Travelling home for Christmas may be the worst part of the season – you can always expect crowds, sweltering trains and a struggle to find a seat.
But, if you’re looking for more elbow room, new data from Trainline has revealed the busiest days to avoid this year.
The train company analysed advanced bookings for travel over the Christmas 2024 period and found the day expected to be the busiest day for train travel: Saturday December 21.
So, if you’re train-ing home for Christmas, you might want to avoid this date, the last Saturday before the big day.
Following closely behind, Monday 23 December is likely to be the second busiest travel day.
Perhaps surprisingly, the quietest day is set to be Christmas Eve. This year, the day before Christmas lands on a Tuesday, by which time many loved ones have already gathered ahead of the celebrations.
If you want to avoid the scuffle for seats, you might want to travel on Christmas Eve, which is estimated to be the quietest day so far.
If that’s leaving things a little too late for you, the next quietest day is Sunday 22 December.
And if anyone is thinking that travelling early on Christmas Day is the ultimate hack to beat the crowds, you might want to reconsider, as no train services run on December 25.
However, if you need to travel, National Express coach services will still be available, with 31 routes operating on Christmas Day.
There will also be no train services on Boxing Day, aside from a limited number of airport transfer services.
New Year celebrations will also affect services, and while New Year’s Eve trains will be in operation on most of the lines, the last service may be a little earlier than usual.
Services will also start running later in the day on New Year’s Day.
To avoid the Christmas travel chaos and pricier fares, Trainline recommends booking your ticket well in advance.
Passengers could save up to 29% on the cost of travel – with those savings dropping to an average of 13% just two weeks before the Christmas travel rush, the train company claims.
Sakshi Anand, UK general manager for Trainline, said: ‘This is the perfect time for people to start planning their journeys home for Christmas.
‘By acting now and booking their tickets in advance, travellers can make great savings on their festive trip home and beat the rush to get a spot on their desired train.’
Major engineering works will also take place over the Christmas and New Year period.
London Liverpool station will be closed for eight days between 25 December and 2 January and London Paddington station will be closed for three days between 27 to 29 December.
There will be no East Midlands Railway trains running between London St Pancras International Station and Bedford between 21 and 29 December.
Crewe Station will also be closed on Friday 27 December. There will be no direct service to Liverpool and a reduced service to Manchester from Saturday 28 December to Friday 3 January.
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