Boxing Day travellers frustrated by rail shutdown
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Version 0 of 1. Thousands of would-be train travellers are being forced to stay at home or travel by road on Boxing Day, with the majority of the UK’s rail operators running no services. Related: Boxing Day rail shutdown prompts Labour accusation of Tory hypocrisy With a full programme of Premier League football, fans tweeted complaints of being unable to reach stadiums. Bargain hunters also expressed disappointment at being unable to travel to the shops. “Poxy trains not running, oh the joy of travelling to football on Boxing Day,” said Yvonne Hazard, a Tottenham Hotspur fan. “Still can’t believe trains don’t run on Boxing Day when there’s Boxing Day sales and football on!”, wrote Aston Villa fan Heidi Awome. “Gutted I can’t make the game today as there are no trains,” wrote Alex Vitsileos, another Villa fan. Poxy trains not running, oh the joy of travelling to football on Boxing Day😡 Still can't believe trains don't run on Boxing Day when there's Boxing Day sales and football on! Gutted I can't make the game today as there are no trains, come on you villa boys 3 points please merry Christmas villans #avfc #avfclive Some holders of railcards complained to train providers that they had paid for two days of travel on which all services in their area were cancelled. @Se_Railway ok I'm driving then. Don't you think the 7 day travelcard should be 9 days this week as there are NO trains on 2 of the days? Some lines will be closed for more than a week as Network Rail attempts to complete nearly 500 upgrades. Air travellers will also be affected, with no Gatwick Express services running for 10 days and the Heathrow Express shutting for four days because of Crossrail works. Mark Carne, chief executive of Network Rail, defended the widespread closures. Passenger numbers are 50% lower over Christmas, he said, making it the most practical time of year to carry out engineering work. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Carne said he was confident there would not be a repeat of the severe disruption seen over the Christmas period last year, when maintenance works overran. So gutted trains aren't running today.... Cannot do my #Xmas #tradition of a #London show/sales on #BoxingDay 👎👎👎 He said: “It’s a huge programme of works, it’s actually quite a lot bigger than last year. Of course, we’ve learned a lot of lessons from last year, and I’m really proud of the huge amount of work people have put into the planning and advising passengers of the planning disruption so that they can make alternative arrangements. “I think we’re in good shape; it’s two days into the programme and things are going well so far. We are very conscious of the fact that people want to use the rail, they want to use it more and more in fact … But because it’s so intensively used it becomes more and more congested, meaning we need to build more railways. And of course we have to come in and maintain the railways as well.” Carne said that if maintenance work was not done “the railway system becomes unreliable and that inconveniences even more people. So we have to come in and do this work and we have to do it in the most efficient way.” Not everyone seemed upset about the lack of trains. A member of staff at South West Trains tweeted that they were “enjoying some tasty mince pies” while waiting for services to resume. #MerryChristmas Enjoying some tasty mince pies. No trains today but services will resume on Sunday 27 December The government has been criticised for allowing another extended rail shutdown this year, after criticising the Christmas closures while in opposition. The closures come before price increases for rail customers in the new year, with a 1% rise in the price of regulated tickets due on 2 January. |