Passengers are being warned to avoid Euston for 10 days over Christmas as it is expected to be “extremely busy” due to engineering work and other station closures.
Paddington station will be shut for five days during the festive period, with Great Western Railway diverting its long-distance trains from Wales, Devon and Cornwall into Euston between December 27-29.
Euston is also expected to be busier due to there being no Thameslink or East Midlands Railway trains at St Pancras for an eight-day period.
There will be no Thameslink trains between St Pancras and Harpenden, and no East Midlands Railway trains between St Pancras and Bedford, between Saturday December 21 and Sunday December 29 due to work on the Midland Main Line.
Christian Irwin, Network Rail’s northwest & central capital delivery director, said: “London Euston station is expected to be extremely busy due to planned work on other routes, so we’re asking passengers to consider travelling before 24 December or after 2 January for a more comfortable journey.”
Euston often features in passenger complaints about overcrowding and is notorious for stampedes when late platform announcements result in a race to secure a train seat.
Last year the rail watchdog, the Office of Rail and Road, ordered Network Rail, which owns the station, to make improvements to “prevent risks to passengers and others during instances of surges and overcrowding”.
This follows three incidents in the summer of 2023 that “showed crowding reaching unacceptable levels and a lack of crowd control in place” – with the “potential for more serious consequences”.
The plea to passengers to avoid Euston comes as Transport for London said it would cut London Overground services by half when Liverpool Street station is closed between Christmas Day and January 2.
It will use London Fields station as its central London terminus for the Overground lines from Chingford, Cheshunt and Enfield Town – meaning passengers wanting to travel further into London will have to switch to bus or bike or walk.
The Chingford service will be cut from four trains an hour to two, while the Enfield and Cheshunt service will be reduced from two trains an hour to one.
TfL hopes that the majority of passengers will switch onto the Victoria line at Walthamstow Central or Seven Sisters.
Mainline services in and out of Euston will be affected by Network Rail work on the West Coast Main Line between December 23 and January 4.
This will include re-signalling at Crewe between Christmas Day and 25 December and Thursday January 2.
No trains will pass through Crewe station until Friday December 27. From Saturday 28 there will be various restrictions on rail traffic to both the north and the south of Crewe station, whilst signalling works continue.
Overnight on New Year’s Eve, work near Birmingham New Street station will mean a later start to services on New Year’s Day, with longer journey times and rail replacement buses.
Track drainage improvements near Milton Keynes will mean buses replace all trains from Milton Keynes to both Northampton and Rugby on New Year’s Day.
Track upgrades between Watford and Milton Keynes will affect some services between Watford and Milton Keynes between Wednesday 1 to Saturday 4 January.
