Train travellers face severe disruption over the festive period as planned engineering work takes place across the UK.
Network Rail has announced severe delays at London Waterloo on key Christmas dates as “major upgrades” are carried out between Queenstown Road and Nine Elms stations.
Following Christmas closures, between Saturday 27 December and Sunday 4 January, train services in and out of Waterloo may be cancelled or delayed.
No trains will call at one of London’s busiest stations from 27 to 28 December, with trains terminating at Clapham Junction.
Timetable reductions will remain in place at Waterloo from 29 December until 4 January.
Queenstown Road station will be closed as track, switches and crossings are renewed for the full period, with Vauxhall station shut for four days between 27 December and 30 December and on 1 January.
According to Network Rail, more than £130 million in major investment projects will take place over Christmas and New Year.
Further delays will be seen on the West Coast Main Line, with no trains connecting Milton Keynes and Rugby from Christmas Day to 5 January as a junction is replaced at Hanslope.
The replacement of a bridge over the M6 will also halt rail journeys between Preston and Carlisle from 31 December to 15 January, and no trains will run from Carlisle and Lockerbie from 1 to 7 January due to new signalling installation.
As part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, there will be no trains between Leeds and York from Christmas Day until 2 January.
Around Cambridge, no rail journeys will be scheduled to Stansted Airport from Christmas Day until 5 January.
Stratford and Liverpool Street stations will similarly see no trains between 25 December and New Year’s Day as engineering work in the Bishopsgate tunnel and roof refurbishments take place.
Mark Goodall, Wessex route director, said on behalf of Network Rail: “We are giving passengers early notice that there will be changes to train services for those travelling to and from central London over the festive period.
“We are advising passengers to plan ahead and use alternative routes into the capital. We are sorry for the disruption this closure between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction will cause however these works will provide a more reliable journey for everyone who travels on one of the country’s busiest railways.”
Network Rail’s chief network operator Helen Hamlin added that the period between Christmas and New Year is the quietest and “best time” to complete major projects.
She said: “We work with train operators to organise diversions and rail replacement buses for passengers who are travelling, but it’s still so important to plan ahead. That’s especially the case this year as we have some very big plans for improving the railway that will mean people may have to travel home on different routes after Christmas than the way they travelled out.”
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