Road and rail works have threatened disruption, so those joining the holiday getaway - and planning their return journey - are advised to allow sufficient time.
Motoring organisations have warned of the risk of heavy traffic, despite a scheme to reduce disruption from roadworks.
The RAC said last-minute dashes were expected to make today the busiest day of Christmas on the roads.
Airports are also expected to be packed, with an estimated four million people travelling abroad during Christmas and New Year.
Here are some of the key things you need to know over the festive season:
:: Roads
Highway chiefs have pointed to efforts to clear roadworks on major routes ahead of the Christmas holiday.
But for motoring safety, lane restrictions or temporary speed limits will remain in force at 43 locations across the country, according to Highways England.
Around 196 miles of roadworks will stay out over the festive period, although this is down on 268 miles last year.
- A590 (near Cumbria)
- A38 Plympton (near Plymouth)
- M5 Jct 14-12 (near Stroud);
- M3 J6 (near Basingstoke);
- A20 Dover Courtwood (near Dover);
- M4 Jct 4 to Jct 3 (near Hillingdon)
- M6 J18-21 (near Knutsford )
- A180 & A160 Brocklesby (near Immingham)
- M1 J30 - J31 (near Sheffield)
- M62 J18 to M62 J21 (near Manchester)
:: Rail
Train passengers will be hoping there will be no repeat of the rail engineering overruns that caused chaos at London stations last Christmas.
Upgrade work is again planned on the network starting on Christmas Eve once the last trains have run.
Network Rail, which is responsible for the track, said nearly 500 improvement projects will be carried out over the festive period, but points out the majority will have no impact on passengers.
However, a number of major projects will affect travellers. These include:
:: London Liverpool Street - No trains between London Liverpool Street and Ingatestone/Southend Victoria/Southminster on Sunday 27 and Monday 28 December because of engineering work.
Buses will run between Newbury Park underground and the Essex Stations.
:: Doncaster area / Cleethorpes - Doncaster / Newark North Gate - Work at Doncaster station will impact services with replacement buses operating and some trains terminating at Sheffield.
There will also be no trains to and from Cleethorpes on some days until Sunday, 10 January to allow for the replacement of much of the signalling system and renewal of level crossings. Replacement buses will be in operation.
:: Crewe - Stafford - A line closure will see trains diverted, adding to journey times, and replacement buses running.
:: London Cannon Street / Charing Cross / London Bridge - There will be no Southeastern services at London Cannon Street, London Charing Cross, London Waterloo East or London Bridge stations. Trains will be diverted and many journey times will be extended.
:: London Paddington - Reading - routes to and from London Paddington will be affected as part of the ongoing Crossrail work.
Closure of the line on 27 and 28 December will see High Speed Train services diverted to other London stations and buses will replace trains in the Thames Valley.
Services will continue to be affected until 3 January, with a revised timetable due to a reduced number of lines operating in the Thames Valley.
There will also be no Heathrow Express or Heathrow Connect services on 27 and 28 December.
:: London - Brighton - services will be affected between East Croydon and Redhill from Friday, 24 December, until Monday, 4 January. Journey times are expected to be increased by more than an hour, with replacement buses in operation.
Gatwick Express services will not run between 24 December and 4 January, while work is carried out at Purley, South London.
Southern Railways services to Sussex will also be affected.
Train services to south Wales and the South West are also expected to take longer as some trains are diverted to London Waterloo and Marylebone stations.
The West Coast Main Line will be closed between Crewe and Stafford between Friday and Tuesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment