Wednesday, 25 December 2024

Why Does London Have No Transport Services on Christmas Day?

Map of bus services in London and South East England during Christmas Day 2024.
Source: BusTimes.org

I’d like to start by wishing my readers and followers a Merry Christmas and sending my best wishes for the winter season.

In this article, I will review the Mayor's Question Time from previous years to explore why there are no transport services in London on Christmas Day.

While certain coach services and various bus services are running across the UK on Christmas Day, London does not have public transport available.

Live map of bus services in the UK on Christmas Day, 25 December 2024. This shows that there are no transport services in London on that day. bustimes.org/map

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— CLondoner92 (@clondoner92.bsky.social) December 25, 2024 at 1:10 PM
The purpose of this article is to show the reason why there are no transport services in London during Christmas Day.

Transport in London over Christmas
Reference: 2001/0850
Answer by Mayor Ken Livingstone
Date: Monday 24 December 2001

In fact the overall demand for public transport in London decreases over Christmas. Many businesses reduce their commercial activity and many people take a fortnight's holiday. Additional shopping and leisure trips are more than matched by the reduced business demand and adequately catered for by the provision of a Saturday service on the "normal" working days (24, 27,28 and 31 December).
Special provision is made for New Year's Eve as we discussed at the last Question Time. Special provision is also made for Boxing Day and this year, for example, London Buses is operating more routes as the number of people travelling on this day is rising.
The DLR is running special services over Christmas and New Year, including later services than normal on New Year's Eve in common with other transport operators.
TfL believe there will be adequate front line and operational support staff available for the Christmas period, appropriate to the expected passenger levels and known events.

Christmas Transport Services (written)
Reference: 2003/0520
Answer by Mayor Ken Livingstone
Date: Monday 27 January 2003

TfL get extremely few public requests to operate any bus services or any other public transport on Christmas Day. Prior to 2002, a very limited number of commercial services operated on Christmas Day, largely for tourists. When operators tried extending these services to provide local links away from central London, usage was very small. Although I agree that a comprehensive, well publicised network of services would attract some additional usage, the evidence suggests that the overall demand on this day would be small. This has to be balanced against the cost of provision. Even providing a very limited network of services on Christmas Day would be extremely costly. When considering the benefits that would be gained, this is unlikely to be a cost-effective use of resources. Evidence from past commercial operations suggests that staffing would be a significant issue across London. Whilst it is recognised that for many Christmas Day is not a religious holiday, it is however regarded far more widely as a day of family celebration. For that reason it is thought that relatively few staff employed by the operating companies would wish to work on this day. A consultation exercise was carried out by the operators a few years ago which confirmed this view. Hence, TfL does not provide a Christmas day network of bus services.On Boxing Day the demand for bus services is growing and TfL are concentrating their efforts on developing the network. 350 services ran on Boxing Day in 2002 - double the amount ten years ago. This included a number of areas served for the first time (e.g.: Ashford Hospital, Chigwell Row). TfL believe there are far greater benefits to be gained by enhancing still further the number of routes running on this day.

Public Transport over Christmas
Reference: 2007/2944
Answer by Mayor Ken Livingstone
Date: Monday 17 December 2007

I have about eight pages which I am happy to circulate to anybody who wants them. Let me skip down to the bare minimum. TfL is planning to run a comprehensive public transport service during the Christmas and New Year period. A booklet has been produced - there is so much of it - giving full details and it is widely available to the public, including at all London Underground stations. The information is also contained on TfL's website. This gives day-by-day breakdown of all transport services in London from Monday, 24 December to Tuesday, 1 January. On Christmas Day there will be generally no services. On other days services will generally operate on a weekday or Saturday service. On New Year's Eve tube services will run all night. There will be free travel on New Year's Eve from 11.45 pm until 4.30 am the following morning. However, as this is the quietest time of the year it gives TfL and Network Rail the opportunity to undertake major maintenance or upgrading works. These include: Victoria Line trains will not stop at Victoria Station between 22 December and 6 January to enable preparatory work for the station upgrade. District and Circle lines will operate as normal. In addition to the above closure, the entire Victoria Line is closed on Boxing Day for line upgrade work. Replacement bus services will operate as for all other line upgrade closures on the Victoria Line this year. The Metropolitan Line is closed for line upgrade works including track replacement and signalling upgrades and replacement bus services will operate. On 26 December, Boxing Day the entire line is closed and on 27 and 28 December the line between Wembley Park and Northwood and Uxbridge. The Liverpool Street mainline station closure is a Network Rail closure; however one of the projects being carried out is bridge work for the East London Line Extension.

Bus Services on Christmas Day
Reference: 2008/2462
Answer by Mayor Boris Johnson
Date: Monday 17 November 2008

TfL has no plans to run a bus service on Christmas Day.
Demand for buses on Christmas Day would be low and distributed very thinly across London, so it is unlikely that the cost of providing a limited service would be justified. TfL will shortly be publishing a guide to public transport services available.

Bus service on Christmas Day
Reference: 2017/0016
Answer by Mayor Sadiq Khan
Date: Tuesday 7 February 2017

There are no current plans for a Christmas day service this year. There would have to be sufficient demand to make the service economic to run, but I have asked Transport for London (TfL) to review that position and discuss it with the TfL Board. The level of sponsorship that would be needed to offer a useful network of services is considerable.

As the information is quite old and I can't find the most up-to-date details, you can submit a question to the Mayor of London by contacting a London Assembly Member. For more information, you can visit the Greater London Authority website.

While there are no Christmas Day transport services in London, there is no road user charging in place on that day.

From TfL website:

The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year, except Christmas Day (25 December). The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including weekends and all public and bank holidays.

TfL Press release:

The central London Congestion Charge will not operate from Wednesday 25 December to Wednesday 1 January, with operations resuming from Thursday 2 January 2025. The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) will operate as usual across the festive period, with the exception of Christmas Day, while the Low Emission Zone (LEZ), which covers most of Greater London, will continue to operate as usual including Monday 25 December.

I believe that TfL should provide Christmas Day services to reduce car usage, ease congestion, and minimise pollution. Many other cities around the world already offer public transport on Christmas Day, recognising its importance for residents, tourists, and key workers. By providing services on this day, TfL would promote sustainable travel, reduce the environmental impact of private car use, and ensure accessibility for those who rely on public transport during the holiday period.

Let's take a look at other areas that currently provide transport services on Christmas Day.

Reminder:We have regular weekday service on Tuesday, December 24.And Sunday service Wednesday, December 25.

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— BART (@bart.gov) December 24, 2024 at 6:22 PM
Just to point out, prior to 1980, London Transport did provide limited bus and Underground services on Christmas Day.

#London #Transport (LT) News (No. 162 - December 14 1979) clipping: On Christmas Day, passengers travelled free on London's buses and Underground for the final time. Buses ran from 9am to 4pm, and the Underground from 9:30am to 3pm, following the success of last year (1978).

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— CLondoner92 (@clondoner92.bsky.social) December 26, 2024 at 3:01 PM

#London #Transport (LT) News (No. 185 - December 19 1980) clipping: On Christmas Day, LT buses and Underground trains did not operate, unlike the previous year (1979), when passengers had travelled for free on both services.

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— CLondoner92 (@clondoner92.bsky.social) December 26, 2024 at 3:14 PM
I would like to extend an invite for you to follow me on X (formerly Twitter) for transport-related updates. You can find me by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my X page here. I am also present on BlueSky and Mastodon. I look forward to connecting with you on these platforms. Thank you for your support.
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