No trains from Guildford on Christmas Day, and Boxing Day moves to Monday 28 December. Last year's last trains from Waterloo, and when 2026 times are due.
There will be no trains to or from Guildford on Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026. National Rail has confirmed that for every operator. Everything else over the holiday, from the last trains on Christmas Eve to what runs on the substitute Boxing Day bank holiday on Monday 28 December, is still “to be confirmed” (National Rail, Christmas and New Year 2026/27). South Western Railway and Great Western Railway, the two operators that serve Guildford, have not published their plans yet.
Here is what is fixed, what happened last year, and when the rest is due.
The quick answer
- Christmas Day, Friday 25 December: no trains. Confirmed by National Rail for all operators.
- Christmas Eve: expect trains to stop early. Last year SWR’s last train to Guildford from Waterloo left at 21:03 (via Cobham) and services ended “before 2200”.
- The timetable is due late November to early December. National Rail will publish last trains from London then, and operators add detail “from the beginning of October onwards”.
Day by day, 24 December 2026 to 4 January 2027
| Date | What National Rail says | What happened last year (SWR) |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 24 December | Services on many routes will finish earlier than normal | Amended timetable, trains ended around 22:00 |
| Friday 25 December | No National Rail services | No SWR services |
| Saturday 26 December | Most operators no service; "a very limited train service" by a few operators, to be confirmed | No SWR services on Boxing Day |
| Sunday 27 December | To be confirmed | Services resumed, but not into Waterloo (lines closed to Clapham Junction) |
| Monday 28 December (Boxing Day bank holiday) | To be confirmed | n/a (not a holiday last year) |
| Thursday 31 December | Some routes finish early | Extra night trains from Waterloo to Guildford |
| Friday 1 January | Special London services after midnight, details in early December | Reduced service on all lines |
The awkward day this year is Saturday 26 December. It is Boxing Day on the calendar but not the bank holiday, which moves to Monday 28 December (GOV.UK). National Rail says most train companies will run nothing on the Saturday. Whether SWR runs a normal, reduced or no service on Monday 28 December is not yet known.
Last year, for comparison
SWR’s own page for Christmas 2025 is the best guide to how Guildford’s main operator handles the holiday (South Western Railway, Christmas and New Year services; SWR announcement, 15 December 2025).
Christmas Eve 2025, last trains from London Waterloo towards Guildford:
| Service | Last departure from Waterloo |
|---|---|
| Portsmouth via Guildford | 20:30 |
| Guildford via Epsom | 20:53 (a direct train to Epsom ran at 21:23) |
| Guildford via Cobham | 21:03 |
| Woking (stopping), for a connection or taxi | 21:20 |
The 20:30 was the last Portsmouth line train through Guildford. After it, the only direct trains to Guildford were the two slower routes, via Epsom at 20:53 and via Cobham at 21:03.
Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2025: no SWR services at all, “as in previous years”.
27 December 2025 to 4 January 2026: Network Rail closed the lines between Waterloo and Clapham Junction on 27 and 28 December, so SWR trains started and finished at Clapham Junction; Portsmouth via Guildford trains ran hourly on those days. Normal timetables resumed on Monday 5 January 2026.
New Year’s Eve 2025: SWR ran extra trains from London Waterloo after midnight, including 01:45, 02:45, 03:45 and 04:45 to Guildford via Woking. It also warned passengers to travel to the South Bank fireworks only with an event ticket, and queued passengers outside Waterloo.
Great Western Railway, which runs the North Downs line from Reading through Guildford to Redhill and Gatwick, had not yet published its 2026 Christmas plans when we checked its engineering page on 25 September.
Engineering work already booked for December
National Rail’s list of published engineering notices already includes works around Guildford starting on Monday 7 December (Guildford to Haslemere and Havant / Portsmouth Harbour, and Reading to Guildford) and on Saturday 5 December (Reading to Gatwick Airport, the North Downs line through Guildford). The latest notice published so far starts on 19 December, so nothing covering Christmas week is out yet (National Rail engineering works). Our roadworks and travel page carries the current week’s closures.
Parking in Guildford over Christmas
Guildford Borough Council’s car park tariff order sets charging hours “other than Sundays and Boxing Day” for daytime charges, and exempts Boxing Day from Sunday and evening charges too. It does not exempt Christmas Day or New Year’s Day (Guildford Borough Council, car park fees from 1 April 2026). With Boxing Day falling on a Saturday and the bank holiday on a Monday this year, the order does not say which day counts as Boxing Day. We will update this page when the council says. The council has not announced any Christmas parking offer for 2026. Rates and the free 5pm to 6pm arrival window are on our parking in Guildford page.
Still to confirm, and when
- SWR and GWR Christmas timetables: National Rail says operator detail is added “from the beginning of October onwards”. We will check again on 15 October.
- Last trains from London on Christmas Eve: National Rail’s guide is due “late November / early December”.
- New Year’s Eve night trains: National Rail’s guide to extra London services is due “in early December”.
- Buses and park and ride: we have not yet found Christmas timetables for Guildford’s bus operators or the Surrey County Council park and ride. We will add them.
Other pages for the season: Christmas bin collections, tip opening times and the Christmas markets.
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