No trains, Tube or TfL buses on Christmas Day. Boxing Day's bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. What ran from Hornsey last year and when 2026 plans land.

Nothing runs from Crouch End on Christmas Day: no trains from Hornsey, no Tube and no TfL buses. That much is already confirmed for Friday 25 December 2026. The rest of the Christmas timetable is not out yet. National Rail says operator details start appearing “from the beginning of October”, so this page gives last year’s pattern and the dates to watch.

The quick answer

  • Christmas Day, Friday 25 December: no trains, Tube or TfL buses. Great Northern has confirmed “no trains will operate on Christmas Day”.
  • The Boxing Day bank holiday is Monday 28 December this year. Saturday 26 December will have “a very limited train service” nationally, with most operators running nothing.
  • Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve finish early. Last year Great Northern trains stopped by about 9pm on Christmas Eve.

What is confirmed for 2026

National Rail’s Christmas and New Year 2026/27 summary covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027. So far it says:

  • Thursday 24 December: trains on many routes finish earlier than normal. A guide to last trains out of London follows “late November / early December”.
  • Friday 25 December: no National Rail services.
  • Saturday 26 December: most operators run no service, with a very limited service from a few, still to be named.
  • Monday 28 December: the substitute Boxing Day bank holiday. What runs is to be confirmed.
  • Thursday 31 December: early finishes on some routes, then special late-night trains on some London routes into New Year’s Day, with a guide due “in early December”.

Great Northern, which runs every train from Hornsey, Harringay and Alexandra Palace, has filled in one line on its National Rail Christmas page so far: no trains on Christmas Day. Every other day from 24 December to 4 January reads “information will be published when available”.

What ran last Christmas from Hornsey

Great Northern’s Christmas page for 2025/26, archived on 28 November 2025, set out this. These are last year’s arrangements, not this year’s.

  • Christmas Eve: an amended and reduced service, with trains on all routes finishing “by around 21:00, but on some routes this may be much earlier”.
  • Christmas Day and Boxing Day: no Great Northern services at all.
  • Sunday 28 December: before 8.30am, buses replaced trains between Finsbury Park and New Barnet, Welwyn Garden City, Gordon Hill and Hertford North, calling at every station except Harringay and Hornsey. Passengers from those two used paper rail tickets on London buses at no extra cost.
  • Late nights from 28 December to 1 January: after 11.30pm, buses replaced trains between Finsbury Park and Welwyn Garden City.

Hornsey trains run down the Northern City Line to Moorgate, as our train times page explains. Last year’s engineering was on the lines further out, which is typical: the overnight and early-morning closures reach Hornsey passengers only if they are going north.

Tube, Overground and buses

Transport for London publishes its Christmas plans in December. Its 2025 page, archived on Christmas Day 2025, said the only transport running on Christmas Day would be taxis and private hire, Santander Cycles, e-scooter hire in some boroughs, coaches, Dial-a-Ride for members, and some bus routes run by other operators.

On Boxing Day 2025 TfL’s day page said:

  • Buses ran a Sunday service on all routes, day and night.
  • The Tube ran a reduced Sunday service from 7am. The Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines, the three that serve Archway, Highgate, Finsbury Park and Turnpike Lane, finished at their normal Monday to Thursday time. There was no Night Tube.
  • The Suffragette line, through Crouch Hill and Harringay Green Lanes, had no service.

On New Year’s Eve 2025 TfL ran the Tube all night at normal fares, closed central London bridges from 2pm for the fireworks, and said nobody without a fireworks ticket should go. Our New Year’s Eve page has what is on locally.

The Arriva bus strikes that hit Haringey routes this summer are over: drivers accepted a deal and the October strike dates were dropped, as our report on the settlement explains.

Driving and parking

  • Parking in Haringey is free on bank holidays in all on-street pay by phone bays, open council car parks and most controlled parking zones, according to the council’s bank holiday parking page. That covers 25 December, 28 December and 1 January. Double yellows, disabled bays and loading bays are enforced as normal, and so are bus lanes and banned turns.
  • Crouch End’s own zones are explained on our parking page, and roadworks that could still be in place at Christmas, including the Nelson Road closure, are on our roadworks page.
  • Last year TfL did not charge the Congestion Charge from Christmas Day to New Year’s Day inclusive, and did not charge ULEZ on Christmas Day only.

What is still to be confirmed

  • Great Northern’s full 2026 Christmas timetable, including any engineering work: from October on National Rail.
  • Last trains on Christmas Eve and the New Year’s Eve late trains: National Rail says late November to early December.
  • TfL’s Tube, Overground and bus plans for 24 December to 4 January: in December, as last year.

Schools break up on Friday 18 December; the term dates page has the exceptions, and the Christmas bin collections page covers the rounds.