Chiltern's last Christmas Eve trains have left Marylebone at about 8pm, with none on Christmas or Boxing Day. What 2025 looked like and what is due.
The 2026 Christmas timetables for Leamington and Warwick have not been published yet. What the operators did last year, on their own pages, is a strong guide: trains finish around 8pm on Christmas Eve, nothing calls at Leamington on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and the days after Christmas bring engineering work.
The quick answer
- Christmas Eve 2025: the last Chiltern train from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street left at 20.02. It was 20.02 in 2024 too.
- No Chiltern or West Midlands Railway trains ran on Christmas Day or Boxing Day 2025. Chiltern’s Boxing Day service ran only between Marylebone and Oxford Parkway.
- National Rail’s engineering list does not yet reach Christmas. Its notices currently stop at 19 December 2026, so this year’s works are still to come.
What happened last Christmas, day by day
This is from Chiltern Railways’ own day pages for 2025/26, which are still online. These are last year’s arrangements, not this year’s.
| Day | What ran |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 24 December | Early finish on all routes. Last northbound Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street 20.02; last southbound Birmingham Moor Street to Marylebone 20.17 |
| Thursday 25 December | No trains |
| Friday 26 December | Marylebone to Oxford Parkway only, about 8am to 9pm. Nothing north of Bicester |
| Saturday 27 December to Sunday 4 January | Extra and longer Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street trains because Euston to Birmingham New Street was shut. Buses all day between Leamington, Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon. Hatton and Lapworth served by bus from Warwick Parkway |
| Wednesday 31 December | Late extras from Marylebone after midnight to Oxford and Banbury; the 23.07 Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street was cancelled |
| Monday 5 January | Normal timetable |
The detail comes from Chiltern’s pages for Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, 27 December and New Year’s Eve.
The 27 December to 4 January arrangement is the one that catches people out. Trains to Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon were replaced by buses from Leamington all day, for nine days, while Chiltern ran extra and longer trains between London and Birmingham. Chiltern gave the length of those trains as the reason Hatton and Lapworth went to buses; it gave no separate reason for the Stratford line.
Christmas 2024 looked much the same
Chiltern’s festive timetable announcement for 2024, published on 18 December 2024, had the same Christmas Eve last train north, the 20.02 from Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street, and the last train south from Birmingham Snow Hill at 20.11. There was no service on Christmas Day, and Boxing Day again ran only between Marylebone and Oxford Parkway.
So two years running, anyone coming home to Leamington from London on Christmas Eve has needed to be on a train by about 8pm.
West Midlands Railway
West Midlands Railway runs the local trains from Leamington to Coventry and Nuneaton. Its festive travel page for 2025 said there were no services on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, amended timetables between Christmas and New Year, and a normal service from Friday 2 January. It also offered 50% off Off-Peak Day Returns for travel between 27 December and 5 January.
What is booked so far for 2026
We read every notice in National Rail’s planned engineering works list on 25 September 2026. The latest notice starts on 19 December. Nothing is listed yet for the Leamington lines between 24 December and 2 January. Nearby works that are already booked:
- Late-night buses between Bicester North and Oxford, Tuesday 15 to Friday 18 December, from about 23.45, on the Oxford branch. London to Leamington trains are not affected.
- Late-night work affecting Birmingham New Street to Coventry trains on several dates in November and December, including 8 December and 15 December.
Chiltern says its finalised timetables go into journey planners nine weeks before the date of travel. For Christmas Eve 2026 that is around 22 October, and for the week after Christmas it is late October.
Parking over Christmas
Warwick District Council’s own Christmas parking offers so far:
- Sunday 15 November: free off-street parking in council and Royal Priors car parks for the Leamington lights switch-on, according to BID Leamington’s events diary
- Saturday 5 December, Small Business Saturday: free off-street parking in the same car parks, from the same diary
Last year the council also opened more than 80 free bays at Riverside House on Milverton Hill, from 8am to 7pm every day from 1 to 28 December except Christmas Day and Boxing Day, while demolition work went on at Covent Garden. It announced that on 26 November 2025. On Small Business Saturday 2025 the free parking covered every council car park in Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth, though on-street parking, which the county council runs, was still charged.
For car park prices the rest of the year, see our parking in Leamington page.
Still to be confirmed
- Christmas Eve 2026 last trains from Chiltern, expected in late October
- Whether the Leamington to Stratford buses return after Christmas this year
- West Midlands Railway’s and CrossCountry’s festive plans
- Bus operators’ Christmas timetables, which we have not yet found published
- Any free parking beyond the two BID Leamington dates
We will update this page as each is published.
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