Britain’s rail network ground to a halt on Monday for the traditional Boxing Day travel disruptions, which are likely to extend into the new year in many cases.
About 200 engineering projects were scheduled to start on the day after Christmas, with services on most of the country’s biggest train lines suspended and disruption on some lines lasting until early January.
On Sunday night, the shadow transport secretary, Andy McDonald, accused the Conservatives of hypocrisy for being critical of the last Labour government during the regular Boxing Day rail standstills, but failing to do anything to tackle the problem now they were in power.
Among the companies to have suspended services were Arriva Trains Wales, c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands, Grand Central, Great Northern, Great Western, London Midland, Northern Rail, South West, Thameslink, TransPennine Express and Virgin.
London’s Paddington station will be closed until 30 December while work on the new Crossrail line is carried out, and some services into London’s Liverpool Street station will be cancelled until 4 January.
People travelling into Charing Cross and London Bridge will see a reduced service until 28 December and the Heathrow Express, transporting passengers between the airport and central London, will not run until 29 December.
The line between Cardiff and Newport will be closed into the new year, and services into Manchester will be reduced until 28 December.
Road users were advised to plan their routes carefully before they set off, taking into consideration the higher volume of traffic that would come with the reduced rail services.
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “Deciding the level of service on specific days is a matter for train operators. But we know some passengers want to travel on Boxing Day, and that’s why we have worked with the rail industry to ensure there are limited services on some franchises on that day, and that the scope for Boxing Day services is considered when we are planning future franchises.”
The transport difficulties came as the southern fringe of Storm Conor continued to hit parts of northern Scotland, causing heavy snow and winds of more than 80mph, as it moved past the British Isles and up towards Norway.
The Met Office issued an amber “be prepared” weather warning for the Highlands and Northern Isles, which was due to expire at 6pm on Monday, with lesser yellow warnings issued for much of the rest of Scotland where winds were reaching 50mph to 60mph.
Helen Roberts, a Met Office meteorologist, said Monday would see “a north-south divide” in weather conditions, with strong winds and wintry showers in Scotland, but fine weather and “crisp winter sunshine” elsewhere.
While it was forecast to be a cold, frosty start to Tuesday morning – with temperatures in towns and cities around freezing, and temperatures in more rural areas a few degrees lower – the next few days were expected to be bright and dry. The “generally fine” weather was predicted to last until the end of the week.
