Westminster Christmas travel: no trains or Tube on 25 Dec

Four London rail terminals sit inside the City of Westminster: Paddington, Victoria, Marylebone and Charing Cross. On Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026, no National Rail trains will run from any of them. Last year TfL also ran no service on most of its network on Christmas Day. Boxing Day falls on a Saturday this year, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. Each train company’s timetable is due from October, so this page separates what is confirmed from what is still to come.

The quick answer

• No National Rail trains on Christmas Day, 25 December 2026. Trains on many routes finish early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
• No service on most of TfL’s network on Christmas Day last year, Tube included. On Boxing Day the Tube and buses ran a Sunday service, and the Elizabeth line did not run.
• No GWR trains at Paddington from 27 December to 3 January 2027, and no Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express trains to Heathrow from 26 to 30 December, for work at Dolphin Junction near Slough.
• The Congestion Charge is not charged from Christmas Day to the New Year’s Day bank holiday, inclusive. Paid parking in Westminster is free on 25, 26 and 28 December and 1 January.

Updated 27 October: no Southeastern trains at Charing Cross on 27 and 28 December, with some Kent trains diverted to Victoria. Details below.

Updated 13 October: National Rail has published the Paddington closure for the Dolphin Junction upgrade, and Heathrow Express and Chiltern have posted their first Christmas dates. Details below and in our Paddington closure story.

Trains: what National Rail has confirmed for 2026/27

National Rail’s Christmas and New Year 2026/27 summary covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027.

National Rail says each train company’s plans will be added “from the beginning of October onwards”. By 13 October it had named three major engineering jobs:

• Paddington, Sunday 27 December to Sunday 3 January: work at Dolphin Junction near Slough. GWR trains cannot run to or from Paddington; Bristol and South Wales trains are diverted to Euston, and most other long-distance trains start and finish at Reading. No Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express trains run to Heathrow from 27 to 30 December, leaving the Piccadilly line as the only rail link. A first closure covers the weekend of 28 and 29 November. Day by day in our Paddington closure story.
• Waterloo, Sunday 27 and Monday 28 December: a reduced and amended timetable for work at Queenstown Road. Waterloo is just over the river in Lambeth.
• Birmingham New Street, 24 to 28 December. None of the four Westminster terminals runs trains into New Street, so it matters only if your onward journey goes through it.

The first operator dates for Westminster’s terminals, as posted on 13 October:

• GWR and Elizabeth line: no trains on 25 or 26 December.
• Heathrow Express: no trains from 25 to 30 December.
• Chiltern Railways: no trains between Marylebone and Aylesbury Vale Parkway via Amersham on 27, 28 and 29 December. Buses run between Amersham and Aylesbury Vale Parkway, and tickets are valid on the Metropolitan line between Baker Street and Amersham. Trains to High Wycombe, Oxford and Banbury keep running.
• Southeastern, Sunday 27 and Monday 28 December: no trains from Charing Cross, Waterloo East or Cannon Street, for engineering work between Charing Cross and New Cross. A limited service runs to and from London Bridge. Some Kent trains, including Hastings line services, are diverted to and from Victoria instead.
• Charing Cross again, 1 to 3 January: National Rail’s Christmas page lists engineering work affecting journeys through Charing Cross on these dates as well. The detail was not yet published on 27 October.
• Redhill, 20 December to 3 January: the same page lists work affecting journeys through Redhill, on the line south from Victoria. Southern and Gatwick Express have not yet set out what that means for their trains.

Which operators to watch

Each operator’s Christmas page is linked from the National Rail summary above. Christmas is when Network Rail closes lines for big engineering jobs, so check your whole journey, not just your station.

Tube, buses and the Elizabeth line

TfL has not yet published its 2026 Christmas arrangements. Its December 2025 announcement came out on 2 December 2025 and set out last year’s pattern:

• Christmas Eve: services ran but finished early.
• Christmas Day: no service on most of the network. Taxis, private hire, Santander Cycles, rental e-scooters, Dial-a-Ride and Victoria Coach Station were all available.
• Boxing Day: the Tube, London buses and trams ran a Sunday service. Some parts of the network, including the Elizabeth line, did not run.
• New Year’s Eve: services ran all night, apart from planned closures. Some central stations can close at short notice to prevent overcrowding, and some central London buses were diverted from about midday because of road closures for the fireworks.

If the 2025 timing repeats, TfL will publish the 2026 details in early December.

Driving: Congestion Charge and ULEZ

On its Congestion Charge page, TfL says there is “no charge between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day bank holiday (inclusive)”. For 2026 that means Friday 25 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027, with charging back on Saturday 2 January from 12 noon. Last year, according to TfL’s December announcement, ULEZ applied as normal except on Christmas Day. Residents on the discount can read more on our Congestion Charge residents’ discount page.

Parking over Christmas

Westminster City Council has already published its bank holiday parking controls for Christmas 2026:

Double yellow lines apply at all times. Bays for particular permit holders, such as disabled, doctor and hospital bays, are enforced every day. A resident bay sign with no days or times is controlled all the time, bank holidays included. The council’s own hours schedule reads differently on Christmas Day in the 24-hour zones, which we explain on our parking zones and hours page.

New Year’s Eve

The Mayor’s fireworks close roads and bridges around the Embankment and Whitehall. TfL advises anyone without a ticket to stay away from the area. Tickets, viewing areas and closures are on our New Year’s Eve fireworks page. Planned roadworks over the holidays go on our roadworks and travel page.

Still to be confirmed, and when

• The rest of the train company timetables for Victoria and Charing Cross (Southern and Gatwick Express, the Redhill work, and Charing Cross on 1 to 3 January), and GWR’s day-by-day plan for the Paddington closure: still being added on 27 October.
• National Rail’s last trains from London on Christmas Eve: late November or early December.
• TfL’s 2026 Christmas service changes: early December, if last year’s timing holds.
• Late trains after midnight on New Year’s Day: early December.

We will update this page as each is published.