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?

Some people don't celebrate Christmas {Religious reasons} any more than we celebrate Eid or Thanksgiving or other Holidays..it's a real pain that public transport isn't running over Christmas for people who cannot drive for whatever reason.

I bet they just don't want to be paying employees triple time.

@HeritageQuay I totally agree with you- there are staff who would willingly work on Christmas Day /Boxing Day for double triple pay.

Son obviously!

It's normally only £10 off your bill, and the codes all disappear in seconds. The last few areas I've worked uber doesn't run! So never yet benefitted despite working 8/10 xmases since I graduated

You're right. We personally don't but the majority (ATM) of British people do. HTH.

Tons of people will be working on Christmas Day, I have done in the past. HTH.

Two years ago we drove from London to Canterbury on Xmas Day. The roads then WERE deserted. Driving back on Boxing Day was also much quieter than usual.

The Muslim people that I work with are not celebrating Christmas.

The jehovahs witness that I work with is not celebrating Christmas.

It’s always the case. It’s when they do the commissioning of new infrastructure/essential maintenance that means the lines have to shut.

Info on extended train route closures, for maintenance

Train service closures in East of England over Christmas - BBC News

being from a country where the trains are definitely running (just the same as every other Sunday)? Yes, I was incredibly surprised when I learnt that the trains don’t run over Christmas in the UK.

but the roads were pretty much empty last Christmas (but we weren’t in London)…

I disagree, I think it would be better to do it the first week of Jan and tell everyone to take the week off or WFH. Wouldn't help those with hospital appointments that week of course.

People need to get to places before and after (and during) Christmas, but where I live there are no trains from today until 5th Jan. That is a long time. And they'll do all the "essential work" and then the trains will still get stuck due to infrastructure problems.

As for it not being fair on staff - not everyone has family to spend Christmas with and they might be quite happy to work, especially if double time were on offer.

I think its dreadful, is no different to any other BH and many people are working.

The people working include rail maintenance workers who are working on jobs that need to be done on xmas day because they need longer than a day to complete

People I know that don’t celebrate Christmas aren’t - BUT they are using the break to catch up with families etc
In our work place we are open over Christmas, we had requests for leave from lots of people who won’t be celebrating Christmas but still wanted to use the time with family.

The vast majority of people in the UK do not work Christmas Day.

Lots of people have to work on Xmas day.

I worked on Xmas day last year.

Im getting something to eat in a bar. I just asked my local barman if he's doing anything nice on Christmas day.

He told me that he will be working on Christmas day

A lot of bars and restaurants are open on Christmas day. They have people working there

Hospitals are open on Christmas day.

Most of the utility customer service lines will be open on Christmas day.

I used to work for a customer service phone line. We worked on Christmas day.

Your message made me laugh as there have never run at Christmas or Boxing Day. How you didn't know that amazes me.I have laughed out loud at this to be honest.

As I said up thread the majority of British people (ATM) do celebrate Christmas (even if not religious). It's traditionally time spent with family, who, in many cases, live long distances away. I wouldn't expect Muslim or Sikh families to celebrate a Christian celebration. Jewish people will be celebrating Chanukah which begins on the evening of Xmas Day. HTH.

I've never know trains and buses to run over Christmas........just imagine the hike I'm fairs at triple time for operators.

We have to apply really early for Christmas transport (NHS trust), fortunately tube is running on boxing day.

But how can you say that the MAJORITY of British people celebrate Christmas.

At the last census, less than half of he people in the UK , identified as Christian

No they haven’t. Every policy actually enacted drives people in the opposite direction.

There have never been any trains on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. There are tubes, buses and coaches on Boxing Day, but the only public transport on Christmas Day (apart from planes) is coaches to and from airports (e.g. the 703 from Slough to/from Heathrow).

Many non-Christians celebrate Christmas, as the poster you were replying to acknowledged.

Absolutely true.

Vets, Farmers, hospitals, care homes, anywhere where there are dependent people or animals, these still need attending to.