No trains on Christmas Day, and the Boxing Day bank holiday is Monday 28 December. Last year Putney lost its Waterloo trains for nine days. What we know so far.
The rail companies have not published their Christmas 2026 timetables yet. What is fixed: there are no National Rail trains on Christmas Day, Friday 25 December, and this year’s Boxing Day bank holiday falls on Monday 28 December, not Saturday the 26th. What happened last year is the thing to plan around: South Western Railway ran nothing between Waterloo and Clapham Junction for two days, and Putney and Wandsworth Town had no direct train to Waterloo for nine.
The quick answer
No trains on Friday 25 December. Christmas Eve services finish early; last year SWR’s last trains out of Waterloo on the Barnes line, through Putney, left between 8.22pm and 9.20pm. Details of the 2026 engineering work are not yet published; last year SWR announced its closures on 15 December, and National Rail says its last-trains guide follows in early December.
What is confirmed for 2026
National Rail’s Christmas and New Year 2026/27 page covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027 and says:
- Thursday 24 December: trains on many routes finish earlier than normal. Its guide to last trains from London will follow.
- Friday 25 December: no National Rail services.
- Monday 28 December: the substitute Boxing Day bank holiday. Which trains run is “to be confirmed”.
- Friday 1 January 2027: a number of London routes will run special trains after midnight on New Year’s Eve, with the guide “published here in early December”.
The bank holidays themselves are Friday 25 December, Monday 28 December and Friday 1 January, according to GOV.UK.
Last year, day by day on SWR
Wandsworth sits on two SWR routes out of Waterloo. Putney and Wandsworth Town are on the Windsor lines, which run through Barnes. Earlsfield is on the main line through Wimbledon. Clapham Junction is on both, and Queenstown Road (Battersea) is on the Windsor lines too. From SWR’s Christmas and New Year services page, which still carries the 2025/26 detail, and its 15 December 2025 announcement:
| Day (2025/26) | What ran |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 24 December | Early finish. Last trains from Waterloo via Barnes: Weybridge via Staines 8.22pm, the Richmond loop back to Waterloo 9pm, Windsor 9.03pm, Reading 9.20pm. Via Wimbledon: Shepperton 9.12pm, Hampton Court 9.36pm, Basingstoke stopping 9.42pm |
| Thursday 25 and Friday 26 December | No SWR trains at all |
| Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 December | All lines closed between Waterloo and Clapham Junction; every train started and finished at Clapham Junction |
| Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 December | Barnes-line trains (Putney, Wandsworth Town) terminated at Clapham Junction; reduced service via Wimbledon; Vauxhall and Queenstown Road closed |
| Wednesday 31 December | Barnes-line trains terminated at Clapham Junction; extra trains from Waterloo after midnight towards Basingstoke, Guildford and Twickenham |
| Thursday 1 to Saturday 3 January | Barnes-line trains terminated at Clapham Junction |
| Sunday 4 January | No trains between Clapham Junction and Barnes |
If a closure like that repeats, the practical detour from Putney or Wandsworth Town to central London is to change at Clapham Junction for Southern trains to Victoria, which is what SWR itself advised last year. Whether it repeats in 2026 is not known yet.
The Tube, buses and cycling
TfL has not published its 2026 plans. Last year its press release of 2 December 2025 said:
- Services ran on Christmas Eve but finished early.
- No service on most public transport on Christmas Day. Santander Cycles, rental e-scooters, Dial-a-Ride, taxis and private hire vehicles were the exceptions.
- On Boxing Day a Sunday service ran on the Underground, buses and trams. The Elizabeth line was shut.
- Apart from planned closures, services ran all night on New Year’s Eve.
For Wandsworth that covers the Northern line at Balham, Tooting Bec and Tooting Broadway, the District line at East Putney and Southfields, and the Overground at Clapham Junction.
Parking over Christmas
Wandsworth Council’s bank holiday parking page says you can park free in marked bays on a bank holiday, without a ticket or permit, except in the Battersea Park area controlled zone and the AFC Wimbledon event zone on match days. The Battersea Park and Burr Road car parks still charge. Yellow lines still apply, and CCTV enforcement of moving traffic offences runs on bank holidays.
This year that means Friday 25 December, Monday 28 December and Friday 1 January. Saturday 26 December is Boxing Day but not the bank holiday, and the council’s rule is written for bank holidays, so do not assume Saturday parking is free. Full tariffs are on our parking in Wandsworth page.
Still to be confirmed
- SWR’s Christmas 2026 engineering work and timetables: last year announced 15 December.
- National Rail’s last trains guide and New Year’s Eve extra trains: “early December”.
- TfL’s Christmas 2026 service plan: last year published 2 December.
- Southern’s timetable for Clapham Junction, Balham and Wandsworth Common.
For the season around it, see Wandsworth Christmas bin collections, school term dates and Wandsworth roadworks and travel.
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