No trains on Christmas Day, few or none on 26 December, and Boxing Day's bank holiday moves to Monday 28th. What Greater Anglia did last year and what is due.
There will be no trains anywhere in Britain on Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026, and National Rail says most operators will run nothing on Saturday 26 December. Trains will finish early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Greater Anglia, which runs every train from Woodbridge, Felixstowe, Saxmundham and Ipswich, has not yet published its Christmas timetable. National Rail says operators’ details will start appearing from the beginning of October.
The quick answer
- Christmas Day: no trains. Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December: most operators run no service.
- The Boxing Day bank holiday is Monday 28 December this year; services that day are still to be confirmed.
- Last year Greater Anglia wound down from 7pm on Christmas Eve and stopped by 10pm, and London trains ran only to Stratford from 27 December to 1 January.
What National Rail has published for 2026/27
National Rail’s Christmas and New Year 2026/27 summary covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027. As of 25 September it says:
| Date | What National Rail says |
|---|---|
| Thursday 24 December | Services on many routes finish earlier than normal. A guide to last trains from London follows in late November or early December. |
| Friday 25 December | No National Rail services, as usual. |
| Saturday 26 December | Most operators run no service; a very limited service from a few operators, details to be confirmed. |
| Monday 28 December | Boxing Day bank holiday (substitute day). Services to be confirmed. |
| Thursday 31 December | Services on some routes finish earlier than normal. |
| Friday 1 January 2027 | Some London routes run late-night extras after midnight; guide due early December. |
The Greater Anglia section of the same guide lists every day from Christmas Eve to 4 January and, apart from “No trains will operate on Christmas Day”, every line still reads “Information will be published when available”. Network Rail’s major Christmas works have not been announced either. National Rail’s forward list of engineering works ran only as far as 19 December 2026 when we checked.
What happened last Christmas
This is Greater Anglia’s own reminder of its travel advice for Christmas and New Year, dated 19 December 2025. It is the best guide to the shape of this year’s changes, though the dates will move.
- Christmas Eve: an early shutdown, with fewer trains from 7pm and all services stopped by 10pm (the Stansted Express ran later).
- Christmas Day: no Greater Anglia trains.
- Boxing Day: no Greater Anglia trains except a reduced Stansted Express from Tottenham Hale.
- 27 December to 1 January: London Liverpool Street was closed for eight days for roof and Bishopsgate tunnel work, so main line trains started and ended at Stratford. Trains ran between London and Ipswich throughout. Tickets were accepted on the Elizabeth line and Central line between Stratford and Liverpool Street.
- New Year’s Day: a bank holiday timetable.
- Monday 5 January: normal service resumed.
Greater Anglia’s release listed no changes to the East Suffolk line or the Felixstowe branch, and printed Christmas Eve as “Tuesday 24 December” in one line when it was a Wednesday. Check the day as well as the date when this year’s version arrives.
Why 2026 is awkward
Christmas Day is a Friday, so the Christmas weekend runs straight into a substitute bank holiday on Monday 28 December, and the Monday service is not yet known. New Year’s Day 2027 is also a Friday.
If you commute from Woodbridge or Felixstowe, the practical question is whether the working days of 29, 30 and 31 December have trains to London, and whether they reach Liverpool Street or stop short. Nobody has said yet.
Buses
Neither First Eastern Counties nor Suffolk County Council’s Suffolk on Board had published anything for Christmas 2026 when we checked, and last year’s festive pages for both have been taken down. We will add the Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve last buses for Ipswich, Felixstowe and Woodbridge when they appear.
Driving and parking
For road closures over the holiday, see roadworks and travel. In 2024 East Suffolk gave each town one free parking day timed to its lights switch-on; what we know for Woodbridge and Felixstowe is on parking in Woodbridge and our Felixstowe lights switch-on page. Planning a trip to the tip after Christmas? The dates are on our Christmas bin collections page.
Still to be confirmed
- Greater Anglia’s Christmas and New Year timetable. National Rail says operator detail is added from October; Greater Anglia’s reminder last year was dated 19 December.
- Christmas Eve last trains from London Liverpool Street. Due late November or early December.
- Network Rail’s Christmas engineering works in Anglia. Not announced.
- Christmas bus times for First Eastern Counties.
Checked against National Rail and Greater Anglia on 25 September 2026.
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