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London Paddington station set to close on Christmas Eve

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London Paddington will be closed for four days over Christmas

London's Paddington station is set to close on Christmas Eve while most services from Kings Cross are due to be cancelled.

Paddington will remain closed until Thursday 28 December.

Network Rail said engineering works were necessary and that it had tried to "keep disruption to a minimum".

Motorists were also warned there could be "daily delays of around 40 minutes" leading up to Christmas Eve on the M25 clockwise, west of London.

Although the rail closures were expected to cause disruption to passengers, Network Rail said more than 96% of the rail network would remain open for "business as usual".

It said the closures were needed as part of £127m of investment work "so that passengers can benefit from better and more reliable services and facilities".

Summary of rail disruption:

  • 23 Dec-1 Jan: Work outside London Victoria station. Southeastern services diverted to Blackfriars, Charing Cross and Cannon Street
  • Christmas Eve-27 Dec: No services from London Paddington due to HS2 work at Old Oak Common and laying new track at West Drayton. Long distance services will terminate at Reading
  • Christmas Eve-27 Dec: No Heathrow Express (Piccadilly line trains will still be going to the airport)
  • Christmas Eve: Most long-distance services cancelled from London Kings Cross due to signalling work on the East Coast Main Line (Trains will run to Potters Bar, and there will be one service to/from Hull)
  • Boxing Day: Thameslink, Gatwick Express and other Southern services will not run. However, a Southern service will run with trains in and out of London Victoria serving Gatwick Airport, Brighton, East Croydon and Sutton

Transport for London has also published details of the planned works, closures and service changes that will affect journeys over the Christmas period.

Summary of Tube disruption:

  • Christmas Eve: Closures on the District line, London Overground, Elizabeth line and DLR. There are no services on the Waterloo & City line
  • Christmas Day: - No services, as usual
  • Boxing Day: Reduced service on the Bakerloo line, District line, London Overground and DLR. No services on the Elizabeth and Waterloo & City lines
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Queues are expected on the M25, west of London

The warning about 40-minute delays on the M25 was issued by transport analysis company Inrix.

It predicted that the worst queues on the motorway network would be on the M25 clockwise between junction 7 (for the M23/Gatwick Airport) and junction 16 (for the M40/Birmingham) on Friday.

Drivers heading anti-clockwise between junction 17 (Rickmansworth) and junction 12 (for the M3) on the same day are also being warned to prepare for delays.

Check before travelling

A spokesperson from transport watchdog London TravelWatch said: "We recognise that engineering work needs to take place regularly on the railway, especially around safety-critical maintenance of tracks and signalling.

"So, it's good to see this work is taking place over the Christmas holidays, when fewer people tend to travel and it will hopefully be less disruptive.

"Passengers need clear and timely advice from transport companies and Network Rail, so they don't get caught out if they do need to travel over the festive period."

Network Rail advised passengers to check before travelling. It said any alternative arrangements that were in place could be found online at National Rail Enquiries.

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