December 2025 Timetable Change - Confirmed changes only

[brad465]

SE, GWR and LO are up

GWR don't seem to have many changes (if any).

On Southeastern the 2tph Charing X-Dartford via Bexleyheath and vice-versa now runs from the evening peak till the end of service, filling in a couple of gaps just after the evening peak. Other than this there is nothing obvious with timings or additional/lost services, though number of coaches allocated could easily change.

 

[A S Leib]

GWR don't seem to have many changes (if any).

Including the lack of any Swindon – Oxford or vice-versa services, unless they haven't been put in yet.

 

[The Planner]

Currently showing in Real Time Trains as calls for the 0610 Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street and the 2227 Birmingham New Street to Wolverhampton services and as service stop unadvertised in the hourly stopping trains between Shrewsbury and Birmingham New Street on Monday 15 December 2025. The two stations are expected to open in 2026 so I assume this is in preparation for calls at these stations being included in the timetable when they open.

Standard practice, in the same way schedules have been in the system for other unopened stations.

 

[moonarrow458]

Some small but interesting changes for London Overground:

Route retention for the Weaver line (Liverpool street -Enfield Town/Cheshunt) via South Tottenham appears to be dropped with the current parliamentary services at 05:30 Liverpool Street to Enfield Town on Saturdays rerouted to serve all stops via Stamford Hill.
Likewise the 23:42 Enfield Town to LST monday to Thursdays no longer runs via South Tottenham.
It would seem not even any LO ECS are booked over this route anymore

An additional Liverpool Street to Cheshunt service (all stations) at 18:55 - returns ECS to Chingford sidings

Meanwhile on the GOBLIN/Suffragette Line the 2324 from Barking Riverside on a Sunday evening will now run to Willesden Junction instead of Gospel Oak running from Upper Holloway to Hampstead Heath then all stations to Willesden Junction Low Level. Reintroduces a regular timetabled service to the Gospel Oak avoiding lines since the PIXC buster pre-electrification. Also means Hampstead Heath to Willesden Junction gains a later last service on Sundays - 34 mins later than present.

Finally all North London Line services arriving and departing Stratford after 21:00 on Saturday evenings appear to be booked to use platforms 10A or 11, instead of their regular platforms 1 & 2.

 

[MikeWM]

Out of interest, when it does run how many people use it?

It's 2 or 3 years since I last got it, as I tend to holiday in spring and autumn, and I only usually get up early on Sundays if I'm on holiday or going on holiday, so the times when this service would be useful to me tend to be outside the period when it runs, which is why I frequently complain about it only running in summer But last time I did get it, it was pretty busy (more than 50% of the seats taken on a 4-carriage train) and that was still during the post-Covid recovery period. So not as busy as the first Sunday train from Ely to Kings Cross - which comfortably fills almost all the seats on an 8-car whenever I've got that one - but a decent loading for that time on a Sunday morning.

On a related note, it'll be interesting to see if this first service to Kings Cross remains as busy as now if it is indeed timed 40 minutes earlier from December, as it was in the draft timetable. I'm guessing people may split between that one and the one an hour later, but a London arrival at 0933 is rather more appealing than the 1011 that is the earliest currently possible.

--

Sundays on the Norwich to Stansted Airport route now represent more of a Saturday timetable albeit with a later start up. Standardisation of xx:27(ish) departures up road and xx:46 down.

The later start seems a bit unnecessary - over half an hour later than currently. To be fair, I can't say how busy the current 0908 off Ely is, as I don't think I've ever got it, so maybe this isn't something that matters all that much.

Its a shame EMR have still not reinstated the 12:51 ex-Liverpool beyond Nottingham (Mon-Sat) and 18:55 return. This leaves a two hour gap on what was always a well used service eastbound until 2020.

I had a feeling there was always an irritating gap in the middle of the day on the east side of this service, but the earliest NRT PDF I have to hand is from December 2014 and there all the services in the middle of the day ran through to Norwich. The May 2007 printed NRT has the 1352 ex-Liverpool only running to Nottingham, so maybe that's what I'm remembering (time flies!). I don't have anything in between to hand to see when that was extended to Norwich.

But yes, this is a gap which needs filling, and if not at this change, you've got to wonder when.

 

[KN94]

Interesting to see that TPE will now call at Manchester Victoria through the night instead of just passing through, they were previously told they weren’t allowed to stop so wonder what has changed. I can also see some Sheffield to Man Air services running through the night via Vic, Calder Valley and Wakefield. Apart from that though it seems TPE services are pretty much unchanged apart from some of the peak time Picc - Hudd services being extended to Leeds.

TPE have been trying to get Manchester Victoria open for overnight Airport services for a little while now. Lots of conversations with Northern / Network Rail now seem to have paid off.

Sheffield - Manchester Airport running via Calder Valley with a staffing stop a Wakefield Kirkgate due to the route through Huddersfield being closed midweek overnights five out of six weeks. Previously, when Hope Valley and Diggle were closed, the overnight services were buses.

 

[TrainzBK]

TPE have been trying to get Manchester Victoria open for overnight Airport services for a little while now. Lots of conversations with Northern / Network Rail now seem to have paid off.

Sheffield - Manchester Airport running via Calder Valley with a staffing stop a Wakefield Kirkgate due to the route through Huddersfield being closed midweek overnights five out of six weeks. Previously, when Hope Valley and Diggle were closed, the overnight services were buses.

Last I was told, and this was 2 weeks ago was that they have been repeatedly told no about using it overnight. They have been occasionally using it during engineering works despite being told no already by Northern however.

 

[dk1]

It's 2 or 3 years since I last got it, as I tend to holiday in spring and autumn, and I only usually get up early on Sundays if I'm on holiday or going on holiday, so the times when this service would be useful to me tend to be outside the period when it runs, which is why I frequently complain about it only running in summer But last time I did get it, it was pretty busy (more than 50% of the seats taken on a 4-carriage train) and that was still during the post-Covid recovery period. So not as busy as the first Sunday train from Ely to Kings Cross - which comfortably fills almost all the seats on an 8-car whenever I've got that one - but a decent loading for that time on a Sunday morning.

On a related note, it'll be interesting to see if this first service to Kings Cross remains as busy as now if it is indeed timed 40 minutes earlier from December, as it was in the draft timetable. I'm guessing people may split between that one and the one an hour later, but a London arrival at 0933 is rather more appealing than the 1011 that is the earliest currently possible.

--



The later start seems a bit unnecessary - over half an hour later than currently. To be fair, I can't say how busy the current 0908 off Ely is, as I don't think I've ever got it, so maybe this isn't something that matters all that much.



I had a feeling there was always an irritating gap in the middle of the day on the east side of this service, but the earliest NRT PDF I have to hand is from December 2014 and there all the services in the middle of the day ran through to Norwich. The May 2007 printed NRT has the 1352 ex-Liverpool only running to Nottingham, so maybe that's what I'm remembering (time flies!). I don't have anything in between to hand to see when that was extended to Norwich.

But yes, this is a gap which needs filling, and if not at this change, you've got to wonder when.

The gap In service with EMR in the afternoon eastbound which was with the 13:52 ex-Liverpool terminating Nottingham was rectified around 15 years ago. The only gap after that was the 16:52 which didn’t continue eastbound and that’s been the case since the early 1990s.

 

[Harpo]

Its never going to be that quick, especially if you need an OLE isolation.

And gone are the days of agreeing to drag the last electric before the possession is taken, to max out the working time.

 

[MikeWM]

The gap In service with EMR in the afternoon eastbound which was with the 13:52 ex-Liverpool terminating Nottingham was rectified around 15 years ago. The only gap after that was the 16:52 which didn’t continue eastbound and that’s been the case since the early 1990s.

Indeed, I see the timetable in 1998 was very similar to that in 2007 (both terminating the 1352 at Nottingham). Hopefully getting the 1252 back won't take as long!

I really did think that the extension of this service was a lot more recent than it actually was. Time really does fly.

 

[Nicholas43]

Including the lack of any Swindon – Oxford or vice-versa services, unless they haven't been put in yet.

There seem to be empty carriages Oxford to Swindon and back on weekdays. Real time trains is showing, for example, this:

Realtime Trains | 5N52 0652 Oxford Up Carriage Sdgs to Swindon | 15/12/2025

Real-time train running information for 5N52 0652 departure from Oxford Up Carriage Sdgs to Swindon on 15/12/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

5N52, departing Oxford at 0700.

 

[Jamesrob637]

At least the 09:51 Liverpool to Norwich on Saturdays is back, which will be 5 years and 8/9 months after it disappeared due to Covid.

 

[GW43125]

GWR don't seem to have many changes (if any).

I'd imagine we'll finally see the hourly Newquay come in?

 

[Johnny Lewis]

Including the lack of any Swindon – Oxford or vice-versa services, unless they haven't been put in yet.

These are in. Don't forget they only run on Saturdays!

12.02 & 17.12 from Oxford
10.18 & 15.18 from Bristol T.M.

 

[A S Leib]

Don't forget they only run on Saturdays!

That explains it.

 

[brad465]

I'd imagine we'll finally see the hourly Newquay come in?

There is nothing in RTT at Newquay yet, suggesting they haven't finalised it (or got round to uploading this bit), which makes sense if the upgrade work on the ground isn't finished yet.

 

[GW43125]

There is nothing in RTT at Newquay yet, suggesting they haven't finalised it (or got round to uploading this bit), which makes sense if the upgrade work on the ground isn't finished yet.

Quite, last I heard was mid September for commissioning so fingers crossed.

Would've been very helpful for my holiday there earlier this year!

 

[cle]

These are in. Don't forget they only run on Saturdays!

12.02 & 17.12 from Oxford
10.18 & 15.18 from Bristol T.M.

Glad to see these live on, as elsewhere on this forum, people weren't sure.

I would think that even beyond the all week / hourly explosion which has been rumoured, that running the same on Sundays might also be very appealing. Or some sneaky extensions to Bicester Village

 

[wls1]

SWR, Chiltern, XC and Scotrail are up

 

[A S Leib]

Avanti, c2c, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Northern, Southern, Thameslink and TfW Rail left.

 

[weeklycommuter]

The following 0755 XC Southampton Central to Newcastle is showing for Monday 15 December 2025. Presumably this confirms the restoration of this one direct XC train a day Southampton Central to Newcastle Monday to Friday in the December 2025 timetable.

Realtime Trains | 1E85 0755 Southampton Central to Newcastle | 15/12/2025

Real-time train running information for 1E85 0755 departure from Southampton Central to Newcastle on 15/12/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

 

[A S Leib]

Is it too early to read anything into the lack of passenger paths at Winslow?

 

[swt_passenger]

The following 0755 XC Southampton Central to Newcastle is showing for Monday 15 December 2025. Presumably this confirms the restoration of this one direct XC train a day Southampton Central to Newcastle Monday to Friday in the December 2025 timetable.

Yes, I see we first discussed it back in Dec 2024, in the main ECML timetable thread. Been a long time in gestation…

 

[London Trains]

Still barely any improvements/restoration of pre-Covid service levels for SWR...pathetic

 

[JonathanH]

Still barely any improvements/restoration of pre-Covid service levels for SWR...pathetic

Do they yet have the rolling stock they would need to make changes to services? I seem to remember talk of a service recast in the future, rather than restoration of an old timetable in any case.

The obvious priority as 701s come in would appear to be to offload 455s rather than increase the service levels.

 

[weeklycommuter]

As well as the direct Southampton to Newcastle train the December 2025 timetable has one or two additional Cross Country trains each way between Reading and York each day compared to the current timetable with most extending to Newcastle but it is still only about one train every two hours each way. The number of Cross Country trains calling at Brockenhurst is unchanged from the current timetable.

 

[hux385]

For ScotRail, it looks like East Kilbride and Dunblane go half hourly in the evenings, and most of the EK trains are pathed as EMUs (with some remaining pathed as DMUs).

 

[hexagon789]

For ScotRail, it looks like East Kilbride and Dunblane go half hourly in the evenings, and most of the EK trains are pathed as EMUs (with some remaining pathed as DMUs).

For EK I make it - 2 electric diagrams Mon-Fri, 1 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. If I've counted and worked through the services correctly.

 

[Bald Rick]

Avanti, c2c, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Northern, Southern, Thameslink and TfW Rail left.

Some tomorrow, but many of those will be a bit longer before appearing.

 

[Peter0124]

Some tomorrow, but many of those will be a bit longer before appearing.

Is Avanti tomorrow?