Christmas travel in London looks very different from the rest of the year, with services thinning out on Christmas Eve before almost everything stops on Christmas Day. If you are heading home, catching a last train out of the city or simply crossing town for festive plans, it is essential to travel earlier than usual and to know which routes are running reduced hours, finishing early or not operating at all.
From timetables on buses, Tube, Elizabeth line, DLR and London Overground on 24 December, to the near‑total shutdown of public transport on 25 December. Here’s everything you need to know to do a bit of advance planning to avoid getting stranded and make Christmas in London feel a lot less stressful.
Wednesday, December 24 (Christmas Eve)
Buses
- Saturday service on all daytime routes
- No service on 24-hour routes after midnight
- No night services
Tube
- Saturday service until 8pm, and then reduced service
- District line: No service to Kensington Olympia
- Waterloo and City line: off-peak service from 10am-10pm, shutting down early
Elizabeth Line
- Saturday service
- Shutting down early; it’s recommended you finish your journey by 10:30pm
London Overground
- Lioness: reduced service after 7pm – last trains from 9:30pm
- Suffragette: reduced service after 7pm – last trains from 9:30pm
- Windrush: reduced service after 7pm – last trains from 9:30pm
- Weaver: reduced service after 7:30pm – last trains from 9:15pm
- Mildmay: reduced service after 8pm – last trains from 9:30pm
- Liberty: last trains from 9:30pm
DLR
- Saturday service
- Shutting down early; it’s recommended you finish your journey by 10:30pm
Trams
- Reduced service after 8pm
IFS Cloud Cable Car
- Service running from 9am – 5pm
Black Cabs
- Black cabs will charge an extra £4 per journey between 8pm on December 24 and 6 am on December 27
You can find a list of the last direct trains from central London stations to major destinations in Britain on Christmas Eve here.
Credit: IR Stone, Shutterstock
Thursday, December 25 (Christmas Day)
- No public transport, except for some bus routes run by non-TfL operators
- Black cabs will charge an extra £4 per journey between 8pm on December 24 and 6 am on December 27