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What activity is there on the railway on Christmas Day?

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tom73

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No trains running, no need for signals but surely the network it not entirely idle for fifty hours or so (Midnight 24th to early AM 26th).
 
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LAX54

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tom73 said:
No trains running, no need for signals but surely the network it not entirely idle for fifty hours or so (Midnight 24th to early AM 26th).
Click to expand...

This is what some of Anglia is doing:.......

Planned Engineering Works and Events for Week Commencing: Monday 23/12/2019



Planned works affecting:

LST-Stansted Airport

Thursday 26th Dec

Stansted Express services will operate between Stansted Airport and Tottenham Hale only. Passengers for central London should use Victoria Line tube services from Tottenham Hale.


LST-Hertford East/Stansted/Cambridge

Friday 27th /Saturday 28th / Sunday 29th Dec

Due to track renewal work at Bethnal Green, two lines will be closed between Liverpool Street and Hackney Downs. All services will travel over the remaining open lines.As a result, Greater Anglia West Anglia and Stansted Express services will depart Liverpool Street several minutes earlier than the standard timetable as a result of the track capacity constraints.


LST-Colchester/Ipswich/Norwich

Friday 27th Dec

Due to overhead line power upgrade work between Stratford and Shenfield, only two of four lines will be in operation between these locations. As a result, journey times will be extended by up to ten minutes compared to a normal Friday service.


Additionally, due to the renewal of point work at Colchester, some lines will be shut through the station. A limited train service will therefore operate through Colchester.


Please see below all services that have been amended:

London Liverpool Street to Norwich services will run once per hour. Please note - these services will not stop at Colchester. Passengers for Colchester will need to change at Manningtree or Chelmsford for services forward to Colchester.

London Liverpool Street to Clacton-on-Sea services will run once per hour

London Liverpool Street to Ipswich services will run once per hour

London Liverpool Street to Witham services will run twice per hour

All Braintree trains will operate as a shuttle service between Witham and Braintree

All Marks Tey to Sudbury services have been re-timed

All Harwich trains will operate as a shuttle service between Harwich and Manningtree

All Colchester to Colchester Town and Walton-on-the-Naze services have been re-timed


LST-Southend/Southminster

Friday 27th Dec

Due to overhead line renewal work in the Wickford area, buses will replace trains between Shenfield and Southend Victoria, and between Wickford and Southminster all day.



LST-Southend/Southminster

Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th Dec

Due to overhead line renewal work in the Wickford area, and overhead power line upgrade work between Stratford and Shenfield, buses will replace trains between Southend Victoria and Newbury Park Central Line tube station all day. Additionally, buses will replace trains between Wickford and Southminster all day.

National Rail tickets will be accepted on the Central Line between Newbury Park and Stratford / London Liverpool Street.





LST-Colchester/Ipswich/Norwich and Branches

Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th Dec

Due to overhead line power upgrade work between Stratford and Ingatestone, all lines will be closed between these locations. Additionally, ue to the renewal of point work at Colchester, some lines will be shut through the station. A limited train service will therefore operate through Colchester.

As a result, the following alterations will apply:

Ipswich and Norwich services will operate to / from Ingatestone, with rail replacement buses operating between Ingatestone and Newbury Park Central Line tube station.

Clacton-on-Sea and Walton-on-the-Naze services will start from and terminate at Colchester; passengers travelling to / from London direction will need to change trains at Colchester.

Norwich to/from Ingatestone services are unable to call at Colchester due to short platforms, passengers for Colchester are advised to change trains at Manningtree or Witham.

National Rail tickets will be accepted on the Central Line between Newbury Park and Stratford / London Liverpool Street.
 
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mrcheek

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are there any major engineering jobs on Christmas Day this year?

I remember a few years ago a bridge was replaced somewhere in GWR country (near Chippenham or Cheltenham, I forget which). Demolition work began on Christmas Eve, after the last passenger train went through, and work continued non-stop until being completed in the early hours of the 27th, in time for the first train of the day.
 
Raul_Duke

Raul_Duke

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DarloRich said:
There are loads and loads and loads of people out working on the track

They dont seem to count on this board.
Click to expand...

Here here! The unsung people who do the dirty work.

Probably the busiest time of year for it!
 
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Ploughman

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Did 15 years on the trot over Christmas on various projects, usually major S+C works or sites in restricted locations.
So I do appreciate all that goes in to this work and the disruption to family life that goes with it.
 
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matt_world2004

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Considerable work going on on the gwml from Christmas Eve to the 27th december. I should think it's enough to finish hanwell station in that time , excepting minor changes like ticket barriers
 
CaptainHaddock

CaptainHaddock

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It's the only day of the year when less than half of Northern's trains will run late!
 
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InOban

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But being retired you will be approaching the years when you will become dependent on those who do provide 24 hour services in the NHS and social care.
Anyway, back to the thread, Haymarket East junction is closed for 4 days for complete renewal.
 
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thecrofter

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16 Dec 2011
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Birmingham Cross City North closed between Blake Street and Lichfield (the dreaded rail replacement bus service!) for construction of a new underbridge for the Lichfield southern bypass until Sunday 29/12/19.
 

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trainmania100

trainmania100

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mrcheek said:
are there any major engineering jobs on Christmas Day this year?

I remember a few years ago a bridge was replaced somewhere in GWR country (near Chippenham or Cheltenham, I forget which). Demolition work began on Christmas Eve, after the last passenger train went through, and work continued non-stop until being completed in the early hours of the 27th, in time for the first train of the day.
Click to expand...
Bit of work at Ashford international
 
rogercov

rogercov

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I'm fairly certain that a reduced service of trains used to run on many lines on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, at least until the 1960s.
Can anyone confirm this? What reason did they give at that time for the change?
 
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InOban

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There were services in Scotland on Christmas Day until the late 70s, but none on New Year's day, except Anglo Scottish. Now we have none on both.
 
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Edders23

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Comstock said:
Even on Christmas day?
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I always work xmas day (taxis) and yes it can be a very busy day but mostly local although this year I am doing a wait and return down to Mortlake in south london so a local lady can have xmas dinner with her family

I remember reading a book about the Southern railway and in the 1930's they ran almost a full service on all the commuter routes on xmas day with just a few cancellations in the early morning but then over the years gradually reduced it to only a handful of trains and eventually to nothing

There would be demand on xmas day because Airports still operate and people would want to travel to relatives but it would be a lot less than on a day when the shops are open. The big issue is staffing after all how many would volunteer to drive trains on xmas day or to man stations and how much would the wages cost be to the TOC's much cheaper for them to not run a service

It is also a good opportunity for major maintenance work for which hundreds of network rail staff and their contractors turn out on kerching time to get the jobs done at a time when there is no inconvenience to the public and pay for their holidays
 
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ANDREW_D_WEBB

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There is a latent demand for public transport in 25/12. Several places now have bus services, whilst National Express and Megabus operate a fairly comprehensive network.
 
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ChiefPlanner

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rogercov said:
I'm fairly certain that a reduced service of trains used to run on many lines on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, at least until the 1960s.
Can anyone confirm this? What reason did they give at that time for the change?
Click to expand...

Well documented if you look hard enough ! - basically an 0900 to 1400 ish service on the busiest lines (think Southern Electric) , and a sparse service to say the least by about 1965 - certainly no main line trains and eventually withdrawn as patronage was very low. (and costs high !)

A good friend ran a suburban ticket office ,and was bored senseless , - made about £5 in revenue take. Glad to get home to a (late) lunch. The rule was if you worked Xmas Day - you had Boxing Day off.
 
Bevan Price

Bevan Price

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rogercov said:
I'm fairly certain that a reduced service of trains used to run on many lines on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, at least until the 1960s.
Can anyone confirm this? What reason did they give at that time for the change?
Click to expand...
There were certainly Boxing Day services - although I think they started later in the day than on normal days. There were also some relief trains on longer distance services in the afternoon of Boxing Day. It needs to be remembered that in the 1960s, most people had only about 15 days annual holiday, and if you visited relatives / friends over Christmas, you needed to be back at work on 27 December. Offices & factories closing for a full week between Christmas & New Year was unknown.
 
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ivanhoe

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Bevan Price said:
There were certainly Boxing Day services - although I think they started later in the day than on normal days. There were also some relief trains on longer distance services in the afternoon of Boxing Day. It needs to be remembered that in the 1960s, most people had only about 15 days annual holiday, and if you visited relatives / friends over Christmas, you needed to be back at work on 27 December. Offices & factories closing for a full week between Christmas & New Year was unknown.
Click to expand...
In addition, car ownership was very low in comparison to today. I remember buses running in Liverpool until about 1 pm. This gave people a chance to visit relatives and be back for Christmas Dinner & Queens Speech! Until the early 70’s, New Years Day was not a bank holiday in England and Wales.
 
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