Lines across the country closed for up to two weeks, links to Heathrow and Gatwick severed and journey times doubled
- Millions of rail passengers are facing disruption and delays over Christmas
- £150m of engineering works will cause closures, delays and overcrowding
- Great Western, Greater Anglia, Southeastern and Brighton line all affected
- Major services between Gatwick and Heathrow airports hugely disrupted
Rail
passengers are facing travel chaos over the Christmas period as the
largest ever programme of engineering works closes train lines for up to
two weeks and cuts links to Heathrow and Gatwick.
Millions
of travellers trying to get home for the festive period or to major
airports to jet off for some winter sun face a raft of cancellations and
diverted routes causing delays and doubled journey times.
Engineering
works will block the main line from London to Gatwick for ten days,
with the last Gatwick Express of the year leaving Victoria at 9.15pm on
Christmas Eve and not restarting until January 4.
There
will also be rail closures to Heathrow for four days from Christmas Day
due to Crossrail works, meaning neither Heathrow Express nor Heathrow
Connect trains will run from London Paddington.
Half the usual number of trains to Heathrow are set to run between December 29 and January 2.
A
Heathrow spokesman said: 'The Piccadilly Line and additional bus and
coach services will be operating. Passengers are advised to leave extra
time when travelling to the airport.'
At
Gatwick, more than half a million passengers alone are thought to be
disrupted by the works – with trains terminating at Purley in South
London instead of continuing their usual route.
A
spokesman said: 'We recommend passengers check updates before they
travel, plan their route carefully, and allow extra time if intending to
travel by rail during this time. These works are an essential part of
plans to double rail capacity at Gatwick by 2020.'
Train
operator Great Western Railway said the closure is 'part of a large
programme of engineering in the Thames Valley needed for the launch of
Crossrail in 2019.'
The
£150million redevelopment programme on Great Western, Greater Anglia,
Southeastern and the Brighton mainline is also expected to lead to
station closures, delays and overcrowding.
Journey
disruption is also expected for travellers who had planned to head to
Wales and the South West during the Christmas period.
On
the Great Western mainline, Paddington Station will be closed on
December 27 and 28, forcing people to find alternative routes from
Marylebone which go via Banbury and Oxford adding up to one hour and 30
minutes to the trip.
Those heading to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall will also have their travel plans scuppered on December 27 and 28.
They
will have to travel from London Waterloo with trains diverting to
Basingstoke and Reading adding one hour and 20 minutes to their journey.
Travellers
in the east also face lengthy delays because, for the entire festive
season from Christmas Eve to January 4, London Bridge station, Waterloo
East, Charing Cross and Cannon Street stations will all be closed to
Southeastern services.
The reduced services from Kent and East Sussex will end in Victoria, Blackfriars and New Cross stations instead.
Train
links between Ipswich, Norwich and London Liverpool Street will also be
closed for five days with services stopping at Ingatestone, Essex, and
passengers offered a bus replacement service.
| OPERATOR | THU 24 DEC | FRI 25 DEC | SAT 26 DEC | SUN 27 DEC | MON 28 DEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abellio Greater Anglia / Stansted Express | Normal service finishes early | No service | Stansted Express only | Sunday service | Monday service |
| Arriva Trains Wales | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Amended service | Amended service |
| c2c | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Sunday service |
| Caledonian Sleeper | No overnight service | No service | No service | Amended service | Amended service |
| Chiltern Railways | Normal service finishes early | No service | London-Oxford only | Amended service | Amended service |
| CrossCountry | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Monday service |
| East Midlands Trains | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service, buses for Kettering-Corby | Near normal Monday service |
| Eurostar | Amended service | No service | Amended service | Amended service | Amended service |
| First TransPennine Express | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Monday service |
| Gatwick Express | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | No service | No service |
| Grand Central | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Near normal Sunday service | Monday service |
| Great Northern | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Amended service |
| Great Western Railway | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Amended service; no trains to/from London | Amended service; no trains to/from London |
| Heathrow Connect/Express | Normal service finishes early | Heathrow Central-T4/5 only | Heathrow Central-T4/5 only | Heathrow Central-T4/5 only | Heathrow Central-T4/5 only |
| Hull Trains | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Amended service | Amended service |
| Island Line | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Monday service |
| London Midland | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Amended service |
| London Overground | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Saturday service |
| Merseyrail | Normal service finishes early | No service | Limited service | Sunday service | Saturday service |
| Northern Rail | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Monday service |
| ScotRail | Normal service finishes early | No service | Strathclyde services only | Sunday service | Monday service |
| South West Trains | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Saturday service |
| Southeastern | Normal service finishes early | No service | London-Ashford HS1, 8am to 8pm | Sunday service | Amended Saturday service |
| Southern | Normal service finishes early | No service | Limited service | Amended service | Amended service |
| TfL Rail | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Buses for Ilford-Shenfield route | Buses for Ilford-Shenfield |
| Thameslink | Normal service finishes early | No service | Limited service | Amended service | Amended service |
| Virgin Trains East Coast | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Amended service | Amended service |
| Virgin Trains | Normal service finishes early | No service | No service | Sunday service | Monday service |
Services
in Lincolnshire will also be severely disrupted with the north-east of
the county cut off from the rest of the rail network for over a
fortnight.
A Network Rail spokesman said: 'A 15-day closure of the line will see the replacement of much of the current signalling system.'
Stephen
Joseph, director of the Campaign for Better Transport, said the large
number of engineering works over the festive period had highlighted a
'lack of surface transport options' to London's airports.
He
said: 'These engineering works will of course cause huge problems for
travellers and I suspect the decision has been taken to inconvenience
airline passengers, rather than inconvenience commuters.
'What
these closures highlight, however, is the lack of surface transport
options to both Heathrow and Gatwick, which is something the Government
is still failing to address in its plans for airport expansion.'
Teresa Pearce, Labour MP for Erith and Thamesmead, warned that the engineering works could cause 'bedlam'.
She
said: 'Stations will be blockaded and shut. They are not explaining to
people that services will cease from Charing Cross and Cannon Street at
about 8pm on Christmas Eve.
'So everyone who works in a shop in the West End is not going to get home unless they do something different. So it's bedlam.'
The
improvements which include building new tracks, lengthening platforms
for longer trains and upgrading signalling across the networks are part
of a plan 'aimed at meeting surging demand and improving and expanding
our railway network,' said Network Rail.
Network
Rail bosses are under pressure to finish rail engineering works on time
to avoid a repeat of the Christmas travel chaos fiasco in north London
last year.
That
saw thousands of passengers stuck at Finsbury Park on December 27 after
work at King's Cross and at Paddington stations overran.
There
is also disruption expected on the Caledonian Sleeper rail service in
the run-up to Christmas after workers voted to go on strike.
Members
of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union backed walkouts and
other forms of industrial action by nine to one over claims of defects
on trains.
The
union has accused operator Serco of failing to fix faults on the
service between Scotland and London. RMT has claimed the strikes will
most likely take place in the days leading up to Christmas, which could
leave many travellers struggling to rearrange plans for the holidays.
RMT
general secretary Mick Cash said: 'The poor service to passengers, in
conjunction with the company's failure to address the issues, left us
with no option but to ballot for industrial action.
'That ballot has now recorded a massive vote for action and that mandate will be considered by the union's executive.'
The
union claimed there were more than 200 defects on trains - including
smoke detectors disconnected, toilets being inoperable, and lighting and
heating systems not working.
Air
conditioning problems throughout the summer left passengers sweltering
in the sleeping berths, said the RMT, adding there was no hot water in
some coaches for hand washing.
Officials
claim there has been a loss of power in coaches during some journeys,
leaving staff having to find alternative accommodation during the night
for passengers.
Peter
Strachan, managing director of the Caledonian Sleeper, said: 'While we
are disappointed that the RMT has voted in favour of industrial action
and action short of a strike, we have not yet received notification from
the RMT of their intention.
'Christmas
is one of the busiest times of the year for the Caledonian Sleeper
service and we therefore remain hopeful that we can minimise any
disruption to guests.'
