Strikes affect London train services, many lines close early for Christmas

Londoners planning to head into the city on Christmas Eve to do some last-minute shopping were today warned of the early closure of many Overground and Elizabeth line services.

Parts of the London Overground will cease operations from around 11am on Saturday and the Elizabeth Line from 2pm – and some sections of the Tube will also close earlier than normal.

Passengers on the main railway lines had previously been warned that the last trains from the capital would depart at around 3 p.m.

Transport for London said there would be a reduced service on the Overground and advised passengers to complete their journeys on the Stratford-Richmond or Clapham Junction, Gospel Oak-Barking Riverside and Romford-Upminster routes by 11am.

Overground services between Euston and Watford Junction, Highbury & Islington and Clapham Junction, Crystal Palace, West Croydon and New Cross, and services from Liverpool Street to Enfield Town, Chingford and Cheshunt should be completed by 1pm.

The Overground is completely closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

The Elizabeth Line will operate with limited services on Saturday. Passengers are advised to complete their journeys by 2pm. The line will be closed on Christmas Day.

The District Line branch to Olympia will close at 8pm. The Underground will be closed on Christmas Day.

A TfL spokesman urged passengers to check which services are operating before travelling.

Network Rail said people should only travel on national rail services if it was “absolutely necessary”. Timetables for Saturday's limited services were published today.

The reason for the earlier closure is a strike by RMT members at Network Rail, which lasted from 6pm on Christmas Eve to 6am on 27 December and led to a walkout by many signal workers.

In addition, there is a ban on RMT overtime that came into force on Sunday at Network Rail and 14 railway companies and will last until January 2nd.

GoVia Thameslink, Britain's largest rail company, which operates Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services, advised its passengers not to travel on Saturday unless absolutely necessary.

Southeastern said its network, which operates from Charing Cross, Victoria, London Bridge and Cannon Street, would be shut down at 3pm. The airline advised passengers to travel by midday at the latest.

The last train from King's Cross to Newcastle and Edinburgh leaves at 11am. The last train to Leeds leaves just after midday, followed shortly after by the last trains to Liverpool and Manchester. The last train to Birmingham is expected to leave just after 1pm.

Yesterday, the Standard revealed that more than 40 stations were without trains this week, with South Western Railway coming under particular criticism for cutting services from suburban stations and reducing the frequency of services from towns such as Guildford.

Network Rail described the RMT's claim that Christmas would be largely unaffected by the latest strike as “ridiculous”.

The early closure was necessary because all trains had to be taken off the network before 6 p.m. on Saturday, parked safely and ready for re-operation on December 27.

In addition, hundreds of construction trains that were deployed over the Christmas period for planned maintenance improvements worth £120 million had to be put into place.

Victoria and Liverpool Street mainline stations will remain closed until January 2 for track improvements. Around 250 of the 300 projects will continue despite the RMT measures.