Network Rail's £152m Christmas Works to Shut London Paddington and Birmingham New Street
Network Rail will carry out about £152m of engineering works over Christmas 2026, closing London Paddington and Birmingham New Street for five days and disrupting several routes.
The story in focus
Network Rail will carry out about £152m of engineering works over Christmas 2026, closing London Paddington for five days from 27 December and Birmingham New Street from Christmas Eve until 29 December, according to The Guardian. Most Great Western services to Wales and the west of England will start and finish at Reading.
- About £152m of engineering works will be carried out over Christmas 2026, Network Rail said.
- London Paddington will be closed for five days from 27 December; Birmingham New Street will shut from Christmas Eve until 29 December.
- Most Great Western services to Wales and the west of England will start and finish at Reading from 27 December to 4 January.
- Elizabeth line services west of Paddington and Heathrow Express will not resume until 31 January.
- The Great Eastern mainline will close for 10 days from Christmas Day, and Huddersfield station's closure will slow TransPennine Leeds-Manchester services for six weeks.
Paddington and Birmingham closures
Network Rail will carry out about £152m of engineering works over the Christmas period, The Guardian reported. London Paddington will close for five days from 27 December, affecting intercity trains to the west of England and Wales until January. Birmingham New Street, the UK's busiest station outside London, will be closed from the start of Christmas Eve until 29 December to replace overhead power supplies; no trains will stop or pass through, and rail replacement buses will serve the city centre.
Most Great Western services to Wales and the west of England will start and finish at Reading from 27 December until 4 January, with some diverted around Oxford to London Euston. Elizabeth line services west of Paddington and Heathrow Express services will not resume after Christmas until 31 January.
Other routes and operator response
The east coast mainline will be partly closed on Christmas Eve, with work at Doncaster replacing trains between Newark and York by bus and adding two hours to journeys between London, north-east England and Scotland. The Great Eastern mainline out of London Liverpool Street will be closed for 10 days from Christmas Day for track replacement, meaning no direct trains from Norwich to London.
TransPennine services between Leeds and Manchester will be slowed for six weeks from Christmas Day by the closure of Huddersfield station. Network Rail group director for system operation Anit Chandarana said most of the railway would remain open and that the days between Christmas and new year are the quietest of the year, offering the best opportunity to complete major projects; he advised passengers to check journeys before travelling.
When will Elizabeth line services west of Paddington and Heathrow Express resume?
Elizabeth line services west of Paddington and Heathrow Express services will not resume after Christmas until 31 January, according to The Guardian, because of engineering work affecting lines into London Paddington.
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