Has public transport ever run on Christmas and Boxing day?

[Cheshire Scot]

Was there ever any freight running on boxing day? I have a vague memory of a milk train running from Cornwall, maybe in the 1970s.

The Limestone trains from The Park District (Tunstead) to Northwich (Lostock and/or Oakleigh) ran for many years on Boxing Day - I think just two trains (and return empties) on Boxing Day rather than the regular daily three trains, certainly into the 1990s.

 

[MasterSpenny]

Currently trains and buses don't run Christmas and Boxing day. Have there been periods in British history when buses or trains ran on these days.

Buses in London do run on Boxing Day today, I saw an 89 service this evening with people onboard.

 

[Trainfan2019]

Yes, there were certainly buses and trams out today in Sheffield till about seven, though I didn’t see the tram-train or Herdings route, like you suggested above.

Strange how the purple route misses out on boxing day and new year's day services.

Regarding freight trains on boxing Day throughout the UK though, what about newspaper trains? Would there have been newspapers on boxing day in years gone by and were they delivered by rail like on normal days back then?

 

[Harvester]

what about newspaper trains? Would there have been newspapers on boxing day in years gone by and were they delivered by rail like on normal days back then?

Definitely back in the sixties. Newspaper and Mail trains ran on Boxing Day evening.

 

[Gloster]

I can remember opening the box at 08.40 on Boxing Day morning in 1979 so that trains could start running out of Salisbury. As far as I can remember there was still a service roughly equivalent to a Sunday one.

I have also, after Boxing Day services ceased, opened a freezing cold box at 23.59 on Boxing Day evening (extra pay and a lieu day!) to allow the West of England papers to run. I was less than pleased to find the late turn signalman on Christmas Eve had just left the stove run down.

Other than passenger trains, I doubt if much ran except milk and perishables trains. There might have been a few parcels trains getting empty newspaper vans and milk tanks back to their starting points.

 

[alex397]

Not much running in Kent today, apart from TfL buses that enter Kent, Brighton & Hove 29 in Tunbridge Wells, Arriva Kent Thameside A/B/AZ, and I think that’s about it.

Stagecoach East Kent did run some limited services on key routes on Boxing Day until quite recently (I can’t remember if they ran last year or not). At least before Covid, I believe they were well used. I suspect declining demand for shops, as well as difficulty getting drivers, has helped end that.

 

[DunsBus]

Lothian have run services on Christmas Day for many years now but in the LRT (Lothian Region Transport) era and also in the early years of Lothian Buses, services on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Ne'erday* and January 2nd stuck to the city limits - the four days of the year when LRT/Lothian ran within its traditional boundaries.

* Ne'erday - Scots for New Year's Day.

 

[MadMac]

Lothian have run services on Christmas Day for many years now but in the LRT (Lothian Region Transport) era and also in the early years of Lothian Buses, services on Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Ne'erday* and January 2nd stuck to the city limits - the four days of the year when LRT/Lothian ran within its traditional boundaries.

* Ne'erday - Scots for New Year's Day.

Ne’erday was, up until relatively recently, “Derby Day” in Scottish football, so the demand was certainly there. Once public transport all but ceased to exist, I would continually make the point that people were (rightly) told not to drink and drive, yet were expected to attend football on a day when public transport was non-existent.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

West Yorkshire PTE have funded Boxing Day buses on selected routes for years.

IIRC there were limited Christmas Day buses in the Worth Valley area in the years leading up to Covid, volunteer-run using vintage buses.

 

[Tester]

Worth keeping in mind that no services on Christmas Day and Boxing Day is a peculiarity of the British Isles.

Virtually nowhere else in the world does the same.

I'm currently in Victoria, Australia, where not only does public transport operate on Christmas Day, but all services are free of charge!

 

[Falcon1200]

The question has to be asked, why did BR stop running trains on Christmas and Boxing Days? Presumably one factor was that the cost of providing the service was out of all proportion to its actual usage.

I'm currently in Victoria, Australia, where not only does public transport operate on Christmas Day, but all services are free of charge!

The weather in Australia at Christmas is I would think more likely to encourage travel than that here in the UK; Where I live Christmas Day was absolutely miserable with non-stop horizontal rain!

 

[DunsBus]

Ne’erday was, up until relatively recently, “Derby Day” in Scottish football, so the demand was certainly there. Once public transport all but ceased to exist, I would continually make the point that people were (rightly) told not to drink and drive, yet were expected to attend football on a day when public transport was non-existent.

I remember a caller to the Sports Hotline in the Daily Record making this same point some years ago about Boxing Day sporting fixtures, as with Ne'erday a day of the year when the trains are off as well as the buses.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Stagecoach 192 in Stockport was running yesterday, though it was probably way down on its multiple services per hour.

 

[Statto]

Merseyside, has buses on Christmas Day for the last 20 years, & has buses on Boxing Day too, Boxing Day bus services normally based on a Sunday service.

Merseyside this year, Boxing Day bus services have been greatly reduced though.


Merseyrail started operating Boxing Day services a couple of years ago, but with only Sandhills, Integrated Electronic Control Centre (IECC) open, no trains were running through to Chester, Ellesmere Port & Hunts Cross.

 

[Goldfish62]

Buses in London do run on Boxing Day today, I saw an 89 service this evening with people onboard.

It's a Sunday service on London's buses and Underground on Boxing Day. Has been for many years.

On Christmas Day there were bus services in Brighton, Southampton, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight and between Slough and Heathrow.

 

[3141]

I may have told this story before.

At Christmas 1962 I was at my parents' home in Southgate (north London). I'd been invited to visit a friend in Westcliff-on-Sea on Boxing Day. During December 26 snow began to fall - the start of the "big freeze" of 1962-63. My plan to drive needed to be revised. I rang Fenchurch Street station (which was possible in those days) and asked how the train service was holding up. It would have been the Sunday timetable. "When we get one in, we send it out again," was the answer. That didn't seem very promising, so I decided not to travel. But without the snow, using the Underground and BR would have been no problem.

 

[scarby]

The question has to be asked, why did BR stop running trains on Christmas and Boxing Days? Presumably one factor was that the cost of providing the service was out of all proportion to its actual usage.

I read some time ago that Christmas Day services at least stopped due to the economic woes of the early 1970s - remember 1973-74 saw the Three Day Week.

Around the same period a lot of secondary routes had already axed Sunday services, either all year round or for the winter timetable, so on those lines at least it would not have been seen as a big deal to have one more day without services, as they didn't run 7 days a week anyway.

This period was also one when services on a lot of routes had also become very sparse, so it was a really bleak period for the railways in general.

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

The weather in Australia at Christmas is I would think more likely to encourage travel than that here in the UK; Where I live Christmas Day was absolutely miserable with non-stop horizontal rain!

Ironically it was absolutely chucking it down rain in Melbourne Christmas day. In fact the whole south and east coasts had quite a bit of rain. Gold Coast and Brisbane got smashed.

 

[dastocks]

Currently trains and buses don't run Christmas and Boxing day. Have there been periods in British history when buses or trains ran on these days.

Brighton & Hove had a limited service running on Christmas day this year.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Perhaps a wider question is when did Christmas and New Year become a period of complete shutdown for so many businesses? And why has that become so prevalent in this country but not elsewhere? Especially as religious observation, certainly in its Christian form, is so low.

 

[Goldfish62]

Perhaps a wider question is when did Christmas and New Year become a period of complete shutdown for so many businesses? And why has that become so prevalent in this country but not elsewhere? Especially as religious observation, certainly in its Christian form, is so low.

The position in Germany and Austria makes more sense in respect of their strong Christian traditions. Most shops are closed on Sundays and public holidays, but public transport runs as normal including Christmas Day and Boxing Day because it's regarded as an essential public service.

 

[1D54]

I believe that the last revenue service to depart Leicester on Boxing Day was in 1979.

 

[Falcon1200]

Ironically it was absolutely chucking it down rain in Melbourne Christmas day.

I just assumed you were all 'chucking another shrimp on the barbie'!

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

Apologies, no electronic link, but Rail 999 (published today) has an article about Christmas Day rail services

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Speaking to an ex workmate who worked Xmas day booking offices circa 1960 - it was hopelessly quiet such that the takings were counted in shillings , not pounds.

We looked at a base service nationally about 2002 for Boxing day - e.g key routes in urban areas , 1 "inter city" route to major cities etc. (none of the really rural routes) - and of course something like a 12 hour operational day. Assumptions on TOC and NR staffing costs. Big engineering works (where known) taken into account of course.

Revenue modelling was not unreasonable and very subject to costs. So a proposal was put to the DfT which turned it down flat , with no question of discussion.

 

[JD2168]

Yes, there were certainly buses and trams out today in Sheffield till about seven, though I didn’t see the tram-train or Herdings route, like you suggested above.

No Tram Train due to no train section signalling workers in work on Boxing Day. Tram Train runs on New Year’s Day as Trains are running.

Purple does not run on Boxing Day along with section to Malin Bridge, Blue route on Boxing Day runs Halfway to Meadowhall via Cathedral to make a 10 minute service with Yellow’s between Cathedral & Meadowhall.

 

[py_megapixel]

Blue route on Boxing Day runs Halfway to Meadowhall via Cathedral to make a 10 minute service with Yellow’s between Cathedral & Meadowhall.

Does that involve a reversal? I had the idea that when trams ran through from the Halfway branch to the Meadowhall branch they bypassed the city centre entirely and ran straight through from the station out towards Meadowhall.

 

[RT4038]

Perhaps a wider question is when did Christmas and New Year become a period of complete shutdown for so many businesses? And why has that become so prevalent in this country but not elsewhere? Especially as religious observation, certainly in its Christian form, is so low.

Don't think it is anything to do with religious observation. Perhaps more to do with our unique culture, a concept that some like to scoff at but undoubtedly exists.

 

[JD2168]

Does that involve a reversal? I had the idea that when trams ran through from the Halfway branch to the Meadowhall branch they bypassed the city centre entirely and ran straight through from the station out towards Meadowhall.

It calls at Cathedral running in like it normally does but uses the cross over point just below Cathedral stop to change direction. The driver changes ends of where they are at. It is similar to when the Purple used to run through to Meadowhall.

 

[Busaholic]

I believe London Buses and Underground ran a limited Christmas Day service until about 1980.

I happen to have a 1972 LT buses Christmas booklet to hand -

Christmas day had a limited service on a limited number of routes (not all operating the full length of the weekday route, e.g. 12 only ran Oxford Circus - Norwood Junction, and it was only about hourly south of Dulwich) - broadly, buses didn't start until 0800 or 0900, and all services had finished by 1600. (From memory of seeing it on paper somewhere, the bus crew agreement for Christmas day was single spell / maximum 5 1/2 hour duties, and all buses back in depot by 1600.) This included some of the (then) Sunday only routes, e.g. 180A (New Cross - Abbey Wood)

Night buses did not run on the night of 24/25 or 25/26 December, as now.

The Underground ran most but not all lines, with some stations closed, starting from 'about one hour later than on a Sunday' and finishing at 'approximately as on Sunday' - with reduced frequencies until 1400 and even more reduced freqencies after that.

Boxing day had a reduced version of a Sunday service on both.

I have a faint memory of BR (Southern) suburban trains being a 'reduced Sunday service' on Boxing Day in the late 70s, whiich meant an hourly service rather than half hourly, my parents had not enquired about the detail, and we went for the 'missing' train on a trip to visit relatives in Ealing - 30 minutes wasn't quite long enough for it to be worth going back home and coming out again for the one that was running...

(edit to add - on reflection, the above might just have been a bank holiday on 27 or 28 December, not actual boxing day, if 25 and / or 26 December had been at the weekend.)

New Years Day was (from memory) Sunday service.

LT buses continued to run a reduced service on Boxing Day until fairly recently (as in within the last 10 years or so) when it became Sunday service.

In the late 80s, there were some odd allocations as a few garages / operators were closed for the day, which meant in a few cases, different operators ran routes for the day, e.g. Metrobus having a one day operation on route 208 (photo - not mine - on Flickr here) A few routes extended beyond normal termini (to cover part of another route that wasn't running) and there were a handful of one-off routes, like Ensign Bus 86B (photo - also not mine - on Flickr here) which covered parts of other regular routes in the area.

Trolleybuses also operated Christmas Day services, with a couple of interesting variations unique to the day. For instance, Isleworth depot, which normally only worked the 657, also worked some 667s, whose usual depot Fulwell in turn worked some 657s. The arrangement went further too, so some journeys on each route swapped terminals at one end, Shepherd's Bush for Hammersmith on the 657 and vice versa on the 667. The most interesting such service imo was that of Carshalton depot, the purveyor of only the 654 from Crystal Place to Sutton which was considered surplus to requirements on Christmas Day, was given a tiny allocation on London's longest trolleybus route the 630, but only between West Croydon and Mitcham. When the 654 was converted to bus operation in 1959, for one day only 25/12/59 RTs showing no route blinds traversed the same route. The 630 had been converted to bus 220 by Christmas 1960, but the latter never got further south than Mitcham.

Edit to above - the 220 did reach West Croydon, but a Carshalton allocation never worked on it.