No trains on Christmas Day 2026 and few on Boxing Day. Engineering work shut Cambridge lines after the last two Christmases; 2026 works due in October.

No trains will run anywhere on the National Rail network on Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026, and most operators will run nothing on Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December. For Cambridge, the bigger question is what happens after that: in each of the last two years, engineering work closed the lines into the city for most of the week between Christmas and New Year.

The quick answer

  • Christmas Day: no trains. Boxing Day: most operators run no service.
  • Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve: trains finish earlier than normal. Last-train times are published in late November or early December.
  • Engineering work: the Cambridge closures for Christmas 2026 have not been announced yet. Network Rail published the last two packages on 21 October 2024 and 20 October 2025.

What National Rail has confirmed for 2026/27

National Rail’s Christmas and New Year page already covers this year, from Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027:

Date What National Rail says
Thursday 24 December Services finish earlier than normal
Friday 25 December No National Rail services
Saturday 26 December Most operators run no service; a few limited services to be confirmed
Monday 28 December Substitute bank holiday; services run, details to be confirmed
Thursday 31 December Services finish earlier than normal
Friday 1 January Some London routes run special services into the early hours

It says operators will publish their own Christmas detail “from the beginning of October onwards”, the last-trains guide in late November or early December, and the guide to extra New Year’s Eve trains in early December.

Cambridge is served by Greater Anglia (Liverpool Street, Stansted, Norwich, Ipswich), Great Northern (King’s Cross and King’s Lynn), Thameslink (Brighton via London) and CrossCountry (Birmingham). Each publishes its own Christmas timetable, so check the operator for the train you actually want.

The last two Christmases closed the Cambridge lines

Network Rail has used the quiet week after Christmas for major work around Cambridge two years running, mostly on the Cambridge South station project and the area’s signalling.

Christmas 2025. Network Rail’s announcement of 20 October 2025 said work in the Cambridge area would last up to 11 days, from 25 December to 4 January, to install a new control system for the signals between Cambridge North and Audley End. There were no trains between Royston or Stansted Mountfitchet and Cambridge or Cambridge North from 27 December to 4 January, and Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds services were also affected, with buses replacing trains.

Christmas 2024. The announcement of 21 October 2024 covered up to 12 days of work from 25 December 2024 to 5 January 2025, connecting the lines through Cambridge South and replacing the 40-year-old signalling panel in Cambridge signal box. From 27 December to 1 January there were no trains between Royston or Elsenham and Cambridge or Cambridge North, or between Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds. London Liverpool Street was also shut for eight days, with Greater Anglia trains starting and ending at Stratford and the Stansted Express at Tottenham Hale.

Christmas 2024 Christmas 2025
Announced 21 October 2024 20 October 2025
Cambridge-area work 25 Dec to 5 Jan 25 Dec to 4 Jan
No trains to Royston and south 27 Dec to 1 Jan 27 Dec to 4 Jan
Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds No trains 27 Dec to 1 Jan Affected
Liverpool Street Closed 25 Dec to 1 Jan Not in the release

Cambridge South opened on 28 June 2026, so the station work that drove the 2024 closure is finished. That does not mean a clear Christmas: the planned works list already has closures around Cambridge in the run-up.

Works already listed before Christmas

National Rail’s engineering works list, checked on 25 September 2026, runs to 19 December and has two overnight closures affecting Cambridge trains:

Nothing from 20 December onwards has been posted yet.

Buses and driving

Stagecoach runs Cambridge’s city buses and the Park and Ride, and publishes a festive timetable each December. Its 2025 festive page has since been taken down, and no copy is archived, so we have not quoted last year’s times. Check the Stagecoach Cambridge service updates page in December.

If you are driving in for Christmas shopping, our parking in Cambridge page covers the city car parks and Park and Ride sites, and Cambridge roadworks and travel lists what is dug up. For the normal timetable to London, see Cambridge train times to London.

What is still to be confirmed

  • Engineering work in the Cambridge area over Christmas 2026. Expect Network Rail’s package around 20 October.
  • Greater Anglia, Great Northern and Thameslink Christmas timetables, due from October.
  • Last trains on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, due late November or early December.
  • Whether any operator runs on Boxing Day.
  • Stagecoach festive bus and Park and Ride times, due in December.

This page will be updated as each is published.

Also this winter: Christmas lights switch-on, Christmas market and ice rink and Mill Road Winter Fair. Christmas bin changes are on our bin collection days page.

Sources