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 always find it interesting that we hear a lot from people who want to benefit from the labour of others on Christmas Day, but not so much from employees who want to be able to work that day.

Why have you assumed I'm a Christian, rather than one of the large group of irreligious secularists in the UK who celebrates Christmas as a cultural festival?

We have to rely on Uber. Extortion priced but no other way. We stay home now because it is beyond our price.

Or you could be a young person who wants to come home from London to Norfolk for Christmas and find that there are no trains (and Liverpool St Station closed) from Christmas Day until Jan 2nd. Driving home for Christmas.....

Because of the way you're writing.

I can assume that your parents were christian

I've worked Christmas new year and weekends alot is it just train drivers who want to be off Perhaps they don't. feel they need the overtime like other people

Guess again.

Incidentally, here's some data on non-Christian celebration of Christmas in the UK.

61% of those celebrating say they do so in a completely secular way.

https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/33538-how-britons-celebrate-christmas-and-easter

Always been the case for the last 30 years that Ie had to travel by train be gakde you aren't dependent on public transport. Also can't believe you didn't look and book before! When I have had NHS jobs the trusts have sometimes laid on Taxis or more likely expected you to find a ride share.

I’m not Christian but I celebrate Christmas. All of my British friends and family celebrate Christmas. None would describe themselves as Christian, most are staunchly atheist and don’t have any religion.

Obviously there can be a religious aspect to Christmas but there are also lots of secular traditions, mostly rooted in paganism, which can be followed without any mention of Jesus, without stepping into a church or acknowledging the bible. There is nothing religious about putting up a Christmas tree, getting together with family, eating turkey, pulling crackers and exchanging gifts. Santa and reindeer and the Elf On The Shelf aren’t anything to do with being Christian, neither are Christmas jumpers or matching Christmas pyjamas but when my friends and family post on social media about Christmas these are the things they’ll focus on. Nobody close to me cares about Jesus, and besides it’s widely acknowledged that Jesus’s birthday was definitely not 25th December and it’s just a made up date to fit with a pagan tradition.

Can you get a coach or bus? I used to get national express from my family city to my then bf now dh city?

Yes, it's normal in the UK but also incredibly annoying. Apparently only people who drive can visit family on Xmas, and anyone else who relies on public transport to get to an essential job is shit out of luck too.

Public transport manages to run a bank holiday timetable on other Bank Hols, including Easter. They should run on Xmas/ Boxing Day.

There definitely isn’t congestion charge! And parking on Christmas Day should be easier - if you let me know a rough area of London I can help with where you could potentially park??
and national express runs to quite a few locations but then also it depends where your friend lives - you may still need a cab from the coach stop

Its a fairly secular holiday and has been for decades, if not over a hundred years.

Many of us dont see it as Jesus' birthday given he wasnt born at this time of year and given it was highjacked for Christianity but thats another a thread.

Would you be willing to pay quite a bit more? We already have a shortage of both bus and train drivers, so I think realistically it would have to be made worth their while.

There are all sorts of people who we are quite happy to see working on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, I don't see why train and bus drivers should be any different.

Well, of the 1000 or so people who are in the habit of answering Yougov surveys and this one in particular, maybe.

Another one who thinks there should be a fee trains running. Services need to run on Christmas Day. Plenty of us work at Christmas in much less well paid jobs.

Could you travel down the day before and stay in a hotel/air bnb?

Just drive!

I'm 67 and I used to rely exclusively on public transport in the 1970s and 1980s.

I can't remember trains and buses running on Christmas Day throughout all that time. I'm sure they did at one time but not - I suspect - for about 50 years.

(When I came to the UK as a student in the 1970s I was astonished to learn that some pubs opened on Christmas Day!)

What days would you prefer there to be no service so engineering works can happen, though? It's not ideal but it's the "least worst" option, as they say

I'm mostly surprised that you're only checking today!

I wouldn't have been shocked if trains were running on Boxing Day but would not expect them to be running on Christmas Day.

Theres engineering works all bloody year for gods sake, dont be disingenuous.

I just hope that those who advocate for trasnport workers having that really important day with their families dont need medical care, dont go to the pub or a hotel/restaurant/dont watch telly or listen to the radio, dont put their heating on or use electric

All of that requires workers who wont spend the day or part of it with their families.

They do essential work you are correct. My sons friend is one of those who will be working on the lines.

Sure, but the existence of other people who work on Christmas Day doesn't create a workforce who are willing to do the same on public transport. It hasn't even created enough bus and train drivers to do the job on the other 364 days a year.

We all know some people work on Christmas Day, notwithstanding that several of the industries you list have staffing shortages. It doesn't follow from this that it would be doable in any other sector one cares to consider.