No trains from Stevenage on Christmas Day, and Thameslink ran none on Boxing Day last year either. Day by day, 24 December to 4 January, and what is to come.
There will be no trains from Stevenage on Christmas Day. That is fixed for 2026 and it is the same every year. Last year there were no Thameslink trains on Boxing Day either, and the Christmas Eve timetable finished early. Everything else about Christmas 2026 on the East Coast Main Line is still to be published.
This page sets out what National Rail has confirmed for 24 December 2026 to 4 January 2027, what Thameslink and Great Northern did last year, and the dates to watch.
The quick answer
No National Rail services run on Friday 25 December 2026. On Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December, most operators run nothing; last year Thameslink ran no trains at all. Christmas Eve finishes early: in 2025 Thameslink ran a Saturday timetable until about 5pm, then fewer trains, with the last ones reaching their destinations by around 9pm. The engineering works for Christmas 2026 have not been announced. National Rail says full details of the major works “will be published here when available”, and Thameslink’s festive page still shows 2025.
Day by day, 24 December to 4 January
National Rail’s festive page covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027 (National Rail, Christmas and New Year 2026/27). This is what it confirms, alongside what Thameslink published for the same days last year (Thameslink, festive period 2025, updated 8 December 2025).
| Date | Confirmed for 2026/27 | What Thameslink ran last year |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 24 December | Services on many routes finish earlier than normal | Saturday timetable with extra peak trains until about 17:00, then fewer trains, last arrivals by about 21:00 |
| Fri 25 December | No National Rail services | No trains |
| Sat 26 December | Most operators run nothing; a small number run a very limited service, detail to follow | No Thameslink trains |
| Sun 27 December | Not yet detailed | Normal Sunday service with engineering amendments |
| Mon 28 December | Boxing Day substitute bank holiday; not yet detailed | Saturday timetable with extra peak trains (it was an ordinary Monday in 2025) |
| Tue 29 and Wed 30 December | Not yet detailed | Saturday timetable with extra peak trains |
| Thu 31 December | Services on some routes finish earlier than normal | Saturday timetable; Blackfriars exit only from 20:30, no calls at Farringdon after about 00:30 |
| Fri 1 January 2027 | Extra late-night services on a number of London area routes after midnight | Amended service |
| Sat 2 to Mon 4 January | Not yet detailed | Amended on the Saturday, normal weekend timetables on 3 and 4 January, full service from Monday 5 January |
The one 2026 engineering closure National Rail has already named is Birmingham New Street, from 24 to 28 December, which does not affect this line.
What happened on this line last Christmas
Two pieces of work touched Stevenage passengers in 2025/26, and both are the kind that recur.
Royston to Cambridge was shut for nine days. Buses replaced trains between Royston and Cambridge North from Saturday 27 December 2025 to Sunday 4 January 2026, with a revised train service between London King’s Cross and Royston and between St Pancras and Royston. Thameslink said the work was tied to signalling upgrades and to preparing for Cambridge South station. Stevenage kept its trains, but anyone heading to Cambridge changed to a bus at Royston and journeys took longer.
Sunday 4 January 2026 had no Thameslink trains through central London. Nothing ran between St Pancras or Finsbury Park and London Bridge, and King’s Cross to Royston and Peterborough ran to an amended timetable.
Neither is announced for 2026/27. Network Rail’s page on the East Coast Digital Programme says the digital signalling overlay between Welwyn and Hitchin, the stretch that runs through Stevenage, was commissioned in 2026 and has been used by Great Northern’s Class 717 trains since August, with more fleets following from 2027 (Network Rail, East Coast Digital Programme). It does not name any Christmas 2026 possession. If one is coming, it will appear on National Rail’s page first.
The bank holidays this year
The shape of Christmas 2026 is unusual and it affects which timetable runs on which day (GOV.UK, bank holidays):
- Christmas Day is a Friday, 25 December 2026
- Boxing Day is a Saturday, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December
- New Year’s Day is a Friday, 1 January 2027
Last year 29 to 31 December were ordinary working days run to a Saturday timetable with extra peak trains. This year the Monday is a bank holiday, so expect the reduced pattern to start a day later and to be confirmed in early December.
Buses
Arriva’s bank holiday page lists its Hertfordshire and Essex services as running a Sunday timetable on each bank holiday, and its list currently ends at the August bank holiday (Arriva, bank holidays). It has not published Christmas 2026 arrangements. Arriva’s Stevenage routes are on its Stevenage bus page.
Parking
Stevenage Borough Council has not published any Christmas parking concession for 2026. Its parking pages carry the normal charges, and the town centre car parks went over to pay-by-plate this year, which we covered on our pay-by-plate page. Station parking, season tickets and the everyday timetable are on our train times to London page, and current disruption on our roadworks and travel page.
Still to be confirmed, and when
- Engineering works on the East Coast Main Line and through central London, on National Rail’s festive page. The 2025 detail was there by early December.
- Thameslink and Great Northern’s day-by-day plan, including the Christmas Eve last trains from King’s Cross and St Pancras. Last year’s version was updated on 8 December.
- Arriva’s Christmas and New Year bus service levels.
- Any council Christmas parking concession.
This page will be updated as each is published.
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