Passengers in east London face ten days of disruption over Christmas and New Year, after engineers announced a festive shutdown of part of the Elizabeth line and the Great Eastern Main Line.
From Sunday, December 27, 2026, to Sunday, January 3, 2027, the line between Liverpool Street and Shenfield will be fully closed while Network Rail carries out major works at Forest Gate. Elizabeth line trains will not run at all between Stratford and Romford, with only a reduced service operating between Romford and Shenfield.
Rail replacement buses will run between Ingatestone or Shenfield and Newbury Park, and Greater Anglia tickets will be accepted on the London Underground between Newbury Park and Liverpool Street. Passengers are advised to check their journeys on National Rail’s Journey Planner or the TfL Go app before setting off.
What is closing and what replaces it
The centrepiece of the programme is the renewal of six sets of points at Forest Gate — the movable sections of track that let trains switch between lines — along with related rails, sleepers and ballast. Network Rail describes the Great Eastern Main Line at Forest Gate as a critical artery into the capital, carrying hundreds of passenger services every day as well as freight trains moving goods and supplies across the country.
The closure also affects c2c services between London Liverpool Street and Grays for five days, because of track renewals at Barking. A rail replacement bus service will operate between Upminster, Rainham, Purfleet and Grays, while passengers travelling to Dagenham Dock can use the EL2 and 287 bus services, with ticket acceptance in place.
Other projects running during the same period include rail, sleeper and ballast renewals at Barking station on the Tilbury line, repairs to platform canopies and replacement roof sheeting at Forest Gate station, the renewal of two sets of points at Stratford, general maintenance on the Weaver line, platform repairs at Southend Victoria station, signalling upgrades between Cambridge and Ely, and track renewals at Trowse swing bridge.
Christmas Day and Boxing Day
On Christmas Day itself, no trains will run on most routes, as is traditional. On Boxing Day, only a limited Stansted Express service will operate, running between Stansted Airport and Tottenham Hale and calling at Tottenham Hale, Cheshunt, Harlow Town, Bishop’s Stortford and Stansted Airport.
Greater Anglia services will continue to run between Norwich, Ipswich, Clacton and Shenfield, via Ingatestone and connecting to rail replacement buses, as well as between Southend Victoria and Shenfield. Passengers can check the latest travel information at nationalrail.co.uk or on the relevant train operator’s website.
Martin Beable, chief operating officer for GBR Anglia, said: “While most of the railway will remain open as usual over the festive period, we’ll be taking advantage of a quieter time on the network to carry out significant improvements at Forest Gate and Barking station.”
He added: “We’re also carrying out lots of smaller projects across East Anglia on Christmas Day and Boxing Day which will help us maintain a safe, reliable and efficient railway for the hundreds of passenger and freight services that use these routes every day.”
“We’re grateful for passengers’ patience while this work takes place and would encourage anyone travelling over Christmas and New Year to check their journey before setting off.”
Why the festive window was chosen
The period between Christmas and New Year is one of the quietest times on the railway, with passenger numbers typically around half of those seen on a normal weekday. That makes it a rare opportunity to carry out intensive engineering work on some of the country’s busiest routes with minimal impact — though for anyone travelling to see family, catch a flight or head into central London for the sales, the Stratford to Romford gap will still mean a longer journey, a bus leg and extra waiting time.
The timing will be felt most keenly by passengers in the east London corridor who rely on the Elizabeth line for the run into Liverpool Street, and by those connecting onwards: with the Underground accepting Greater Anglia tickets between Newbury Park and Liverpool Street, the practical route into town remains open, but it will be slower than a through train. Anyone heading to Stansted over the festive period should note the Boxing Day position in particular, when only the limited airport service runs.
Festive engineering shutdowns are a regular feature of the railway calendar, and this year’s programme follows the same pattern as other recent weekend and holiday works affecting London routes, from Southeastern weekend works in Bromley to the Stansted Express disruption and the postponed M25 closure at Heathrow. What sets this one apart is its length: most of the work is packed into Christmas Day and Boxing Day, when the railway is traditionally closed, but the Forest Gate project needs a longer window, and that is what stretches the disruption to ten days.
Passengers are being urged to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys throughout the works.
