No Elizabeth line trains from Brentwood or Shenfield on 25 or 26 December 2026. Last Christmas Liverpool Street shut for eight days. What is known so far.
There will be no Elizabeth line trains on Christmas Day or on Saturday 26 December, so nothing from Brentwood or Shenfield on either day. Greater Anglia runs nothing on Christmas Day. Everything else over the holiday, including Christmas Eve last trains, is still to be published.
The bigger unknown is London Liverpool Street. Last Christmas it closed for eight days. No such closure has been announced for 2026 yet.
The quick answer
- Friday 25 and Saturday 26 December: no Elizabeth line trains. No Greater Anglia trains on Christmas Day.
- The Boxing Day bank holiday is Monday 28 December. Timetables for 27 December to 4 January are not out yet.
- Before Christmas: no trains between Shenfield and Liverpool Street on 28 and 29 November, the weekend of the Ingatestone Festive Fair.
What National Rail has confirmed for 2026
National Rail’s Christmas guide covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027 (National Rail, Christmas and New Year 2026/27). It says:
- Thursday 24 December: trains on many routes finish earlier than normal. The list of last trains from London is due “late November / early December”.
- Friday 25 December: no National Rail services.
- Saturday 26 December: most operators run nothing; a very limited service from a small number of operators, still to be confirmed.
- Monday 28 December: the substitute Boxing Day bank holiday. Services to be confirmed.
- Thursday 31 December: some routes finish early. Some London routes will run late after midnight into New Year’s Day, with details in early December.
The Elizabeth line’s own entry already confirms no trains on 25 or 26 December (National Rail, Elizabeth line). Greater Anglia’s confirms no trains on Christmas Day, with every other day to follow (National Rail, Greater Anglia). National Rail says operator details will be added from the start of October.
Last Christmas, for comparison
In 2025 Network Rail closed London Liverpool Street from Thursday 25 December to Thursday 1 January to carry on replacing the station’s roof panels, and reopened it on Friday 2 January (Network Rail, 15 December 2025).
Greater Anglia’s advice at the time was (Greater Anglia, 19 December 2025):
- most services to and from London started or ended at Stratford, with the Elizabeth line and Underground for the rest of the journey;
- tickets were accepted on the Elizabeth line and Central line between Stratford and Liverpool Street;
- on Christmas Eve most services finished by 10pm;
- a bank holiday timetable ran on New Year’s Day, and normal services returned on Monday 5 January.
Nothing like it is booked for 2026 yet: National Rail’s engineering works list, checked on 25 September, has no closure on the Shenfield line between 24 December and 4 January.
Works already booked before Christmas
These are on National Rail’s list now, and they hit the weekends of the borough’s Christmas events.
| Dates | What happens |
|---|---|
| Sun 22 Nov | Buses replace Greater Anglia trains between Colchester and Ingatestone. Notice |
| Sat 28 and Sun 29 Nov | No Elizabeth line trains between Shenfield and Liverpool Street; buses run Shenfield to Newbury Park for the Central line. No Greater Anglia trains between Shenfield and Liverpool Street; buses run from Ingatestone to Newbury Park. Notice |
National Rail also lists works starting on 11, 18 and 25 October that involve Shenfield or Ingatestone. Our Brentwood roadworks and travel page follows those week by week.
Lighting Up Brentwood on Saturday 21 November is not affected by any booked rail work. The Ingatestone Festive Fair on Sunday 29 November is, if you are coming from London: see our Christmas lights switch-on page for the events.
Driving and parking instead
Brentwood’s town centre car parks are free all day on Sundays, which covers Sunday 27 December and Sunday 3 January. King George’s Playing Fields charges seven days a week. Details on our parking in Brentwood page. We found no Christmas parking offer for 2026 on the council’s website or news feed.
Still to be confirmed
- Christmas Eve last trains from Liverpool Street to Brentwood and Shenfield (expected late November or early December).
- Whether Liverpool Street closes again, and the timetables for 27 December to 4 January (National Rail says operator details go up from October).
For normal fares and journey times, see Brentwood train times to London.
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