From 27 December to 3 January Chelmsford trains stop at Shenfield, with buses to Newbury Park for the Central line. Christmas Eve times are still to come.

No trains will run between Shenfield and London from Sunday 27 December to Sunday 3 January. Engineering work in the Forest Gate area closes all lines, National Rail says. Greater Anglia trains from Chelmsford will run as far as Shenfield and no further (National Rail).

Instead, replacement buses run between:

  • Shenfield and Newbury Park, the Central line station
  • Ingatestone and Newbury Park

Your train ticket is valid at no extra cost on the Underground between Newbury Park and Liverpool Street or Stratford. Trains keep running between Shenfield and Norwich, Ipswich, Clacton and Southend Victoria, so journeys north of Chelmsford are not affected by this closure.

Updated 27 October: National Rail has published the Christmas closure. Greater Anglia’s own travel advice for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the bank holidays is not out yet, and its website blocked us when we tried to read its 22 October announcement. We will add Christmas Eve last trains when they are published.

This is a different shape from the last two Christmases. Then, Liverpool Street closed for eight days and Chelmsford’s London trains ran as far as Stratford. This year the break is further out, at Shenfield, and it starts two days later.

The quick answer

  • 27 December to 3 January 2027: no trains between Shenfield and London. Buses run from Shenfield and Ingatestone to Newbury Park, and tickets are valid on the Underground from there.
  • Christmas Eve 2026 last trains: not published yet.
  • Last Christmas Eve, trains stopped by 22:00, with services thinning from 19:00. There were no trains on Christmas Day and none through Chelmsford on Boxing Day.
  • Last year, from 27 December to 1 January, Chelmsford trains started and ended at Stratford, with Elizabeth line and Central line tickets accepted into Liverpool Street.

What happened over Christmas 2025/26

Greater Anglia set out the whole period in its travel advice, first published on 29 October 2025 and repeated on 19 December (Greater Anglia). For Chelmsford passengers it came down to this:

Date Great Eastern Main Line (Chelmsford)
Wed 24 Dec Early shutdown: reduced service from 19:00, all trains finished by 22:00
Thu 25 Dec No Greater Anglia trains
Fri 26 Dec No trains through Chelmsford. Only a reduced Stansted Express ran, from Tottenham Hale
Sat 27 Dec to Wed 31 Dec Revised service, starting and ending at Stratford
Thu 1 Jan Revised service to and from Stratford
Fri 2 Jan Liverpool Street reopened; revised service elsewhere on the network
Mon 5 Jan Normal service across most of the network

Liverpool Street was closed from 25 December to 1 January inclusive while Network Rail replaced roof panels and worked in the Bishopsgate tunnel. On the days it was shut, tickets were accepted on the Elizabeth line and Central line between Stratford and Liverpool Street, and on several other Underground lines.

The year before was similar, with one extra Chelmsford problem. Over Christmas 2024 Liverpool Street also closed from 25 December to 1 January, and buses replaced trains between Billericay and Witham on 27 and 28 December while Network Rail brought the third line through Beaulieu Park station into use (Network Rail, 21 October 2024).

How the 2026 dates fall

Christmas Day is a Friday this year and the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December (GOV.UK). New Year’s Day is Friday 1 January 2027. Railway Christmas works usually run through the quietest days between Christmas and New Year, which this year is a single working week, Tuesday 29 to Thursday 31 December.

The closure starts on Sunday 27 December, the day after Boxing Day, and runs through the bank holiday on Monday 28 December and the working days to New Year. The National Rail notice ends on Sunday 3 January.

The Elizabeth line is cut too. National Rail says it runs only between Romford and Shenfield, and between Paddington and Stratford, from 27 December to 1 January, with buses between Stratford and Romford. It runs the same way on 2 and 3 January.

Before you travel

  • Check Greater Anglia’s journey planner on the day you book and again the day before you travel. Replacement buses and retimings are loaded there first.
  • Tickets for Liverpool Street are valid on the Underground from Newbury Park during the closure. Keep your ticket for the whole journey.
  • Allow far longer. A train to Shenfield, a bus to Newbury Park and the Central line into the City is a much slower trip than the usual direct train.
  • Driving instead? Our roadworks and travel page carries the A12 and city closures, and parking in Chelmsford has the car park prices.
  • Normal weekday timings are on our Chelmsford train times to London page.

What is still to be confirmed, and when

  • The 2026 Christmas Eve last trains, and whether any trains run on Saturday 26 December. Expected in Greater Anglia’s travel advice.
  • How often the replacement buses run, and how long the trip to Newbury Park takes.
  • New Year’s Eve late running. Greater Anglia’s 2025 notice did not list extra late trains for Chelmsford.

We will update this page when Greater Anglia publishes its Christmas travel advice.

Also on The Chelmsford Times

Sources