British rail works set to cause Christmas travel chaos
PA
A total of 47 separate engineering works across the British rail network are set to cause Christmas chaos for the 22 million Brits expected to travel by train between Christmas Eve and 2 January.
Two out of three of the Network Rail-ordered engineering works will involve using replacement buses, with 18 of the country's 23 operators being affected.
Some journeys are expected to take double the usual time, with the North-East, London Liverpool Street, Edinburgh, Reading, Birmingham, Stockport and Paisley being the worst hit.
For example, a journey from Liverpool Street to Ipswich on Christmas Eve returning on 27 December will take up to two hours, seven minutes each way and involve replacement buses, when it would normally take one hour, seven minutes.
According to the report in the Mirror, Northern Rail has actually cancelled all of its New Year's Day services in Tyneside and Teeside.
Train companies have advised passengers buy Christmas service seats in advance, or face the prospect of standing on long journeys.
And rail bosses have insisted this is the best time to carry out works because of lighter commuter numbers over the holiday.
While Network Rail insists the 'vast majority of services and passengers will be unaffected', rail watchdog Passenger Focus insisted it would cause 'major inconvenience'.
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