Monday 17 Nov 2025
Engineering work to improve Kent and south east London’s railway over Christmas and New Year 2025/26
- Region & Route:
- Southern
- | Southern: Kent
Passengers are asked to plan ahead this Christmas and New Year as vital upgrades are delivered for a more reliable railway
Over the festive period, engineers will be working around the clock on a series of upgrade projects. The works are scheduled for the quietest time of year on the railway, helping to minimise disruption while delivering long-term benefits for passengers.
Key changes to journeys
No Southeastern trains will run to or from London Victoria from Saturday 27 December to Wednesday 31 December. Network Rail will use the access to carry out power and signalling upgrades and replace worn rails.
From Thursday 1 January to Sunday 4 January 2026, London Charing Cross and London Waterloo East are closed while Network Rail carries out essential maintenance between the two stations.
On Thursday 1 and Sunday 4 January, London Cannon Street will also be closed, with a limited service running to/from London Bridge, with most services diverted to/from London Victoria.
From Saturday 27 December 2025 until Sunday 4 January 2026, South Bermondsey station will be closed as the station platforms are rebuilt. No Southern trains will call at the station during this period.
On Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when Southeastern’s network is closed, engineers are working across the network to complete maintenance, including replacing rails near Maidstone East, refurbishing the switches and crossings at Lee, and power supply improvements in the London Bridge area.
David Davidson, chief operating officer for the South Eastern Railway, said:
“We use the time when the railway is quieter, and most commuters are away to get vital work done on the railway to give passengers safer and more reliable journeys.
“While most of the country’s railway is open for travel, we are advising people to plan ahead and check before they travel as there will be changes on some routes”.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Paul Prentice
Communications Manager
07354 529345
paul.prentice@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.
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