To think you check you can get home?

A lot of people seem to think it's weird you had this person there at all. I don't. I think it's kind and normal. I might be mistaken about the second of those, which is a shame.

A few people seem to think that this person is a cross between Bill Sikes and Feathers McGrew, and the whole thing is devilish scheme to engineer being alone in your house in order to snoop on your Googlesearch history and plunder your silverware. These people need some sort of professional help.

Quite a few people seem to think that you're a people-pleasing sucker and frankly you have no one to blame but yourself. Which doesn't really give us much insight into your personality, but tells us quite a lot about theirs.

Assuming you don't come home to find the sofa gone, I think you're right to be a bit disappointed you're not going to get an evening on your own with the other half, but you're handling this very well, and you're not getting it at all out of proportion.

"Drop them at a taxi rank. It's not your problem"?? For fuck's sake....

I’ve seen several trains go past my window today (Scotland)

It's come as news to me that they don't!

I can remember getting trains on Boxing Day when I was young, but that was 50-odd years ago. It used to be a Sunday service.

And let’s be honest - train services are likely to be better in England than in Scotland and Wales.

It is a bit rubbish of them to not have checked return journeys but some people are like that. I wouldn't personally get too upset about them lounging around watching telly whilst you're out all day though tbh but we're all different.

In answer to the original question, no not everybody checks whether trains are running on their chosen day. Especially if they don't often travel by public transport. Those of us who use the trains a lot are well aware that all kinds of things can go wrong whatever the day, and that Boxing Day trains are rare as dodos.
This sounds like a very nice guest to have hanging around anyway!

I would not be leaving them in my house. I would ask them to book themselves into a hotel next to a station or something and drop them off/ tell them to sort an uber.

They should sort themselves out. You shouldnt be aware of how disorganised they are. They sound useless tbh. At work too, no doubt.

I am the only one that thinks it really weird that OP has invited a colleague she’s not all that fond off for two nights over Christmas?

@Ayechinnyreckon If you knew them better you might know they were a bit unorganised but since you barely know them, part of this is on you. Baffling.

You are lovely to show such hospitality to somebody who is not a very good friend. Of course you are not being unreasonable!

I am well aware of that thank you, but I can't speak for train services on Boxing Day in Scotland, Wales or NI because I know nothing about them, hence my question and the wording of it. No need to be shirty and defensive.

Scottish, are you?

Yes of course, I understand.

I am willing to bet this guest is a man. All the men I know would just assume there would be trains on Boxing Day and everything would just fall into place if they arrived at a railway station. All the women I know would have thought to check in advance and probably book.

Yes, the UK extends beyond England

You sound like a super host OP.

i do think maybe with the causal “everyone pile in and celebrate” nature of your hosting it can sometimes result in this sort of thing, where you attract flaky people who just go with the flow and don’t really think things through or plan well. It’s almost the ideal breeding ground for this sort of thing to happen!

I can't get past the fact you've had somebody staying 2-3 days who you aren't particularly good friends with. 😆

And now you're annoyed that they can't leave as soon as you'd like because they've got no transport.

Batshit! 😂

How many people did you have for Christmas! And what size is your house!

Google the phrase "what trains are running on boxing day" and you get many many pages agreeing that there are no trains on boxing day unless you happen to live along the route of an airport transfer service - do you happen to live near Gatwick or Stansted @MathsFiend? The vast majority of national service routes and local networks schedule major engineering works on Boxing Day so that they can happen with minimal business disruption.

I am just puzzled why the OP had someone stay over Christmas who they obviously don't like

Are you in the UK? I thought it was pretty standard for trains in England at least to stop fairly early on Christmas Eve and not start again until the 27th.

No problem (I was intrigued as to what I'd said that was funny!) but for future reference you can just click your emoji and then change it. At least you can on my computer.

I do like them, but it's a relatively new friendship and due to them living far away, it's only the 3rd time of meeting them in person.

And you invited them for Christmas? Not just for Christmas dinner, but to stay over for two nights? Wow. You are truly the spirit of Christmas and a better person than me, but WHY???

The fact that you don't know them that well is why you feel so awkward now. You don't want them tagging along with you for the day but you feel uncomfortable about leaving them in your house alone all day too. If it was someone you knew and trusted better you'd be more relaxed about that.

I suspect they possibly did know there were no trains, but were angling to either stay longer or cadge a lift home.

Not sure why people keep banging on about there never being trains running on boxing day, there are trains running where I live so it's not true everywhere.

I agree and she should have checked beforehand. Can she be dropped off anywhere that there is a bus or something, can she afford a taxi? I know most cab firms are not charing extra for Christmas.

I don't know anyone I could invite over and would bring such lovely thoughtful additions to Christmas dinner, help out with prep etc AND keep the kids entertained. I would hold onto this person OP, they sound great. No-one is perfect. I use the buses all the time and one Christmas my dad came over and neither of us realised the buses weren't running boxing day until the day before, when he looked up the times. He was an arse and refused to even help me dish up, and I'm a single mum and my daughter was only three and he barely paid her any attention whilst I was trying to cook. So I had to endure him for an extra day. A pleasant, thoughtful person for one extra night isn't going to hurt you in the long run. I wouldn't let this one faux par (which I bet they're super embarrassed about) taint your positive experience with them. It's just not a day people are used to travelling a lot, or often enough for it to stay in the conscious! I mean, you also assumed the trains would be running by expecting them to leave that day.

To be fair in that part of the world (or anywhere more southern) this wouldn’t even be a problem to begin with lol a guest wouldn’t be treated like a disturbance

this is just awkward Britishness at its peak