Britain is facing Christmas travel chaos as 229 miles of roadworks, tube strikes and railway works are set to mar the festive journey home.
The ‘worst ever’ Christmas rail works hit six of Britain’s seven main lines, as 330 rail projects take place and militant unions bosses plan protests.
Four million Brits are heading abroad over Christmas face long airport check-in lines – and delays even getting to the airport, with the Heathrow Express and Gatwick Express both axed.
And on Friday December 21, dubbed ‘Frantic Friday’, 19 million vehicles will take to the roads , as commuters clash with school picks up and getaway traffic.
Around 30 million leisure car journeys will be made over the Christmas fortnight to New Year’s Day, RAC traffic trends show, with Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon having the biggest jams
Militant union bosses plan protests on the railways, with strikes by Virgin Atlantic pilots also targeting those hoping to jet off for some winter sun. File photo
RMT members on South Western Railway working as Commercial Guards, Guards and Train Drivers have been instructed to not to book on for any shifts from the 22nd of December
Schools breaking up on Friday, December 21 – the closest end-of-term date to Christmas since 2012 – will trigger the most congested getaway rush for years, the RAC has said.
Schools ended up to to six days earlier last year, meaning staggered Christmas travel.
Around 30 million leisure car journeys will be made over the Christmas fortnight to New Year’s Day, RAC traffic trends show, with Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon having the biggest jams.
RAC spokesman Simon Williams said: ‘The Christmas getaway looks worse than recent years as schools break up so late.
‘Traffic levels will be drastically affected, with Friday and Saturday busiest, while roadworks bring unwelcome delays.’
Virgin Atlantic pilots belonging to the breakaway union the PPU are planning a series of strikes. File photo
Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT announced the strike, citing security concerns
Highways England confirmed 229 miles’ roadworks will remain in place and some other works will be lifted from Friday to January 2.
Works remaining include a 15-mile stretch on the M1 from Junction 13-15 near Milton Keynes, a 20-mile stretch of the M6 from Junction 13-15 near Stafford, and an 11-mile stretch of the M23 from Junction 8-10 near Crawley.
Highways England has said: ‘It’s not safe or cost-effective to complete or remove all roadworks.’
Highways England’s customer service director Melanie Clarke said: ‘The Christmas period is one of the busiest times on our roads. We’re keeping more than 97 per cent of our network free from roadworks.’
On Friday December 21, dubbed ‘Frantic Friday’, 19 million vehicles will take to the roads , as commuters clash with school picks up and getaway traffic
One of the biggest ever rail works schedules sees 330 projects involving 25,000 engineers, costing Network Rail £148million.
Rail experts said works are ‘worst ever’ at Christmas, predicting ‘completely hacked off’ passengers.
20 million rail journeys will be made over the Christmas fortnight as many visit loved ones.
But 11 days of engineering works from Saturday see delays on six of Britain’s seven main line routes: London Paddington to the West, London Liverpool Street to the East, London Victoria to the South, London Waterloo to the South-West, London Euston to the North-West and Scotland, and London St Pancras to the Midlands.
Many major London stations are hit for example London Paddington to Reading on Sunday will take 1hr 54min via Waterloo and London Underground, four times longer than the usual 25min.
All routes on the Southwestern Railway route map will be effected by the RMT strike action
London to Cardiff trips on Christmas Eve will take 4hr 5min, double the normal 2hr 5min.
Journeys from London to Leicester on Christmas Eve will take 2hr 2min, twice as long as to the usual 1hr 2min.
Travel expert Ian Baldry, who has run IBPTS travel consultants since 2001 and previously worked for rail, bus and airline operators for 25 years, said: ‘This looks like the worst Christmas ever for engineering works, even worse than last year.
‘Passengers will be completely hacked off with the level of works taking place.’
Bruce Williamson, a spokesman for campaign group Railfuture, said: ‘A huge chunk is being taken out of the rail timetable this Christmas.
‘Passenger numbers are lower than during normal working weeks, so Christmas is the least bad time to do the work.’
And festive shoppers across the North will today be hit by another strike in the long-running dispute over guards on trains. File photo
Andy Thomas, managing director of strategic operations at Network Rail, said: ‘Most of the network is open for business as usual – but some routes are heavily affected, so we strongly advise to plan ahead.
‘A huge investment programme will deliver more reliable infrastructure and improved services for passengers.’
Airports braced for queues, with Friday and Saturday the busiest days.
Heathrow is due 600,000 departures in the next week, with almost a million flying from Gatwick over the Christmas fortnight.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: ‘Friday will be our busiest day of Christmas.’
Militant union bosses have also plan protests on the railways, with strikes by Virgin Atlantic pilots targeting those hoping to jet off for some winter sun.
The Rail Maritime & Transport Union, which represents train guards, has orchestrated strikes on both Northern and South Western Railway on December 22 – the last shopping Saturday before Christmas.
And festive shoppers across the North will today be hit by another strike in the long-running dispute over guards on trains.
RMT members on Northern will stage their 40th walkout since the row flared. The company said ‘very few’ services will run after 5pm.
By the end of December, Northern will have been hit by 19 consecutive Saturdays of strike action. It has also announced protests on South Western on December 27 and New Year’s Eve.
Meanwhile, a major programme of engineering will cripple much of the rail network.
A 25,000-strong workforce is set to carry out 330 engineering works over the holiday.
Network Rail, which manages rail infrastructure, has already issued a string of warnings to passengers across Britain to plan ahead, with works due to begin next weekend.
Alerts were issued for people travelling between London, Kent and the South East, the West Midlands, the North West, Cumbria and Wales.
Labour MP John Mann said: ‘Rail delays and engineering works over Christmas make it more difficult and sometimes impossible for families to be together.’
Network Rail said there will be less overall disruption than last year as most of the work has been scheduled for when no trains are planned to run, such as on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Strikes have also been announced by Virgin Atlantic pilots involved in a dispute over union recognition.
Members of the Professional Pilots Union (PPU), who are already striking over the Christmas and new year period, will also stop work for several days in the first few months of the new year.
Virgin is seeking an injunction to declare the strikes illegal, with a court hearing set for December 20, two days before the first strike.
The PPU says it represents over a third of the 965 Virgin Atlantic pilot workforce.
Spokesman Steve Johnson, said: ‘There is an alternative available to the company to disrupting business and holiday travel plans.
‘Virgin Atlantic management could provide a tangible agreement to recognise this union – that’s all they need to do.
‘They would rather go to court than do the right thing – it doesn’t make sense, especially when they claim publicly that they wish to ‘recognise us in principle’.
‘But it leaves us with no choice but step up our strike action.’