London Christmas travel advice you need to check as closures to affect journeys

Many people will be heading elsewhere during the festive season and the number of people commuting will also be reduced.

Therefore, it will see key engineering work take place on services, which will result in some closures across the London Underground network.

Closures and service changes are not set to start until December 20, meaning you still have time to plan if you are travelling in London during the Christmas time. 

Christmas party season is officially upon us! 🎄

Find out how you can keep safe while having fun travelling at night 👇https://t.co/48DTG0sR4N

— TfL (@TfL) December 14, 2024

So you are not caught out by TfL changes, we have rounded up all the information you need to know on the service being affected this Christmas.

On the TfL website, they share: “Between Friday 20 December 2024 and Sunday 5 January 2025, most of our services will be running.

“However, there will be service changes and planned works on the public transport network.”

TfL Christmas service full timetable and affected services

Monday, December 23)

London Overground

• Mildmay line: No service Stratford to Camden Road (westbound only) after 23:45

DLR

• Prince Regent-Beckton: no service
• Bank-Shadwell: no service

Christmas Eve (Tuesday, December 24)

Bus

• Saturday service on all day routes
• No night service
• 24-hour services finish around midnight 

London Underground

• Saturday service
• Reduced service from 20:00
• Sunday finish times
• Waterloo & City line: no service
• District line: no service to/from Kensington Olympia

London Overground

• Normal service
• Reduced service after 19:30 (WIndrush line), 20:00 (Mildmay line) and 20:30 (Weaver line)
• Finish at 21:30

Elizabeth line

• Normal service until 12:00 (midday)
• Saturday service after 12:01

DLR

• Special service
• Service ends early at 22:30
• Bank-Shadwell: no service

Christmas Day (Wednesday, December 25)

No running services on the following:

• Tube
• Buses (including Night Buses)
• London Overground (including Night Overground)
• Elizabeth line
• DLR
• Trams
• River
• IFS Cloud Cable Car
• National Rail
• Woolwich Ferry

Boxing Day (Thursday, December 26)

Bus 

• Sunday service on all-day routes
• Sunday night service

London Underground: 

London Overground

• No service on: Suffragette, Lioness, Liberty and Weaver lines
• Windrush line – Reduced service running 07:00-23:00
• Mildmay line –  Reduced service running 09:00-22:00

DLR

• Special service
• Late start at 08:30

Elizabeth line

Friday, December 27

Bus

• Saturday service on all day routes
• Saturday night service on all night and 24-hour services

London Underground

• Saturday service
• District line: no service to/from Kensington Olympia

London Overground

• Lioness line – Saturday service
• Suffragette line – Saturday service

Weaver line

• Liverpool Street-London Fields: no service
• Limited service on the rest of the line
• Liverpool Street rail station is close

Elizabeth line

• Reduced service
• No service between Ealing Broadway and Paddington
• The line will run in 2 sections: Western(Ealing Broadway to Reading/Heathrow and Central/East (Paddington to Stratford/Abbey Wood)
• Some early and late services will terminate at Stratford instead of Liverpool Street National Rail station

DLR

• Special service
• Bank-Shadwell: no service

Saturday, December 28

London Underground:

• District line: no service to/from Kensington Olympia

London Overground

Weaver line

• Liverpool Street- London Fields: no service
• Limited service on the rest of the line
• Liverpool Street rail station is closed

Elizabeth line

• Reduced service
• No service between Ealing Broadway and Paddington
• The line will run in 2 sections: Western(Ealing Broadway to Reading/Heathrow and Central/East (Paddington to Stratford/Abbey Wood)
• Some early and late services will terminate at Stratford instead of Liverpool Street National Rail station

DLR

• Special service
• Bank-Shadwell: no service

Sunday, December 29

London Underground

• District line: no service to/from Kensington Olympia

London Overground

Weaver line

• Liverpool Street- London Fields: no service
• Limited service on the rest of the line
• Liverpool Street rail station is closed

Elizabeth line

• Reduced service
• No service between Ealing Broadway and Paddington
• The line will run in two sections: Western(Ealing Broadway to Reading/Heathrow and Central/East (Paddington to Stratford/Abbey Wood)
• Some early and late services will terminate at Stratford instead of Liverpool Street National Rail station

DLR

• Special service
• Bank-Shadwell: no service

Monday, December 30

• Bus
• Saturday day service
• Saturday night service (night and 24-hour routes)

London Underground

• Saturday service
• Waterloo & City line: reduced service
• District line: no service to/from Kensington Olympia

London Overground

• Lioness line – Saturday service
• Mildmay line – No service Camden Road to Willesden Junction (westbound only) after 23:45
• Suffragette line – Saturday service

Weaver line

• Liverpool Street- London Fields: no service
• Limited service on the rest of the line
• Liverpool Street rail station is closed

Elizabeth line

• Saturday service
• Some early and late services will terminate at Stratford instead of Liverpool Street National Rail station

DLR

• Special service
• Bank-Shadwell: no service

New Year’s Eve (Tuesday, December 31)

Bus

Day

• Saturday day service
• Some buses in central London will be on diversion from early afternoon
• Check Status updates for buses to see if your route is affected

Night

• Saturday night service on all 24-hour and night routes
• Some routes will run more often
• A small number of day routes will run overnight
• Some buses in central London will be on diversion 

London Underground:

• Day
• Reduced Saturday service
• District line – No service to Kensington Olympia

Night

• Services running all night on all lines (except Waterloo & City line and District line to Kensington Olympia)
• Stations near the fireworks event and in other busy areas of London may be exit or interchange only or have queues

London Overground

Day

• Lioness line – Saturday service
• Mildmay line – No service from Willesden Junction to Shepherd’s Bush (southbound only) before 06:15 today
• Suffragette line – Saturday service

Weaver line

• Liverpool Street- London Fields: no service
• Limited service on the rest of the line
• Liverpool Street rail station is closed

Night

• Windrush line – Between Highbury & Islington  and West Croydon/Crystal Palace
• Mildmay line – Between Stratford and Clapham Junction/Richmond
• Weaver line – Between London Fields and Chingford, Enfield Town and Cheshunt

Elizabeth line

Day

• Saturday service
• Some early and late services will terminate at Stratford instead of Liverpool Street National Rail station

Night

•  Special all-night service
• No overnight services running to/from Heathrow
• All the rest of the line is running

DLR

• Saturday day service
• Special all-night service

RECOMMENDED READING

Shocking footage from cleaner reveals just how dirty London Tube seats are

The lost London Underground station stuck in time you can still visit

‘It’s hell’ – Londoners share what they would change on the London Underground

New Year’s Day (Wednesday, January 1)

Bus

• Sunday service on all day routes
• Sunday night service

London Undeground

• Reduced Sunday service

• Waterloo and City line
• No service
• District line
• No service to Kensington Olympia

London Overground

• Lionness line – Saturday service, Later start (approximately 06:45)
• Mildmay line – Saturday service- After 23:45 – no service between Camden Rd and Willesden Junction, westbound only
• Suffragette line – Saturday service

Weaver line

• Liverpool Street- London Fields: no service
• Limited service on the rest of the line
• Liverpool Street rail station is closed

Elizabeth line

• Saturday service
• Some early and late services will terminate at Stratford instead of Liverpool Street National Rail station

Changes to TfL services are subject to change over Christmas and New Year’s.