Last Christmas no trains ran between Milton Keynes and Northampton or Rugby for almost two weeks. What is booked for December, and when this year's plan lands.
Network Rail has not yet said what it will close on the West Coast Main Line over Christmas 2026. Last year it announced its plan on 7 October, and that plan shut the line north of Milton Keynes: no trains between Milton Keynes and Northampton or Rugby from 24 December to 5 January. This page sets out what is already booked for November and December, what happened the last two Christmases, and what changes on the roads and in the car parks.
The quick answer
- No Christmas or New Year engineering works through Milton Keynes are listed yet. National Rail’s list of planned works has nothing on this line between 20 December and 3 January as of 25 September.
- Last Christmas, buses replaced all trains between Milton Keynes and Northampton or Rugby for almost two weeks while Network Rail rebuilt Hanslope Junction.
- Parking in central Milton Keynes is free on Christmas Day only. Charges apply every other day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day included.
What is already booked before Christmas
These are the works on National Rail’s planned engineering list that touch Milton Keynes Central between now and the middle of December. Each one links to the notice.
| Date | What changes | Operators |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday 1 November | Buses replace trains between Milton Keynes Central or Rugby and Northampton. London Northwestern's Euston to Northampton trains run to Milton Keynes only; Avanti trains divert away from Northampton. | Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern |
| Sunday 22 November | Before 7.45am, buses replace trains between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central or Northampton. | London Northwestern |
| Monday 23 November | After 10.30pm, trains from Euston terminate at Milton Keynes Central, and buses run on to Northampton. | London Northwestern |
| Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November | Paddington is shut, so Great Western trains use Euston. Avanti runs two trains an hour to Birmingham, and most London Northwestern trains between Euston and Milton Keynes are retimed by a few minutes. | Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern |
| Monday 14 to Friday 18 December | Late-evening Avanti changes. Monday to Thursday, the 18:52 Edinburgh to Euston diverts between Rugby and Milton Keynes Central and does not call at Northampton. | Avanti West Coast |
For Sunday travel in general, check the week before. These notices appear on a rolling basis and more are added every week. For road closures over the same period, see our Milton Keynes roadworks page, and for normal journey times and fares, our trains to London page.
What happened the last two Christmases
Christmas 2025. Network Rail announced on 7 October 2025 that “between 24 December and 5 January, there will be no trains between Milton Keynes and Northampton / Rugby”. The reason was a £26m upgrade of Hanslope Junction, on all four main lines just north of the city. Where there was no other rail route, replacement buses ran. Network Rail said hundreds of other projects would run along the route between 24 December and 15 January.
Christmas 2024. Network Rail’s release of 7 November 2024 listed “track drainage improvements near Milton Keynes”, with buses replacing all trains between Milton Keynes, Northampton and Rugby on New Year’s Day, and an amended service between Watford and Milton Keynes from 1 to 4 January. Its advice to anyone using Euston was to travel before 24 December or after 2 January.
Network Rail’s 2024 release described the railway’s traditional closure as running from the end of service on Christmas Eve to the morning of 27 December. In both years the big jobs near Milton Keynes then ran on into the week after, so the days between Christmas and New Year are the ones most likely to need a bus.
Christmas 2026: what the calendar means
Christmas Day 2026 is a Friday, so the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December, and New Year’s Day is also a Friday, according to the government’s bank holiday list. Boxing Day itself is a Saturday. Operators have not yet published their Christmas Eve last trains or their timetables for 27 December onwards.
Parking over Christmas
Milton Keynes City Council says parking charges in central Milton Keynes apply from 7am to 6pm every day, “except for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday”. So Boxing Day, the Monday bank holiday and New Year’s Day are all charged at the usual rates. The council has not announced any extra Christmas shopping concession. Our parking page has the full tariffs and colour-coded bays.
Buses
Arriva, which runs most Milton Keynes routes, lists its bank holiday timetables for Beds and Bucks on its bank holidays page. As of 25 September the page stops at 31 August and has nothing for Christmas yet. We will add the Christmas timetable when Arriva publishes it.
Still to be confirmed
- Network Rail’s Christmas and New Year works on the West Coast Main Line. Expected early to mid October; last year’s came out on 7 October.
- Christmas Eve last trains from London Northwestern, Avanti West Coast and Lumo, and the Bletchley to Bedford line. Usually published in December.
- Arriva’s Christmas and New Year bus times.
School holidays run from 21 December to 1 January; see our term dates page. For bin changes over the same weeks, see Christmas bin collections.
Have your say