Passengers are warned of Christmas disruptions to rail services as 5% of the rail network is closed for construction over the holiday period.
The disruption will not include trains running in or out of London Liverpool Street station from December 25 to January 2, Network Rail said.
It urged passengers to plan their trips in advance.
Rail strikes during the bank holidays are also possible, but no dates have been set yet.
According to Network Rail, most of the refurbishment work is planned for times when there are no passenger trains, such as Christmas Day, Boxing Day and overnight.
It said 95% of the network was open as usual, but important routes were affected, such as:
- No services will begin or end on Liverpool Street from 25th December to 2nd January. The Greater Anglia, Stansted Express and Cambridge trains are affected.
- Long haul services to Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street, Liverpool Lime Street, Birmingham International, Blackpool North, Scotland and Glasgow Central will operate on a reduced timetable from London Euston between 24th and 30th December
- There are no Southern or Gatwick Express trains to or from London Victoria from 25 December to 2 January.
- Cannon Street station is closed on December 24th and some services start or end at London Bridge.
- Lewisham railway station will also be closed on Christmas Eve and there will be no services between New Cross, St Johns and Dartford via Bexleyheath.
The work will cost a total of £120m, according to Network Rail.
Chief Executive Andrew Haines said: “Christmas is an important time for the railways as it gives us an opportunity to do a lot of work to improve the railways when the trains are not running and thus keep the disruption to our passengers to a minimum .
“We have been working closely with our train operators to ensure that the majority of the network is open for operations over the holiday period to allow people to travel by train to spend time with their families and friends. However, some of these important modernization projects will have an impact on services, so we ask passengers to plan their trips before travelling.
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Mr Haines said the engineering work would mean “more reliable travel” for passengers in the future.
Separately, there are no dates yet for rail strikes during the bank holidays, although it is possible.
However, a strike is scheduled for November 26, which could affect travel to Christmas markets as well as some major sporting events.
Train operator Great Western Railway said strike action by train drivers’ union Aslef at 12 train companies, including GWR, meant there would be extremely reduced service on a limited number of routes that day.
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