If your annual drive home for Christmas usually involves a train journey between London and the southern corners of England and Wales, brace yourself for some unfortunate news.
Great Western Railway (GWR) has warned that there will be major disruption to train services from south Wales, Cornwall, Devon to the capital each festive period from now until 2030. Not ideal.
The disruption is due to work on a new HS2 station at Old Oak Common in west London, which will affect several services into London Paddington until the end of the decade.
Trains from the south will be diverted into Euston instead, with journey times expected to be around 15 minutes longer. There will also be reduced services between Paddington and Ealing Broadway or Heathrow Airport terminals. and between Paddington and Reading.
This year, the closures are happening from December 27 to 29 (on top of standard closures on Christmas day and Boxing Day) and there will be fewer trains operating from the station on Saturday November 16 or Sunday November 17.
The most significant disruption that we know about so far will be an 18-day closure in 2028, which will run into January and likely affect thousands returning for work in the new year.
Did you see that the UK’s best (and worst) airports right now have been named by Which?
Plus: Could this UK-governed island soon officially become the happiest place in the world?
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.