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 isa summary of the upcoming planned work taking place between Monday 22^nd December and Sunday 25^th January, including the last services on Christmas Eve (Wednesday 24^th December).

Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 December 2025

Between Huddersfield and Leeds

Engineering improvement work as part of the TransPennine Route Upgrade (TRU) is taking place between Dewsbury and Huddersfield between Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24 of December.

Trains will run to an amended timetable and some services may be diverted.Rail replacement buses will also be in operation. Customers should check their journey before travelling. Services on Wednesday 24 December (Christmas eve) will finish earlier than usual.

TransPennine Express:

• Liverpool Lime Street to Newcastle services will operate between Liverpool Lime Street and Huddersfield and between Leeds and Newcastle
• Liverpool Lime Street to Hull services will operate between Dewsbury and Hull only. These services will additionally call at Batley and Morley in both directions and Cottingley when travelling towards Dewsbury
• Services between Manchester Airport and Redcar Central will be amended during the work and operate as two separate services:

  • Trains between Manchester Airport and Huddersfield will call additionally at Stalybridge, Mossley, Greenfield, Marsden and Slaithwaite

  • Trains between Dewsbury and Redcar Central will call additionally at Batley, Morley in both directions and Cottingley when travelling towards Redcar Central

• Manchester Victoria to Scarborough will operate between York and Scarborough only
• Manchester Piccadilly to York will operate between Wakefield Kirkgate and York only
• Manchester Piccadilly to Leeds peak time services will be cancelled.

These services will not run:

• (Manchester Piccadilly to Leeds)
  06:27, 07:30, 08:30, 15:30, 16:30, 17:30, 18:30

• (Leeds to Manchester Piccadilly)
  08:06, 09:05, 16:07, 17:05, 18:08, 19:05

• Additional services will operate between Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield calling at calling at Rochdale, Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Sowerby Bridge and Brighouse
• Rail replacement bus services will operate between Huddersfield – Leeds, Huddersfield – Dewsbury and Huddersfield - Wakefield Kirkgate

Northern:

• Interchange to Leeds via Brighouse services will operate between Bradford Interchange and Brighouse only. These services will be reduced to every two hours
• Wigan to Leeds via Brighouse services will divert via Bradford Interchange
• Rail replacement bus services will operate between Halifax – Dewsbury and Huddersfield – Dewsbury

Grand Central:

• Bradford Interchange to London Kings Cross services will be diverted and not call at Brighouse and Mirfield
• Rail replacement bus services will operate between Brighouse and Wakefield Kirkgate calling at Mirfield

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 December 2025 to Sunday 25 January 2026

Services between Leeds, Selby and York

Services that would normally run via Church Fenton will be affected by Transpennine Route Upgrade improvement works. Services may be diverted and will be running to an amended timetable. Rail replacement buses will also be in place. Customers are advised to check before they travel.

Changes to services:

Phase 1: From Saturday 27 December to 11:30 on Sunday 29 December

No services will be able to run between Leeds – Selby, Leeds – York, York – Selby & York – Sheffield.  The following changes to services will be in place.

Northern

• Services from Blackpool North and Halifax will start/terminate at Leeds
• Services from Bridlington and Hull will start/terminate at Selby
• Hourly replacement bus services will run between Leeds – York, Leeds – Selby and Selby – York, calling at all intermediate stations
• York – Sheffield services will not run. A replacement bus service will be in operation between York – Moorthorpe calling at all intermediate station

TransPennine Express

• Services from Newcastle, Redcar Central & Scarborough will start/terminate at York
• Services from Hull will start/terminate at Selby
• Services from Manchester Victoria will start/terminate at Leeds
• Services from Manchester Piccadilly will start/terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate
• Rail replacement buses will run between Leeds – York (up to every 20 minutes), Leeds – Selby (hourly) and Wakefield Kirkgate – York (hourly)

Phase 2: From 11:30 on Sunday 29 December to Saturday 3 January

Northern

• Services from Blackpool North will start/terminate at Leeds
• Leeds – York stopping services will start/terminate at Micklefield rather than York
• Services from Bridlington and Hull will be diverted between Selby and York
• Hourly replacement bus services will run between Micklefield – York, Selby – York via Church Fenton and York - Moorthorpe

TransPennine Express

• Services from Newcastle, Redcar Central & Scarborough will start/terminate at York
• Services from Manchester Airport will start/terminate at Leeds
• Services from Manchester Piccadilly will start/terminate at Wakefield Kirkgate
• Liverpool Lime Street – Hull services will run as normal
• Rail replacement buses will run between Leeds – York (up to every 20 minutes) and Wakefield Kirkgate – York (hourly)

Phase 3: From Sunday 4 January to Sunday 25 January

Northern

• Services from Blackpool North will start/terminate at Leeds
• Leeds – York stopping services will start/terminate at Micklefield rather than York
• Hourly replacement bus services will run between Micklefield – York

TransPennine Express

• Services will be diverted between Leeds and York, increasing journey times
• Services from Newcastle will start/terminate at Manchester Airport
• Services from Redcar Central will start/terminate at Manchester Victoria
• Services from Scarborough will start/terminate at York
• Peak time services from Manchester Piccadilly will start/terminate at Huddersfield rather than Leeds

Please note: Cross Country services will also be affected between these dates.

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.