Travelling With Us This Christmas

There will be some changes to train services throughout December, over the festive period and into the New Year, while Network Rail carries out essential improvement work across the network.

Most days, trains will run as normal, but some journeys may be affected – so please check before you travel using your journey planner for the most accurate information.

There will be no trains on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and services will finish earlier on Wednesday 24 December and start later Saturday 27 December.

Services are expected to be busy, particularly on routes to and from major cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh. Please allow extra time for your journey and check Journey Checker or National Rail Enquiries for live updates.

Planned Engineering Work

Below is a summary of the upcoming planned work taking place between Monday 22^nd December and Wednesday 14^th January, including the last services on Christmas Eve (Wednesday 24^th December).

Monday 22 to Friday 26 December 2025

Between Huddersfield and Leeds

Engineering improvement work will be taking place between Huddersfield and Leeds. During this time, trains will not run directly between the two stations.

If you’re travelling on this route, you’ll need to change trains at Huddersfield and Dewsbury to complete your journey.

Rail Services

• Transpennine Express will terminate at Huddersfield or Dewsbury/York
• Local station stopping services between Huddersfield and Leeds will not run
• Additional Manchester Victoria to Huddersfield local station stopping service will be in operation
• Northern Wigan <> Leeds service will be diverted via Bradford Interchange
• Northern services will be strengthened where possible
  
  

Bus Services      

• Huddersfield <> Leeds (direct, every 30mins)
• Huddersfield <> Dewsbury (direct, hourly)
• Huddersfield <> Wakefield Kirkgate (local station stopping service, hourly)
• Halifax <> Dewsbury (local station stopping service, hourly)
• Brighouse <> Wakefield Kirkgate (local station stopping service, hourly)

Wednesday 24 to Saturday 27 December 2025

Christmas shutdown period

Over the Christmas period, there will be some planned changes to train services. From late evening on Wednesday 24 December, TransPennine Express services will begin to finish earlier than usual, and there will be no trains running on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.

Services will start later than usual on the morning of Saturday 27 December as trains return to the network.

Saturday 27^th December 2025 to Friday 2^nd January 2026

Between Leeds and Selby/York

Saturday 27^th to Monday 29^th December (until 1230)

Engineering improvement work will be taking place between Leeds and Selby/York. During this time, trains will not run directly between these stations.

If you’re travelling on this route, you’ll need to change trains at Leeds, Selby, Wakefield Kirkgate or York to complete your journey.

Rail Services

• Transpennine express services terminate at York and Selby (from the east) and Leeds (from the west). Manchester to York services will operate via Castleford and will terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate
• Northern services will start and terminate at Leeds or Selby
  
  

Bus Services

• Leeds <> York (fast, every 20 mins) (local station stopping service, every hour)
• Leeds <> Selby (fast and local station stopping service, every hour)
• Selby <> York (local station stopping service, every hour)
• Wakefield Kirkgate <> York (local station stopping service, every hour)
• Manchester Airport <> Huddersfield (fast, every hour)

Monday 29^th December 2025 (After 1230) to Saturday 3^rd January 2026

Engineering improvement work will be taking place between Leeds and Selby/York. During this time, trains will not run directly between these stations.

If you’re travelling on this route, you’ll need to change trains at Micklefield, Selby, Wakefield Kirkgate or York to complete your journey.

Rail Services

• Transpennine Express services will terminate at York (from the east) and Leeds (from the west). Manchester to York services will run via Castleford and terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate.
• Northern services to York will operate between Leeds and Micklefield only or terminate at Leeds (from the west). Services between Selby and York will be diverted.

Bus Services

• Leeds <> York (fast, every 20 mins)
• Micklefield <> York (local station stopping service, every hour)
• Wakefield Kirkgate <> York (local station stopping service, every hour)
• Manchester Airport <> Huddersfield (fast, every hour)

Tuesday 1^st to Wednesday 14^th January 2026

Clifton Bridge Replacement Works

Between Thursday the 1st and Wednesday the 14th of January Network rail will be replacing the railway bridge at Clifton, near junctions 39 to 40 of the M6, to make journeys safer and more reliable for years to come.

During this period, services will continue to run on most routes, but journeys may be different to usual, and buses will replace trains on certain days. Please check your journey before travelling as journey times may be longer .

Thursday 1st to Sunday 4th January

Trains run:

Manchester Airport <> Buckshaw Parkway

Edinburgh <> Glasgow Central (No service on 1st of January)

Rail replacement buses run:

Buckshaw Parkway <> Preston/Lancaster

Oxenholme <> Carlisle via Penrith

Monday 5th & Tuesday 6th January

Trains run:

Manchester Airport <> Oxenholme

Liverpool <> Preston

Edinburgh <> Glasgow Central

Rail replacement buses run:

Oxenholme <> Carlisle via Penrith

Wednesday 7th to Wednesday 14th January

Trains run:

Manchester Airport <> Oxenholme

Liverpool <> Preston

Carlisle <> Glasgow Central

Carlisle <> Edinburgh

Rail replacement buses run:

Oxenholme <> Carlisle via Penrith

Check before you travel

Please check your journey using National Rail Enquiries or your usual journey planner before travelling and allow extra time

For more information on engineering works, take a look at our engineering calendar. It shows any improvements that will impact our services over the next 12 weeks.