Do trains run on Boxing Day?

At Christmas you might want to zip all over the country seeing friends and family, but if you want to travel on Christmas Day or Boxing Day then in the vast majority of cases, you're going to have to get in the car, because almost no services run on the rail network at all on either day.

It's actually a great Christmas tradition for the Shadow Transport Secretary to complain about the lack of services on Boxing Day. They quite rightly point out that Boxing Day is hardly a quiet time for travel - with people crossing the country to visit family, shop in the sales and go to sporting events. However, it's just as much of a Christmas tradition to do absolutely nothing to change the situation when you get into power.
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This year a few train companies are bucking the trend.

Services running

Chiltern Railways will run trains from Bicester North to London Marylebone, and car parking at the stations will be free for the day.

Scotrail will run a very limited number of trains in the Glasgow area.

Southeastern will run high speed services between St Pancras, Stratford, Ebbsfleet and Ashford International only

Southern will operate hourly between London Victoria and Brighton, half-hourly between Victoria and Gatwick, half hourly between Victoria and Sutton, and half hourly between Victoria and East Croydon

Meanwhile, the Stansted Express and Gatwick Express will run some trains, and Eurostar will run a reduced service.

In London, the tube will offer a special service on all lines to get you to and from the Christmas sales, with the first train at 8.30am and the last train at the usual Sunday times.

The rest of the break

From December 27 to January 1st there's a reduced service running on many lines, so it's worth planning ahead and booking your seats in advance, because the services won't be the same as usual - and it's bound to be incredibly busy.

There are also going to be engineering works all over the system, including some incredibly busy areas. National Rail has particularly warned about engineering taking place at Euston, London Bridge, Kings Cross, Paddington, Liverpool Street, Reading, Crewe, Wolverhampton, and St Albans - but adds that there are other works elsewhere, so there's a decent chance rail replacement bus services will be part of many journeys.

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