Britain is braced for a frantic festive getaway as millions embark on Christmas journeys, facing a perfect storm of gridlocked roads, widespread rail shutdowns, and significant queues at major ports.
Major Rail Disruption Over The Festive Period
Passengers are being warned of severe disruption across the UK's railway network over the next two weeks. Network Rail is undertaking hundreds of engineering projects, leading to line closures, altered timetables, and rail replacement services on many key routes.
Significant closures include sections of the West Coast Main Line between Milton Keynes and Rugby, and Preston and Carlisle. Other major routes affected are Leeds to York, services out of London Waterloo and Victoria, and lines around Cambridge.
In a major blow for long-distance travellers, Avanti West Coast has confirmed there will be no direct services between Glasgow and London from Saturday, December 27 until Wednesday, January 14. Its Manchester to London service will also be suspended until January 4.
Separately, CrossCountry has cancelled services between Nottingham and Cardiff Central due to staff shortages. As usual, no trains will run on Christmas Day, with only a handful of airport and Chiltern Railways services operating on Boxing Day.
Roads Set To Grind To A Halt
Meanwhile, the nation's roads are predicted to be exceptionally busy. The AA forecasts that around 24 million cars will be on UK roads today, making it one of the busiest days of the festive period, only slightly quieter than the peak last Friday.
The RAC warns this year could see the busiest Christmas getaway on record, with an estimated 37.5 million leisure trips taken between last Wednesday and Christmas Eve. This is the highest number since the firm began tracking the data in 2013.
While leisure journeys may dip slightly today and tomorrow, the combination of remaining festive travellers, commuters, and business traffic is expected to cause widespread delays.
Long Queues At The Port Of Dover
The festive rush is also being felt at Britain's ports. Over the weekend, passengers faced long queues approaching the Port of Dover, where nearly 30,000 cars are estimated to be embarking on ferries during the festive period.
P&O Ferries urged customers to allow extra time for their journeys. Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, advised travellers to follow airport-style procedures. "We kindly ask all customers... not to arrive any earlier than two hours before their scheduled sailing," he said, requesting patience due to the high traffic volumes.
With disruption set to last well into the New Year, experts are urging all those making festive journeys to plan meticulously, check for updates before they travel, and allow considerable extra time for their trips.
