Christmas Day public transport in other countries.

[swt class 450]

What is public transport like on Christmas Day in other countries? From what i have heard it seems that the majority of countries in mainland Europe have a much better service on Christmas Day than in the UK?

Does the public transport that is running get well used on Christmas Day? Do other countries have a bigger demand for it than us?

Also is Ireland the only country in the world to 100% shut down its public transport on Christmas Day? I have been looking online and it appears that there are no buses, coaches, trams, trains, ferries, airplanes, or any public transport anywhere on the entire Island of Ireland (ROI and NI). Even their major International Airport in Dublin shuts down. I know the UK almost does this but at least we have some services (see the Christmas thread in the Buses section).

Are there any other countries anywhere in the world to completely shut down like Ireland does?

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I have been in Austria on Christmas Day and there were certainly trains running then, although perhaps with a reduced service, I think trains do run in Switzerland & I suspect some other countries, they were not that busy though, although there was a buffet trolley on the services I used between Jenbach & Salzburg. (It was interesting to watch the trolley lady having to keep plugging and unplugging the trolley in the overhead power points as she moved down the aisle when passengers asked for coffee.)

 

[radamfi]

Most of Europe run a Sunday service on Christmas Day.

 

[TRAX]

France runs a Sunday/Holiday timetable on Christmas Day (SNCF and urban public transport).
It sometimes seems a Saturday timetable would be better suited, though. Sometimes even a normal weekday timetable.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Most countries don't have a public holiday on the day after Christmas, so there isn't the same "long break/total shut down" attitude as there is here.
Scotland has Jan 2 off rather than Dec 26.
Non-Christian countries don't celebrate Christmas at all (the majority of the planet).
Orthodox/Coptic Christian countries celebrate Christmas on Jan 7, the date (for all holy days) still being calculated on the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian.
All that feeds into the public transport practises worldwide.

 

[radamfi]

The Netherlands have Second Christmas Day on 26 December, so they have public holidays on 25 and 26 December, and so Sunday service on both.

 

[JonathanP]

In Germany, most things carry on as normal, with a few modifications, mainly on the 24th.

For me the 2 day Christmas rail shutdown gets lumped in with DCO as an issue which, amusingly, is defended with a borderline-religious fervour on here by some, but is pretty much a non-issue outside of the UK.

 

[gordonthemoron]

The UK Christmas shutdown is largely due to BR cost cutting

 

[MarcVD]

Sunday service on december 25th in Belgium. A few train service cuts on 26th as some administrations are closed. Same on January 1st and 2nd. Same for trams and buses.

 

[Matt_pool]

Thalys still operates an hourly service between Amsterdam - Brussels - Paris on Xmas Day, the only difference being that the first and last departures of the day (6.15 an 19.15) don't operate.

 

[duesselmartin]

Always amazed that no trains and often local buses dont run on Boxing day in the UK as that is a big Shopping day.

In Germany you will find restrictions on Xmas Eve on local buses and trams in some cities.

 

[Busaholic]

In Germany, most things carry on as normal, with a few modifications, mainly on the 24th.

For me the 2 day Christmas rail shutdown gets lumped in with DCO as an issue which, amusingly, is defended with a borderline-religious fervour on here by some, but is pretty much a non-issue outside of the UK.

A borderline-religious fervour about Northern Ireland not being treated differently to the rest of the UK, whipped up by their Democratic Unionist politicians, and credulously accepted by many,including some who should know better, is going to see the UK lose a darned sight more than a few Christmas services!!

 

[Arriva Fan]

Isle Of Man also completely shuts down Public Transport on Christmas Day.

 

[AY1975]

The Netherlands have Second Christmas Day on 26 December, so they have public holidays on 25 and 26 December, and so Sunday service on both.

Yes, and I believe that in the Netherlands all Dutch internal trains (and other forms of public transport?) stop running after about 20.00 on New Year's Eve, with only international trains continuing to run, then they start running again at about midnight and into the early hours of New Year's Day to take the New Year revellers home.

 

[AY1975]

Scotland has Jan 2 off rather than Dec 26.

Yes, and as well as Christmas Day, Scotland also has a more or less complete shutdown of internal rail services and most other public transport on New Year's Day, apart from Anglo-Scottish trains to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh.

On Boxing Day, a near full service runs on the Glasgow suburban network but not anywhere else in Scotland.

I think New Year has traditionally been a much bigger celebration than Christmas in Scotland, hence them having 2 Jan rather than 26 Dec off.

 

[swt class 450]

Do the micro states ( Andorra / Liechtenstein / Monaco / San Marino ) have anything operating on Christmas Day?

 

[MisterT]

Yes, and I believe that in the Netherlands all Dutch internal trains (and other forms of public transport?) stop running after about 20.00 on New Year's Eve, with only international trains continuing to run, then they start running again at about midnight and into the early hours of New Year's Day to take the New Year revellers home.

Yes and no. The trains will not stop running at 8pm exactly. Around 8pm is the last possible departure time from the major stations to the next major station, so depending on the station, you might be able to get a train around 9pm or even later, or when you need to travel for a long distance, you might need to get a train long before that time. For example, the last train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam will depart at 8.41pm, arriving at 9.21pm. But when you need to travel from Rotterdam to, say, Leeuwarden, the last possibility departs from Rotterdam at 6.35pm, arriving at 9.14pm.
From 12 o'clock, the regular service will be restored, which means that the night trains will run as usual.

 

[radamfi]

Do the micro states ( Andorra / Liechtenstein / Monaco / San Marino ) have anything operating on Christmas Day?

Liechtenstein: Sunday service 24/25/26 December 1 January

https://www.liemobil.li/news.aspx?auswahl=5983&mid=5983

FEIERTAGE/SPEZIALTAGE 2018/19
Der LIEmobil-Fahrplan an Feier- und Spezialtagen 2018/19
Feiertage/Spezialtage

• Mo, 24. Dezember 2018, Heiliger Abend: Sonntagsfahrplan
• Di, 25. Dezember 2018, Weihnachten: Sonntagsfahrplan
• Mi, 26. Dezember 2018, Stefanstag: Sonntagsfahrplan
• Mo, 31. Dezember 2018, Silvester: Samstagsfahrplan inkl. Nachtbus
• Di, 1. Januar 2019, Neujahr: Sonntagsfahrplan

 

[radamfi]

It should probably be noted by British readers that just because somewhere is running Sunday service, that still often means that there is still a reasonable service on offer. For example, villages in the Netherlands and Switzerland often enjoy an hourly Sunday service. In the UK, the lack of service on Christmas Day and Boxing Day can mean 4 consecutive days with no service.

 

[Groningen]

Normal service in Europe except in 1 Brexit country.

Service in the Netherlands starts on January 1st at 1:00 hours and than of course only Rotterdam - Den Haag - Leiden - Schiphol - Amsterdam and Utrecht v.v.. Maybe Thalys and ICE trains are able to run after 20 hours on December 31th. Just look at the travelplanner of NS/Bahn.

 

[30907]

It should probably be noted by British readers that just because somewhere is running Sunday service, that still often means that there is still a reasonable service on offer. For example, villages in the Netherlands and Switzerland often enjoy an hourly Sunday service. In the UK, the lack of service on Christmas Day and Boxing Day can mean 4 consecutive days with no service.

Whereas in rural Germany the Saturday and Sunday bus service may be minimal almost as minimal as here - but at least it will run on both Christmas Days.

 

[TheSeeker]

It also depends on when you celebrate Christmas. My French/Portuguese in laws have a huge meal on Christmas Eve, the children allowed to open their presents after midnight if they are still awake. Nothing much happens on Christmas day itself, we're usually already eating leftovers.

 

[radamfi]

It also depends on when you celebrate Christmas. My French/Portuguese in laws have a huge meal on Christmas Eve, the children allowed to open their presents after midnight if they are still awake. Nothing much happens on Christmas day itself, we're usually already eating leftovers.

But is there a shutdown on Christmas Eve? A Christmas Eve shutdown has not been mentioned on here as yet.

 

[30907]

But is there a shutdown on Christmas Eve? A Christmas Eve shutdown has not been mentioned on here as yet.

A partial shutdown is common across Northern/Central Europe.

 

[radamfi]

A partial shutdown is common across Northern/Central Europe.

Just checked Oslo and Helsinki and they are both running the whole day on Christmas Eve with some reductions from 4pm with some smaller towns near Helsinki having no service from then.

https://ruter.no/avvik/juleruter/

https://www.hsl.fi/en/traffic-bulletins/2018/public-transport-helsinki-region-over-christmas-16511

Helsinki doesn't start on Christmas Day until 1030 which is quite a shutdown compared to most places. Some small towns have no service.

Is there actually a significant place that has no service in the evening on Christmas Eve?

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

Here in Melbourne Australia it's is a normal Sunday timetable for Metropolitan train, V/Line trains, trams and buses. There might be a few buses not running or running a different timetable but most are Sunday. Regional town buses might not run. Tram wise the city circle and route 30 is the only thing that doesn't run. Some of the long distance V/Line trains get extra cars added to cater for the loading.
The best bit about it all, You don't pay a cent to use the services, all free. You just have to reserve a seat on the coaches or long distance trains.

The rest of Australia is mostly the same. A Sunday timetable or a variant there of.

 

[TRAX]

As said earlier, France has a reduction in service, usually the Sunday timetable, no shutdown.

 

[Groningen]

That there is Sunday service does.not mean a partial shutdown. Not all people are going to work that day. There is no need to have a peak service.

 

[dutchflyer]

Yes, in NL we have a shutdown from around 20.00 31/12 till later start on 1/1-if you have ever witnessed the gun-like assaults from fireworks at anything that moves then, you'll understand why.
Tipically all DE-speaking countries and scandinavia shut down near complete on Xmas eve.
And a not yet mentioned other surprise for Brits: the holy workers day, 1/5, also has public transport shut down in many countries-so that the festive labourers can join the may-day parades organised by their strong unions. F.e. local transport in Wien(vienna) and most austrian towns.
Public transport is mostly seen as a basic necessity organised/regulated by the state, not that british commercialism=all workers have right to access top their jobs and many have to work on those days.

 

[TRAX]

In New Zealand, Auckland commuter trains run on Christmas and Boxing days on a Sunday timetable.