Christmas Season Rail Service Changes
There are changes to rail services across the Greater Anglia network this holiday season. Some services are affected by strikes and some by engineering works. Passengers are asked to check before travelling.
The normal timetable will run through Friday 23 December but services will shut down earlier than they would have on Christmas Eve Saturday 24 December due to strike action.
RMT members working for Network Rail are due to strike from 18.00 on Christmas Eve
to 05.59 on Tuesday 27 December which will impact Greater Anglia services. Five days of continuous strikes have been called 3/1, 4/1, 5/1, 6/1 and 7/1.
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve Saturday 24 December, last trains will be much earlier than usual with all trains needing to be at their final destination by 16.00. This affects all trains across the Greater Anglia Network. . Passengers are advised to avoid travelling on Christmas Eve, if possible.
On the East Suffolk Lines, the last trains on Christmas Eve are as follows:
- 13.16 Ipswich to Lowestoft
- 14.06 Lowestoft to Ipswich
- 13.58 Ipswich to Felixstowe
- 14.24 Felixstowe to Ipswich
Christmas Day and Boxing Day
As usual, there will be no Greater Anglia services on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and because
of the industrial action, there will also be no Stansted Express services on Boxing Day (as well
as no Stansted Express services on Christmas Day, as usual).
Tuesday 27 December
On 27 December, there will be no trains running before 08.15 due to the industrial action.
More information about the strikes, including service information and timetables, can be found at
https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/strikes
Strikes January 2023
Further industrial action is currently planned for 3/1, 4/1, 5/, 6/1 and 7/1. There will be no services on the East Suffolk Lines and the other regional routes these days if the strikes go ahead. A very limited service will operate with reduced hours on the routes from Norwich, Colchester, Southend, Cambridge and Stansted Airport to London Liverpool Street.
Engineering Works
To help further improve service reliability, Network Rail is carrying out engineering works
from the end of Saturday 24 December until Monday 2 January on various routes. This means that some journeys to/from London – including intercity services to Ipswich and Norwich, services to Southend Victoria and services to Stansted Airport, Cambridge and Hertford East – will involve longer journey times, a bus replacement service for part of the way and/or travel via an alternative route.
Engineering work is taking place as follows:
From Tuesday 27 December until Monday 2 January, engineering work is taking place near London Liverpool Street. As a result, no trains will be able to run in or out of London Liverpool Street station.
Alternative arrangements for passengers include:
- Norwich / Ipswich and branch line trains will run to/from Ingatestone. Buses will run between Ingatestone and Newbury Park Underground station. Passengers can use London
- Underground services between Newbury Park and Stratford / London Liverpool Street.
- Southend Victoria services will run between Southend Victoria and Billericay. Buses will replace trains between Billericay and Newbury Park Underground station. Passengers can use London Underground services between Newbury Park and Stratford / London Liverpool Street.
- Stansted Airport / Cambridge / Hertford East services will run to/from Tottenham Hale only. Passengers can use London Underground services between Tottenham Hale and Central London.
In addition to this work, on Tuesday 27 December, engineering work is taking place between Southend Victoria / Southminster and London Liverpool Street. As a result, buses will replace trains between Southend Victoria / Southminster and Newbury Park all day.
From Tuesday 27 December to Monday 2 January, engineering work is taking place between Tottenham Hale and London Liverpool Street / Stratford. As a result, there will be a reduced West Anglia service in operation, with trains from Cambridge/Stansted Airport/Hertford East terminating at / starting from Tottenham Hale. Services will not operate between Meridian Water and Stratford. Passengers are advised to use London Underground services between Tottenham Hale and Central London.
Revised timetables are available in the “service alterations” section of the Greater Anglia website, on the Greater Anglia app and Twitter.
Bank holiday timetables will be in place on New Year’s Day.
Engineering work and industrial action are affecting other UK train operators throughout the holiday period up to 9 January. Passengers should check before they travelling.
Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia Managing Director said, “We will do everything we can to help passengers over the festive season, so that their journeys can go as smoothly as possible, and as expected.
“If you are travelling with us, please do check before you travel as some journeys make take longer than normal or arrive or depart at different times than usual.
“If there is engineering works on your journey, we will be working hard to make sure that you can still complete your journey, even if part of it is by bus”
“I would like to thank our customers for travelling with us and wish them all a peaceful and happy festive season.”
Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said: “Work over Christmas is critical for
upgrading and maintaining the railway ahead of the new year, with our teams out on the tracks
while many of us are having fun and relaxing in our homes.
“We have a significant Christmas programme this year, particularly on the lines into Liverpool
Street. I hope passengers can understand the need for the upgrades and I’d like to reassure them
that we’ll be getting a huge amount done while trains aren’t running. I also want to say thank you to
our lineside neighbours for bearing with us while we’re out working hard in their communities.”