The UK’s busiest railway station is set to be closed for eight days over the Christmas period causing travel misery for thousands of people.
Network Rail has confirmed that London Liverpool Street station will be closed from Christmas Day until January 2 for works on the station.
It means delays and cancellations for people looking to visit loved ones or return home following the festive celebrations.
The station closure means Greater Anglia trains – including the Stansted Express – will be diverted via Stratford, which will be used as the train company’s London terminus.
People will be able to change onto the Central line or Jubilee line at Stratford to reach central London.
London Overground services in the area will start and terminate at London Fields instead – including ones from Chingford that don’t usually stop at London Fields.
There are likely to be less Overground services as well – two per hour to Chingford and one per hour to Enfield Town and Cheshunt.
People in this area are advised to use Victoria line train services from Walthamstow Central and Seven Sisters or local bus routes.
For those of you travelling to the west country it is not good news either because London Paddington station will be closed for three days between December 27 and 29.
Great Western Railway (GWR) will divert its long-distance trains from Cornwall, Devon and Wales into Euston during this time.
Elsewhere, there will be no Thameslink trains between St Pancras and Harpenden, and no East Midlands Railway services between London St Pancras and Bedford, between December 21 and December 29 due to work on the Midland Main Line.
This will also cause problems for people looking to get away if they are flying from London Luton Airport.
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Passengers who usually take the train north from St Pancras will need to use different London stations and connecting buses to reach their destinations.
Network Rail confirmed 95% of the train network would be running as normal.
Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s director of system operations, said: ‘The festive period is a unique opportunity, when fewer people are travelling, to do big pieces of work to make services better, more punctual and more reliable.
‘The major projects we’re undertaking would otherwise take many weekends to complete and cause much more disruption.
‘Whilst roads are busier during the holidays, it’s actually one of the quietest times on the railway, meaning we can improve things whilst causing less disruption to passengers and freight flows.’
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