AIBU to be surprised that the trains don't run over Christmas?

[HeritageQuay]

So I've been invited by friends to their Christmas lunch in central London. Having been on my own for the last few years, I was delighted to be invited and immediately accepted.

I live about 50 miles outside London and so travel by train is clearly the most sensible option. Accordingly I have been ordering presents etc. on Amazon for delivery to my hosts.

So today I tried to look up train times, only to find that there are no trains at all on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. This came as complete surprise to me, is this a one-off or is it a regular thing?

Not quite sure how to get there now as the last thing I want to do is drive through London with all the issues re Congestion Charge / Ulez / Street parking etc., and in any case I wanted to enjoy a few drinks at Christmas!

How do other people travel at Christmas?

I know NHS staff are sometimes referred to as angels but i dont think they have yet developed the ability to grow wings and fly to their workplaces so they may need transport!

I'm not in the UK - do petrol stations also close on Christmas day there? I'm assuming if public transport isn't essential then neither is buying petrol for cars to get from A to B?

Some of us want to live in a 24/7 culture, but we want others to fuel this for us.
I appreciate that you want to get to friends - National Express maybe able to help.

Have a lovely time.

Btw although I get my one guaranteed day off on Wednesday, if I were to need to go to hospital in London but not need an ambulance I'd probably go by Uber/taxi. I don't have a car. Not many people I know do. My local hospital doesn't even have parking 🤣. But we manage.

Shift workers are already unable to depend on public transport so those who work strange hours already know about alternative ways of getting to work.
We're not talking about back-office staff here.

It's true, we have a difficult disconnect in the UK. People increasingly want and sometimes need services at times outside traditional working times. But that hasn't created workers who will provide those services, and there also are structural factors that can make it difficult even for those who'd otherwise be willing.

When are the train staff supposed to be off with their families? Train travel is not essential to run on christmas day. Generally only essential stuff operates. Healthcare and the like. You do get some petrol stations running. Emergency services need petrol.

Ultimately I imagine it unfortunately comes down to economics - if it was financially worth it, any business or service would open. If there is no demand, they don't supply.

NHS pays for taxis for them. That was certainly the case for me.

Those saying public transport has never run on Christmas day are incorrect.

I am in my early 70's, when I was growing up cars were not common - no one on our street had one, though a neighbour had a motor bike and side car.

We used to get the bus, two buses actually, on christmas late afternoon to go to my aunties house for a family christmas party. This would have been all the way through the 60's.

I don't know about trains as we rarely got them, and definitely not at Christmas

If I can expand my point slightly.
We are now used to ordering something online and expecting it the next day.
We rely on Royal Mail and other to do this for us.
Royal Mail has not invested in staff or infrastructure - so implodes at Christmas as the number of parcels now ordered can not be managed by the number of staff.

Many do not order parcels to be delivered to work place so they are delivered to empty homes. Many do not have a safe place to hide a parcel etc.

Completely normal. I work every Christmas Eve until 8pm, head straight to the station, and get the last coach out of London to family.
We pass through 2 major airports, and there are always loads of people begging to get on because the trains aren't running. The coach is always fully booked way in advance.

Sorry you're discovering this now, but better today than stranded at an airport...

Most do (88% of the UK). And whatever the origins, nearly half of those who do, do not 0regard themselves as Christians.

And pubs and restaurants?

Many people on here are saying they do maintenance on the trains whilst they are not running so guessing the maintenance workers are ok to have to work over Christmas.

Trains didn't run on Christmas Day in the 70s. They started running down in the late afternoon of Christmas Eve - my employer would come round just after lunch and tell everyone to leave.

Jesus was a Jew.

Sorry what do you mean by shift workers aren't able to rely on public transport? It's 24-7 surely? And up to this thread I'd assumed 365 days. In London at the least?

Its one day....

I've already said my reasons why trains don't run.

Plan ahead. Get trains/taxis.

Those commenting about NHS staff that's a different topic all together.

This is to see friends/family.

This is the kind of content I come to MN for - a query about trains where the latest post is "Jesus was a Jew" (you're correct, ofc!).

Get buses/taxis

This is not Europe, it’s England, in England the trains are never run well.

I love mumsnet. Imagine seeing the OP then just seeing jesus was a jew....

I remember an old episode of On The Buses where they were talking about Christmas Day working.

Just trying to add some lightheartedness!

Have you ever used public transport @InWalksBarberalla ?

London public transport is streets ahead of the rest of the country and in other cities, it generally won't run between about 11 pm and 5 am so if you need it then, you're out of luck.

Plus it's likely to be very infrequent in the evenings and at weekends, perhaps hourly and quite unreliable so if you're unlucky, the next bus could be in nearly 2 hours.

My city has quite a good park and ride facility. But it only runs on weekdays between 7 am and 10 pm.

Plus in many rural areas and smaller towns, you won't even have that provision. Some places literally have a few buses a week.