Christmas Eve getaway travel chaos as rail staff shortage disrupts journeys

Millions of travellers are on the roads, railways and planes on Christmas Eve in the final travel surge before 25 December.

Rail passengers in particular have faced a litany of problems in the build-up to Christmas, with Storm Pia combining with staff shortage to disrupt trains within Britain.

Eurostar made 30 cancellations to and from Continental Europe on Thursday, when the Channel Tunnel closed because of a strike – wrecking the plans of 25,000 passengers.

Drivers queue for ferries at Dover, Kent, as people travel to destinations over the Christmas period

(PA)

On Christmas Eve, two London intercity terminals – King’s Cross and Paddington – are completely closed for engineering work. Network Rail projects are beginning across Britain, with some continuing until early January.

London Euston is once again seeing widespread cancellations. On Saturday Avanti West Coast, which connects the capital with the West Midlands, northwest England, North Wales and southern Scotland, cancelled dozens of trains due to staff shortage.

Most trains to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow are expected to run normally on Christmas Eve. But London Northwestern Railway warns that a surge in sickness absence means there will be significant disruption on Christmas Eve.

Passengers looking at departure boards at Kings Cross station, London, which is now completely closed for engineering work

(PA)

The company says: “Up to 50 per cent of services may be at risk of short notice cancellation unless there is a material change in our forecast crew availability.”

Northern Trains has issued a Do Not Travel notice for seven of its routes in northwest England on Sunday, including Manchester Victoria to Chester and Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly due to train crew unavailability.

South Western Railway trains are recovering after an earlier track circuit failure on one of the nation’s busiest stretches of line, between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction.

Trains start winding down towards the late afternoon and through the evening. Services will be reaching their final destinations much earlier than on a normal Sunday. No trains will run on Christmas Day and very few lines are open on Boxing Day.

Passengers wait for train services to travel from London Euston on Friday as they make their Christmas getaway

(EPA)

On the roads, the middle of Christmas Eve is likely to see the biggest queues. The RAC says: “There’s a good chance drivers will cram lots of journeys today 24 December, making it a good date to avoid being on the roads. If you can’t, allow some extra time and expect some lengthy delays.”

In southern Scotland, motorists are being warned of surface water, with some bridges – including across the Firth of Forth closed to high-sided vehicles due to strong winds.

At the Port of Dover, the approach to the French frontier post is now free-flowing. In previous days, queues of up to 90 minutes have built up due to post-Brexit border formalities.

The final ferries for Calais and Dunkirk depart in early afternoon on Christmas Eve, with cross-Channel sailings resuming on Boxing Day morning.

Passengers wait at the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras International as an unexpected strike held up travel plans

(REUTERS)

Eurotunnel will be running car-carrying shuttles between Folkestone and Dover throughout Christmas.

For airline passengers, Friday and Saturday were the busiest days in the festive season at major UK airports. Pressure is also high today.

Travellers may experience long queues for security due to the high proportion of airline passengers who travel infrequently and are therefore unfamiliar with procedures. Airport users will also be wearing winter clothes – and many will be bearing gifts, carrying potential items of interest in their cabin baggage.

At London Heathrow, a number of inbound long-haul flights are delayed by an hour or two. Between London Gatwick and Geneva, easyJet has cancelled four flights, but space is available on later departures.