're grateful for passengers' patience while this work takes place and would encourage anyone travelling over Christmas and New Year to check their journey before setting off."

Customers can plan ahead by visiting www.nationalrail.co.uk or their train operator website. 

Travel Information:

Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December 2026 - all routes

As usual, trains will not run on most routes on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

A limited Stansted Express service will operate on Boxing Day between Stansted Airport and Tottenham Hale only. Trains will call at Tottenham Hale, Cheshunt, Harlow Town, Bishops Stortford and Stansted Airport.  Cheshunt station will be open between approximately 10:30-19:45

Great Eastern main line: Sunday 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 

During the 10 days of engineering work at Forest Gate, a rail replacement service will operate between Ingatestone/Shenfield and Newbury Park (London Underground station). Greater Anglia customers' tickets will be accepted between Newbury Park and Stratford / Liverpool Street.

Elizabeth line trains will not operate between Stratford and Romford and a rail replacement bus service will be in operation. A reduced train service will run between Romford and Shenfield. Customers are advised to check before they travel on Journey Planner or the TfL Go app.

Greater Anglia trains will continue to operate between Norwich / Ipswich / Clacton and Shenfield (via Ingatestone connecting into rail replacement buses) as well as between Southend Victoria and Shenfield.

Tilbury Loop line, Barking station - Sunday 27 December to Tuesday 29 December 2026 

Engineering work at Barking station will mean c2c services will not operate between London Liverpool Street station and Grays. A rail replacement service will be in place between Upminster, Rainham, Purfleet and Grays. Passengers for Dagenham Dock have ticket acceptance on EL2 and 287 TfL bus services