GWR runs no trains to or from Paddington from Christmas Day to 3 January; Worcester passengers are sent via Oxford and Marylebone. New Street works 24-28 Dec.

Both of Worcester’s main rail routes are hit this Christmas. GWR will run no trains to or from London Paddington from Christmas Day to Sunday 3 January, and its advice for Worcester is to travel via Oxford and London Marylebone. Birmingham New Street has major engineering work from Thursday 24 to Monday 28 December.

The quick answer

  • No trains on Christmas Day (Friday 25 December). Most operators run nothing on Saturday 26 December, and services finish early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
  • Worcester to Birmingham: New Street is under major works 24 to 28 December inclusive, and National Rail says journeys to, from or through it “will be significantly disrupted”.
  • Worcester to London: GWR runs no Paddington trains from Friday 25 December to Sunday 3 January. Its advice is Chiltern trains between Marylebone and Oxford, changing at Oxford for Worcester. Paddington is also affected on 28 and 29 November.

Updated 5 October: GWR has published its Christmas plan. There are no Paddington trains at all from Christmas Day to 3 January, so the London section below now gives its alternative route. West Midlands Railway’s festive page could not be read today; the Birmingham section is unchanged.

What National Rail has confirmed

National Rail’s Christmas and New Year 2026/27 travel summary covers Thursday 24 December to Monday 4 January. It says:

  • Thursday 24 December: trains on many routes finish earlier than normal. Its list of last trains from London is due “late November / early December”.
  • Friday 25 December: no National Rail services.
  • Saturday 26 December: most operators run no service; a very limited service is run by a small number of operators, details to be confirmed.
  • Monday 28 December: the Boxing Day bank holiday falls on this substitute day this year. Services are to be confirmed.
  • Thursday 31 December: trains on some routes finish earlier than normal.

It adds that “Birmingham New Street station will have major engineering work taking place from Thursday 24 December to Monday 28 December inclusive”. Operators’ own Christmas pages are being added “from the beginning of October onwards”. GWR’s is now up; West Midlands Railway’s is covered below.

Worcester to Birmingham

West Midlands Railway runs Worcester’s trains to Birmingham from both Foregate Street and Shrub Hill. New Street is where those trains start and finish, so the works from Christmas Eve to the bank holiday Monday will reach Worcester. West Midlands Railway has a festive travel page, but it refused our requests on 5 October, so we cannot yet say what WMR will run on those days. We will add the Worcester detail once it can be read, or once National Rail’s full list of major works goes up.

Worcester to London Paddington

GWR runs Worcester’s direct trains to London Paddington. Network Rail is rebuilding Dolphin Junction, between Slough and Langley, a £27.8m job on a junction that more than 400 passenger trains a day pass through. It says the work “will affect train services for London Paddington” on these dates (Network Rail):

  • 28 and 29 November 2026, a weekend closure while the new track goes in.
  • 27 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, “following the usual Christmas shut down on 25 and 26 December”.

Network Rail describes the Christmas and New Year work as a “10-day closure of the railway”.

GWR has now published what that means (GWR Christmas and winter rail improvements). It says it “will not be able to run any train services to/from London Paddington station” from Christmas Day to Sunday 3 January. Its plan for those dates:

  • Christmas Eve: trains finish earlier than usual.
  • Christmas Day and Boxing Day: no GWR trains at all.
  • Sunday 27 December to Sunday 3 January: for London to Oxford, travel by train between London Marylebone and Oxford, then “change at Oxford for onward connections towards Worcester”.
  • Sunday 10 January: trains for Paddington via Slough are affected by more work.

Marylebone to Oxford is a Chiltern Railways route, so check the whole journey in a planner before you set off. GWR says journeys on alternative routes “may take longer”. Do not buy an Advance ticket to Paddington for any date from 25 December to 3 January. Our Worcester train times to London page has the normal timetable and the Shrub Hill versus Foregate Street difference.

Buses

First Worcestershire runs most city bus routes. Last year it ran Christmas and New Year timetables from Monday 22 December 2025 to Friday 2 January 2026, covering city services 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35/35A, 36, 38, 44, 144 and X50 among others. It published them on 5 December 2025 (First Bus Worcestershire). Expect this year’s timetables in early December.

Parking and the Christmas Fayre

Worcester City Council has not announced a festive parking offer for 2026. The last one on its news pages dates from 2021, when parking was free after 3pm Monday to Saturday from 6 to 24 December, and all day on two Sundays, in its 14 city centre car parks (Worcester City Council, 29 November 2021). We found no offer in the council’s news for the four Christmases since.

The Victorian Christmas Fayre runs from Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 December 2026 (Worcester Victorian Christmas Fayre) and is the busiest weekend of the year for city centre traffic. Park and ride and road closure details for the Fayre are on our Victorian Christmas Fayre page. Car park prices and locations are on parking in Worcester, and live road closures on Worcester roadworks and travel.

Still to be confirmed, and when

  • West Midlands Railway’s Christmas plan: its page exists but could not be read on 5 October. GWR’s is published and included above.
  • National Rail’s full list of major Christmas works: “when available”.
  • Last trains from London on Christmas Eve: late November or early December.
  • First Worcestershire festive bus times: early December, going by last year.

We will update this page as each one lands.

Frequently asked questions

Are there trains from Worcester on Boxing Day 2026? Probably not. National Rail says most operators run no service on Saturday 26 December, with a very limited service from a few operators still to be confirmed.

Is Birmingham New Street closed at Christmas 2026? It has major engineering work from Thursday 24 to Monday 28 December inclusive. National Rail says journeys to, from or through it will be significantly disrupted.

Can I get a train from Worcester to London between Christmas and New Year? Not to Paddington. GWR runs no Paddington trains from 25 December to 3 January. Its advice is to travel between Oxford and London Marylebone, changing at Oxford for Worcester, from 27 December.

Is parking free in Worcester at Christmas? Not as far as the council has announced. Its last festive parking offer on record was in 2021.

Sources