Transport for London (TfL) will keep most services running throughout the festive period but we advise customers to plan journeys ahead so they can make the most of the busy festive period in the capital this year. Resources like TfL’s Journey Planner or the TfL Go app will help customers avoid closures caused by planned essential works or by Network Rail industrial action. For details of service changes and planned closures over the festive period, please see below:
- There will be no service on the majority of public transport on Christmas Day and no services on some parts of the network on Boxing Day. Night Tube and Night Overground services will not operate on Saturday 24 December.
- Apart from planned closures, services will run all night on New Year’s Eve and the Mayor’s annual fireworks display will take place for the first time since 2019. However, given the impact of the pandemic on TfL’s finances, customers will have to pay to travel on New Year’s Eve.
- Victoria Coach Station, Santander Cycles, rental e-scooters, and taxi and private hire services will be available throughout the festive period including on Christmas Day. Walking and cycling routes will be largely uninterrupted aside from New Year’s Eve when roads in certain areas of central London will be closed, some Santander Cycle docking stations will be out of service, and some bridges will be closed to pedestrians to facilitate the Mayor’s fireworks display. The IFS London Cable Car is open throughout the festive period with the exception of Christmas Day.
- Winter Wonderland has returned as a ticketed event and will continue to be open to the public until 2 January 2023. For a quieter journey, customers can travel to and from Bond Street, Victoria or Paddington, which are within a 20-minute walk of Hyde Park.
- Essential engineering works will impact Elizabeth line services over the festive period. Travel to Heathrow Airport will be affected as the Elizabeth line will not be running on Boxing Day. There will also be no service between Paddington and Abbey Wood on 27 December, with a reduced service in the central section between 28 December 2022 and 2 January 2023 due to vital engineering work.
- Between Sunday 25 December 2022 and Monday 2 January 2023, the Elizabeth line will be fully suspended between Whitechapel and Shenfield. London Overground will also be suspended on all routes from Liverpool Street to Enfield, Cheshunt and Chingford, as well as between Romford and Upminster, due to Network Rail track maintenance works. Liverpool Street mainline station will be closed.
- Between Saturday 17 and Friday 23 December 2022, the Bakerloo line will be fully suspended between Queen’s Park and Harrow & Wealdstone and the London Overground will be fully suspended between Euston and Watford Junction. Customers are advised that additional bus services on routes 718, 719, and 720 will be in place. These suspensions are due to planned works on Network Rail-owned infrastructure.
Network Rail strikes – December 2022 and January 2023
Between 13 December and 7 January, Network Rail strike action will affect national rail services nationwide. Most TfL services, including most of the Tube, will continue to run. However, there will be some disruption where track is operated by Network Rail.
Strikes are planned on:
- Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 December 2022
- Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December 2022
- Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 January 2023
- Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January 2023
On strike days, there will be disruption on the London Overground, Elizabeth line and on parts of the District and Bakerloo lines. The London Overground and the Elizabeth line will have a reduced service, and services will only run between 07:30 and 18:30, except between Abbey Wood and Paddington where a reduced service will run after 17:30.
Further Network Rail strike action has been called between 24 and 27 December. We are still reviewing the impacts to Christmas travel this will cause, and more detail will be shared once available.
Customers are advised to plan ahead and check before travelling. For more information, see the National Rail website. On the days after strikes, services affected by strikes are expected to run a good service by later morning, although there will be some early morning disruption.
