Travel tips for infrequent travellers at Christmas

Christmas and New Year's services

Check train times before you travel during the festive period

Major engineering work and timetable changes will affect travel on our network over the Christmas period and into the new year.

The table below shows our service levels and where engineering work will affect our network.

Christmas Eve to Boxing Day

Services will end earlier than usual on Christmas Eve (Tuesday 24 December) with the last train leaving London Waterloo at 2203.

There will be no services on Christmas Day (Wednesday 25 December) or Boxing Day (Thursday 26 December).

Additional services on New Year’s Day

On New Year’s Day (Wednesday 1 January) there will be additional services after midnight from London Waterloo to Guildford via Woking, Kingston via Richmond, Twickenham via Wimbledon, and Woking.

Engineering work

Full details of all engineering work, including details of rail replacement bus services, can be found on our Planned Improvements page.

Major engineering work will affect trains via Woking on Sunday 15 December 2024 and between Monday 23 December 2024 and Sunday 5 January 2025. For more information please visit our dedicated page here.

Engineering work will also affect services to Lymington Pier and Westbury.

Date Service
Friday 20 December

Normal weekday service

Saturday 21 December

Normal Saturday service

Sunday 22 December

Normal Sunday service
Buses replace trains between:
- Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
Petersfield and Portsmouth Harbour
Motspur Park and Chessington South
Virginia Water and Weybridge

Monday 23 December

 

Amended Saturday service
Buses replace trains between:
- Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot

Tuesday 24 December

Amended Saturday service

Services will end earlier than usual for Christmas Eve. The last trains of the day will depart from London Waterloo by 2203.
On the Island Line, the last train from Ryde Esplanade will depart at 2000 and the last train from Shanklin will depart at 2030.

Buses replace trains between:
- Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot
Rail replacement bus services will end earlier than usual.

Wednesday 25 December (Christmas Day) No service
Thursday 26 December (Boxing Day) No service 
Friday 27 December

Amended Saturday service
Buses replace trains between:
Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot

There will be no SWR service to Westbury

Saturday 28 December
Normal Saturday service

Buses replace trains between:
Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot

There will be no SWR service to Westbury

Sunday 29 December

Normal Sunday service

Buses replace trains between:
Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier*
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot

There will be no SWR service to Westbury
*Services will be amended. Please see Plan My Journey for more details.

Monday 30 December

Amended Saturday service

Buses replace trains between:
Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot

There will be no SWR service to Westbury

Tuesday 31 December (New Year’s Eve)

Amended Saturday service

Buses replace trains between:
Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot

There will be no SWR service to Westbury

Wednesday 1 January 2025 (New Year’s Day)

Additional trains will run after midnight from London Waterloo to:
- Guildford via Woking (0045)
- Kingston via Richmond (0100)
- Twickenham via Wimbledon (0115)
- Kingston via Richmond (0130)
- Woking (0135)
- Guildford via Woking (0145)
- Kingston via Richmond (0200)
- Woking (0210)
- Twickenham via Wimbledon (0215)
- Kingston via Twickenham (0230)
- Guildford via Woking (0245)
- Kingston via Richmond (0300)
- Woking (0310)
- Guildford via Woking (0315)
- Kingston via Richmond (0330)
- Guildford via Woking (0345)
- Kingston via Richmond (0400)
- Twickenham via Wimbledon (0415)
- Kingston via Richmond (0430)
- Guildford via Woking (0445)
After the above services, a Sunday service will run on our network

Buses replace trains between:
Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot

There will be no SWR service to Westbury

Thursday 2 January

Amended Saturday service

Buses replace trains between:
Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot

There will be no SWR service to Westbury.

Friday 3 January

Amended Saturday service.

Buses replace trains between:
Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Farnborough
- Woking and Aldershot

There will be no SWR service to Westbury.

Saturday 4 January
Saturday service

Buses replace trains between:
Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Woking and Basingstoke
- Woking and Aldershot

There will be no SWR service to Westbury

Sunday 5 January

Sunday service

Buses replace trains between:
- Aldershot and Weybridge
- Andover and Woking
- Basingstoke and Weybridge
- Brockenhurst and Lymington Pier
- Leatherhead and Dorking
- Winchester and Woking
- Weybridge and Guildford

There will be no SWR service to Westbury