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Monday 15 Dec 2025

REMINDER: Christmas rail work across London and Cambridgeshire to deliver more benefits for passengers

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

Passengers using rail services across London and Cambridgeshire are being reminded to check before travelling this Christmas for planned engineering work taking place which may affect rail journeys. 

This Christmas, passengers are being encouraged to check their journey plans before travelling as major engineering work will be delivering vital renewals, upgrades and maintenance on the rail network at key locations across London and Cambridgeshire. These works include: 

• Continuing to replace the roof and improve the drainage system of the UK's busiest station, London Liverpool Street
• Major track work on the London Overground Mildmay line to keep services running reliably. 
• Vital signalling renewal work across the Cambridgeshire area
• Other critical maintenance work to maintain the safety of the railway for all rail users. 

Passengers planning to travel by rail over the festive period should check with NationalRail.co.uk or with their train operator.

Service changes for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (24-26 December)

Train services will finish early on Christmas Eve on some routes. Passengers should check the departure time of their last train on Christmas Eve to avoid disappointment.

As usual, most train services will not operate on Christmas Day and Boxing Day except:

• Stansted Express will operate a revised service between Tottenham Hale and Stansted Airport on Boxing Day,
• London Overground Mildmay line services will also run on Boxing Day between Clapham Junction and Shepherd’s Bush.

No rail replacement services will be available on these two days across the network except between Shepherd's Bush and Camden Road, and between Camden Road and Stratford. 

London Liverpool Street station engineering work - Thursday 25 December to Thursday 1 January

London Liverpool Street, the UK’s busiest station, will be closed for eight days to allow engineering work to take place. Work on the roof renewal programme will continue high above the public concourse area and platforms 1-10, to replace the panels to allow more light into the station. Improvements to the drainage system and making good the seals around the panels will make the roof resilient to more frequent and intense storms.

The station platforms and the concourse will be closed for eight days. The station is planned to reopen to train services on Friday 2 January 2026.

Greater Anglia, c2c and London Overground service changes to/from London Liverpool Street from Saturday 27 December to Thursday 1 January.

From Saturday 27 December, Greater Anglia services on the Great Eastern and West Anglia mainlines will run to/from Stratford including Stansted Express services.  

London Overground Weaver line services will operate between Chingford / Enfield Town / Cheshunt and London Fields on these dates. There will be no train service between London Liverpool Street and London Fields from Christmas Eve shutdown until start of service on Friday 2 January 2026.

All c2c trains that usually run to / from London Liverpool Street will be amended to run to / from London Fenchurch Street via West Ham.

Click here for more information from NationalRail.co.uk

Cambridge area engineering work - Thursday 25 December to Sunday 4 January 2026

From Christmas Day, major engineering work is taking place on the railway in the Cambridge area for up to 11 days. This is to deliver the second stage of the signalling renewal programme of the Cambridge area.

The Cambridge Re-signalling project has been installing new equipment across the area to modernise the signalling system. Following the successful delivery of the first stage of this complex work last Christmas, signalling engineers for Alstom will introduce a new control system to operate the signals for the section of railway between Cambridge North and Audley End. A new digital workstation at the Cambridge signalling centre will replace the 40-year-old signalling panel allowing signallers to oversee the operation of the network more efficiently. This work is also vital to allow the new station at Cambridge South to open in June 2026.

Work will also be taking place at Meldreth Road to upgrade the level crossing with a fully integrated full barrier CCTV system that will help to improve level crossing safety for all road users.

Greater Anglia, Thameslink, Great Northern and CrossCountry service changes for the Cambridge area – Thursday 25 December to Sunday 4 January 2026

As usual, there will be no trains services running via Cambridge on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

From Saturday 27 December to Sunday 4 January 2025, buses replace trains between Royston/Stansted Airport via Cambridge/Cambridge North/Ely.

Bus services will also operate between Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds during these dates. Please check your train operator website for details of bus replacement services and revised train timetables.  

Click here for more information from NationalRail.co.uk 

London Overground Mildmay line track engineering work - Thursday 25 December to Sunday 4 January 2026

From Christmas Day, the Mildmay line will be closed between Camden Road and Richmond/Shepherd’s Bush to allow the replacement of several switches and crossings, the moveable sections of rail that allow trains to change tracks. These vital elements of the track can become worn quickly where there are frequent train services and eventually need replacing to keep services running efficiently and safely.

Engineering teams will be replacing up to ten of these track sections using heavy engineering equipment, as well as replacing almost 220 metres of track and installing new drainage channels and rain water catchpits.  

London Overground service changes - Thursday 25 December to Sunday 4 January

From Christmas Day, there will be no London Overground Mildmay line services between Camden Road and Richmond/Shepherd’s Bush for 11 days. Services will resume on Monday 5 January 2026. During this time, a special train service will run between Willesden Junction and Stratford (via Queen's Park). There will also be a shuttle service between Clapham Junction and Shepherd’s Bush. Local buses, replacement buses and other routes will be available, but passengers are advised to check the TfL journey planner before travelling www.tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey

#ChristmasRailWorks