Last Christmas, Greater Anglia trains stopped by 10pm on Christmas Eve, ran none on the 25th and 26th, and ended at Stratford. What to expect for 2026.
Greater Anglia has not published its Christmas 2026 plans yet. Last year it announced them on 29 October, so they are due within weeks. What it did last year is the best guide: trains wound down from 7pm on Christmas Eve and stopped by 10pm, there were no trains from Colchester on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and between 27 December and 1 January London trains started and finished at Stratford because Liverpool Street was shut.
The quick answer
No Greater Anglia trains ran on 25 or 26 December 2025, and Christmas Eve services stopped by 10pm. London Liverpool Street was closed from 25 December to 1 January, with trains running to Stratford instead. The 2026 plan is expected from Greater Anglia in late October; this page will carry it.
What Greater Anglia did at Christmas 2025
These are from Greater Anglia’s own notice, Greater Anglia issues travel advice for Christmas and New Year, first published on 29 October 2025 and last updated on 19 December.
| Day | What ran |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 24 December | Early shutdown: reductions from 19:00, trains stopped by 22:00 |
| Thursday 25 December | No Greater Anglia services |
| Friday 26 December | No services apart from a reduced Stansted Express to Tottenham Hale |
| Saturday 27 December to Thursday 1 January | Revised service. Great Eastern Main Line trains started and ended at Stratford |
| Thursday 1 January | Bank holiday timetable |
| Monday 5 January | Normal service across most of the network |
Liverpool Street was shut for eight days for Network Rail to keep replacing the station’s roof panels and to do maintenance in the Bishopsgate tunnel. Tickets were accepted on the Elizabeth line and Central line between Stratford and Liverpool Street.
What is already booked on the Colchester line
National Rail’s engineering notices already list several closures on the line through Colchester before Christmas. None yet covers 24 December to 2 January.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Monday 26 to Thursday 29 October | Buses replace late night and early morning trains between Witham and Colchester |
| Sunday 15 November | Buses replace trains between Colchester and Harwich Town / Ipswich |
| Sunday 22 November | Buses replace trains between Colchester and Ingatestone |
| Monday 7 to Thursday 10 December | Buses replace late night and early morning trains between Witham and Colchester |
A closure planned between Colchester and Sudbury or Ingatestone on Sunday 25 October has been cancelled, and trains will run normally that day. Greater Anglia’s own service alterations calendar shows nothing between 24 and 31 December yet, and nothing at all for January. It says major works are usually published 12 weeks ahead.
Buses at Christmas 2025
First Essex runs most of Colchester’s town routes, and published its festive timetables on 1 December 2025 in Your festive timetables over Christmas and New Year. For Mid and North Essex, which includes Colchester:
- Christmas Eve: a Saturday service with earlier last buses on every local route. Some county-supported routes ran their normal Wednesday timetable.
- Christmas Day: no buses.
- Boxing Day: no local buses. Only the X10, X20 and X30 ran, to a Sunday timetable, plus special timetables on the C1, 51 and 54. The X20 is the Colchester to Stansted Airport route.
- Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 December: normal service.
- Monday 29 to Wednesday 31 December: a Saturday service with exceptions. On New Year’s Eve First listed normal weekday running on routes including the 1A, 2A, 68, 88, 102 and the C2, C3, C4, C5, C7, C8, C10 and C11.
- New Year’s Day: only the X10, X20 and X30 on a Sunday timetable, plus the C1, 51 and 54 on special timetables.
- Saturday 3 January: normal services resumed.
Christmas 2026 falls on different weekdays, so expect the pattern rather than the exact days to repeat. First’s customer contact centre closed on 25 to 28 December last year.
Parking over Christmas
In its festive services notice last year, Colchester City Council said St John’s car park closed from 7pm on 24 December until 5am on 26 December, with no way in or out. Every other council car park stayed open as normal. The notice did not mention any free Christmas parking. Tariffs and car park by car park details are on our parking in Colchester page.
Road closures for the lights parade on Saturday 14 November, and anything else that shuts a road in town, are on our roadworks page.
What is still to be confirmed
| Detail | Expected |
|---|---|
| Greater Anglia Christmas and New Year 2026 plan | Late October (29 October last year) |
| Whether Liverpool Street closes again | With that plan |
| First Essex festive bus timetables | Early December (1 December last year) |
| Council car park changes | Early to mid December (10 December last year) |
Related pages
- Normal weekday journeys: Colchester train times to London
- Bins over the holiday: Colchester Christmas bin collections
- School holiday dates: Colchester school term dates
Have your say