Thameslink ran no trains on Christmas Day or Boxing Day last year, and last trains ended around 9pm on Christmas Eve. 2026 details start arriving in October.
Thameslink, which runs every train from Elstree & Borehamwood and Radlett, has not published its Christmas 2026 timetable. Last year it ran no trains at all on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and on Christmas Eve services thinned out from about 5pm with last trains reaching their destinations by around 9pm (Thameslink, festive period 2025).
The quick answer
- Expect no trains on Christmas Day, and check Boxing Day. Thameslink ran none on either day in 2025.
- Christmas Eve finishes early. Last year fewer trains ran after about 5pm and the last reached their destinations by around 9pm.
- 2026 details are due from early October. National Rail says operators start adding their plans for 24 December to 4 January then.
What National Rail has said for 2026/27
National Rail’s Christmas page now covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027. It says services on many routes will finish earlier than normal on Christmas Eve, that there will be “lots of planned essential engineering works”, and that each operator’s information “will start being added to the pages from the beginning of October onwards” (National Rail, Christmas and New Year 2026/27). Its guide to last trains from London will be published nearer the time.
How Thameslink ran last Christmas
Thameslink’s 2025 festive page, last updated on 8 December 2025, gave this pattern (Thameslink, festive period 2025):
| Day | Service |
|---|---|
| Mon 22 and Tue 23 December | Saturday service with extra peak trains |
| Wed 24 December | Saturday service until about 5pm, then fewer trains; last trains at destinations by about 9pm |
| Thu 25 December | No Thameslink trains |
| Fri 26 December | No Thameslink trains |
| Sat 27 and Sun 28 December | Normal weekend service, with engineering work |
| Mon 29 to Wed 31 December | Saturday service with extra peak trains |
| Thu 1 and Fri 2 January | Amended service, with engineering work |
| Mon 5 January | Normal service |
On New Year’s Eve last year, London Blackfriars became exit only from 8.30pm with no trains calling after 11.30pm, and no Thameslink trains called at Farringdon after about 12.30am. Thameslink gave safety as the reason. If you are heading into town for midnight, plan the trip home around St Pancras rather than Blackfriars or Farringdon, and check the 2026 page when it appears.
This year the calendar is less kind. Christmas Day is a Friday, Boxing Day a Saturday, and the substitute bank holiday is Monday 28 December (GOV.UK bank holidays). Expect the reduced service to shift with it, but wait for Thameslink’s own table.
Potters Bar and Bushey
Potters Bar is served mainly by Great Northern into King’s Cross, with some Thameslink trains at peak times. Great Northern’s festive page for last year is no longer online, so check its planned engineering work page and National Rail from October.
Bushey is served by London Overground and London Northwestern Railway into Euston. Both are listed on National Rail’s Christmas page, where their plans will be added.
Our trains to London page compares the four stations on journey time and fares.
Driving and parking in town
Hertsmere’s car parks charge Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6.30pm, and are free on Sundays and bank holidays (Hertsmere, about our car parks). Over Christmas that means free parking on Friday 25 December, Monday 28 December and Friday 1 January, plus the Sundays. Saturday 26 December is not a bank holiday this year, so the normal Saturday charge applies unless the council announces otherwise. We found no Christmas parking offer published yet.
Car park locations and prices are on our parking in Borehamwood page, and road closures on Borehamwood roadworks.
Still to be confirmed
- Thameslink’s Christmas 2026 timetable and engineering works. Due from October; we will update this page.
- Christmas Eve last trains from St Pancras to Elstree & Borehamwood and Radlett.
- Great Northern arrangements for Potters Bar, and bus operators’ Christmas timetables.
- Any Hertsmere Christmas parking concession.
Sources: National Rail Christmas and New Year 2026/27; Thameslink festive period 2025 page; Hertsmere Borough Council car parks page; GOV.UK bank holidays. Checked 25 September 2026.
Have your say