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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

380 replies

HeritageQuay · 22/12/2024 18:13

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?

OP posts:
tilypu · 29/12/2024 18:44

MorganKitten · 29/12/2024 18:25

I live by a train station, the trains never run xmas day and about 15 years ago stopped running on Boxing Day. Do you not want the staff to have a break?

I always find this an odd argument.

It's two days. Presumably they usually get two days off every week anyway.

And do the zoo keepers and farmers and nurses etc etc not also deserve a break?

It would be lovely if the whole country could come to a complete standstill for two days, but that's just not how life works.

tilypu · 29/12/2024 18:51

Honeycrisp · 29/12/2024 18:15

'Reduced' obviously has a very wide meaning, particularly when you've been talking about the need for public transport as an essential service. You'd need to be more specific about what that meant. The fewer routes we're talking about, the easier it would be to staff but the less likely it would be to constitute availability of an essential service.

But even then, no, the existence of Muslims who'd be willing to work at Christmas doesn't constitute an example of how public transport could run nationally. Especially not when you again left out the structural factors that might prevent an otherwise willing Muslim from working on the day. It takes more than saying these are people within the population who might want to work.

I know it's crazy, but I don't actually know what level of reduced service would work for every area of England, so it's pretty difficult for me to be specific about that.

And I deeply apologise for not being able to take into account every single factor to be able to know for sure whether it would be possible. But many things are possible if there's the desire to make it happen. Is there the desire? Based on this thread, I'm not sure. I'm glad I live in a country that is willing to provide a service though.

ThoughtfulSchooldays · 29/12/2024 20:47

notimagain · 29/12/2024 15:20

. But for those who are not so lucky, it's horrible to make them miss out on celebrations or social time to work in non essential roles.

This all has echos of some of the gripes that did the rounds about what was essential vs. non-essential during Covid.

If the group think is that it is really not fair to have Christmas working unless it’s in some sort of caring profession then let’s have a Christmas Day where for example electricity, water, internet and sewage disposal doesn’t run, no body travels for leisure purposes by any means and you also accept that for a day or two post Christmas there are shortages in e.g. pharmacies because the logistics chain is out of kilter.

I didn't say that only caring professions should be at work on Christmas day - I simply used being an HCA as my own experience of working then.

I was also replying to a post that asked how those who have had to work Christmas feel about this issue.

Obviously some things you mention, such as sewage, need to be operational at this time. (I would say that only the most essential, skeleton staff should be working though - not absolutely everyone with some kind of sewage-related job.) IMO "essential" doesn't include public transport.

I feel particularly strongly about this due to how difficult I found it working antisocial hours - I don't want any more people than absolutely necessary to have to do it.

MorganKitten · 08/01/2025 16:52

tilypu · 29/12/2024 18:44

I always find this an odd argument.

It's two days. Presumably they usually get two days off every week anyway.

And do the zoo keepers and farmers and nurses etc etc not also deserve a break?

It would be lovely if the whole country could come to a complete standstill for two days, but that's just not how life works.

Show quote history

So will you give up those two days? I only had two days off last month and needed them even if I’d had other holiday.. they are entitled to holiday during the year and Christmas like most other people - they also work bank holiday mondays

tilypu · 08/01/2025 17:33

MorganKitten · 08/01/2025 16:52

So will you give up those two days? I only had two days off last month and needed them even if I’d had other holiday.. they are entitled to holiday during the year and Christmas like most other people - they also work bank holiday mondays

Show quote history

Will I? Well, no, because there's no demand for my job on those days, so there would be no point.

Would I if I had to? Yes - and I have done in the past. The world doesn't stop because it's the 25th December. I can eat turkey anytime.

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