Tuesday 27 Oct 2026
Christmas travel: plan your journey as Birmingham New Street prepares for major upgrade
- Region & Route:
- North West & Central
- | North West & Central: Central
Passengers planning Christmas journeys to, from, or through Birmingham New Street can now check festive timetables and alternative travel arrangements ahead of a major railway upgrade.
No trains will serve the station from Thursday 24 December to Monday 28 December 2026 inclusive while Network Rail begins a £13m programme to replace overhead power lines which date back to the 1960s on the approaches to and through Birmingham New Street.
Services will run as normal with a full timetable in place on Tuesday 29 December.
Christmas timetables are now available and passengers are being urged to plan ahead, check before travelling, and allow extra time as journeys will involve replacement buses, different routes, or a change at an alternative station.
The essential engineering work will affect journeys on Christmas Eve, Sunday 27 December and the bank holiday on Monday 28 December. Trains do not run at Birmingham New Street on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
Passengers who can travel on a different date either side of the closure should consider doing so if possible, but trains immediately before and after the closure are likely to be busier than normal.
Services to and from Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street during the closure will also be busier than normal, with services on Christmas Eve finishing early as happens every year.
Train operators - including Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, London Northwestern Railway, Transport for Wales, and West Midlands Railway - have set out alternative arrangements, including replacement buses linking Birmingham New Street with Birmingham International and Wolverhampton. Long-distance services will also be amended or diverted, with replacement buses providing connections on several routes.
As well as the Birmingham New Street work, major track renewal will also take place on the line between Birmingham and Sandwell and at Berkswell between Birmingham and Coventry, making use of the lines being closed and reducing the need for future disruption.
Mark Goodall, route director for Network Rail Central route, said: “Passengers want and deserve a railway they can rely on and our teams will be working over Christmas to help make journeys more reliable for years to come.
“We’re using the annual Christmas Day and Boxing Day shutdown to get as much essential work done as possible and minimise the overall disruption to passengers.
“I know the changes will affect Christmas journeys and I am sorry for any inconvenience caused. My advice is to plan ahead, check before you travel, and allow extra time for your journeys.”
Tom Painter, executive director of WMRE, said: “We understand how frustrating disruption can be, especially when people are making plans to travel over Christmas. But this major investment is essential to delivering a stronger, more reliable railway network for our region over the long term.
“We’re working closely with our transport partners to make sure passengers know what alternative travel options are available. Please check before you travel and plan ahead.”
The overhead power line upgrade is the first phase of a three-year programme, with further work planned over Christmas in 2027 and 2028. Much of the existing wiring dates back to the 1960s and needs replacing to reduce the risk of faults and improve long-term reliability.
Alongside the overhead line upgrade, Network Rail will invest £6.4m in replacing ageing junction equipment and renewing 800 metres of track at Soho. Doing both projects during the same closure will further minimise disruption while delivering smoother, more reliable journeys.
Work at Berkswell work forms part of Network Rail’s continuing collaboration with HS2 to support the construction of Britain’s new high-speed railway, with a new turnout being installed to connect the existing railway to new sidings. The sidings will provide an important rail link for transporting materials needed for future phases of HS2’s construction.
Although no trains will serve Birmingham New Street during the work, the station will remain open, allowing access to Grand Central and the city centre. Station facilities, including the assisted travel lounge and toilets, will remain available, with staff on hand to help. The Avanti West Coast first class lounge will be closed during the work.
Queueing systems will be in place at busy times to help passengers reach their replacement buses and onward connections. Please allow extra time and follow staff guidance.
Passengers should plan their journey with their train operator or at www.nationalrail.co.uk or visit www.nationalrail.co.uk/newstreetclosure for the latest advice and links to journey planners.
Notes to Editors
Notes to editors:
This summary provides an overview of how the work will affect each train operator and different routes. Passengers should check journey planners for travel advice for their specific journey and date.
Avanti West Coast:
Trains will run to an amended timetable and will not call at Birmingham New Street. Replacement buses will run between Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton, and between Birmingham New Street and Birmingham International.
CrossCountry:
Long-distance services will be amended and/or diverted, with trains running between Coleshill Parkway and Stansted Airport; Nottingham and Cardiff Central; Edinburgh and Plymouth; and Manchester Piccadilly and Bournemouth.
- Replacement buses: Coleshill Parkway–Water Orton–Birmingham New Street.
- Replacement buses: Worcestershire Parkway–Birmingham New Street.
- Replacement buses: Tamworth–Wilnecote–Birmingham New Street.
- Replacement buses: Birmingham International–Coleshill Parkway.
- Replacement buses: Birmingham International–Worcestershire Parkway.
- Replacement buses: Wolverhampton–Worcestershire Parkway.
London Northwestern Railway:
- London Euston/Northampton–Birmingham New Street: On the 27 and 28 Dec, services will terminate and start at Birmingham International due to the Birmingham New Street closure; due to other engineering work on the West Coast route the line between Northampton and Rugby via Long Buckby will be closed between 27 December 2026 and 1 January 2027. Buses will be replacing trains between Northampton and Rugby via Long Buckby.
- Birmingham New Street–Crewe/Liverpool Lime Street: trains will run between Wolverhampton and Crewe/Liverpool Lime Street only, to an amended timetable at reduced frequency. At Wolverhampton, passengers can connect with trains to Sandwell & Dudley, then replacement buses to Smethwick Galton Bridge, followed by trains to Birmingham Snow Hill, with up to five trains per hour.
West Midlands Railway:
- Birmingham International–Rugeley Trent Valley: trains will run between Wolverhampton and Rugeley Trent Valley at reduced frequency, calling additionally at Willenhall and Darlaston. They will not call at stations between Birmingham International and Birmingham New Street, or at Tame Bridge Parkway. Replacement buses will link Birmingham International and Birmingham New Street.
- Shrewsbury–Birmingham New Street: trains will run between Shrewsbury and Sandwell & Dudley only, to an amended timetable at reduced frequency, calling additionally at Coseley and Tipton. They will not call at Willenhall, Darlaston or Tame Bridge Parkway; passengers for these stations should use other services.
- Wolverhampton–Walsall: trains will run between Wolverhampton and Sandwell & Dudley only, at reduced frequency. Replacement buses will run between Sandwell & Dudley and Smethwick Rolfe Street via Smethwick Galton Bridge, for trains to Birmingham Snow Hill and Birmingham Moor Street. Replacement buses will also link Birmingham New Street and Walsall.
- Lichfield Trent Valley/Four Oaks–Bromsgrove/Redditch: no trains will run. Replacement buses will operate between Lichfield Trent Valley and Birmingham New Street; between Birmingham New Street and Longbridge/Barnt Green/Bromsgrove/Droitwich Spa; and between Longbridge/Barnt Green and Redditch.
- Birmingham New Street–Kings Norton via Kings Heath: no trains will run; replacement buses will operate instead.
Transport for Wales:
Trains will not run between Wolverhampton and Birmingham International. The operator advises that other transport is available between Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Passengers should check their journey for the available options.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Jon Crampton
Head of Communications - Central route
Network Rail
0330 854 0100 (Option 2)
jon.crampton@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk