No trains on Christmas Day, and last year's last Weymouth line train left Waterloo at 19:35 on Christmas Eve. Buses, engineering works and what is still due.
There will be no trains to or from Bournemouth on Christmas Day, and services on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve will finish early. National Rail has confirmed that much for 2026. South Western Railway’s own Christmas timetable, including the last trains, is not out yet. Last year SWR ran no trains on Boxing Day either, and the last Weymouth line train out of Waterloo on Christmas Eve left at 19:35.
The quick answer
- No trains on Friday 25 December 2026. National Rail says there will be no services anywhere on Christmas Day
- Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve finish early. National Rail’s last-trains guide is due in late November or early December
- Last year’s last Christmas Eve train from Waterloo on the Weymouth line, through Bournemouth, was 19:35, and SWR ran nothing on 25 or 26 December
What is confirmed for 2026
National Rail’s Christmas and New Year 2026/27 page covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027. So far it says:
- Thursday 24 December: trains on many routes finish earlier than normal
- Friday 25 December: no National Rail services, as usual
- Saturday 26 December: most operators run no service. A very limited service will run on a small number of routes, details to be confirmed
- Monday 28 December: the substitute Boxing Day bank holiday. Services still to be confirmed
- Thursday 31 December: trains on some routes finish earlier than normal
- Friday 1 January 2027: a number of London routes run late trains after midnight. The guide to these is due in early December
National Rail says train companies will start adding their Christmas details from the beginning of October, and that Network Rail will carry out “lots of planned essential engineering works” over the period. No Christmas 2026 engineering work on the Bournemouth line has been announced yet, and SWR’s engineering works calendar does not reach December.
What happened last Christmas
The best guide until SWR publishes is last year’s timetable, on its Christmas and New Year services page. These are 2025/26 arrangements, not this year’s.
| Day | Weymouth line service |
|---|---|
| Wed 24 Dec 2025 | Early finish. Last train from Waterloo 19:35 |
| Thu 25 and Fri 26 Dec | No trains on the SWR network |
| Sat 27 Dec | Two an hour, starting and ending at Clapham Junction |
| Sun 28 Dec | Hourly, starting and ending at Clapham Junction |
| Mon 29 to Wed 31 Dec | Two an hour to and from Waterloo |
| Thu 1 Jan 2026 | Hourly to and from Waterloo |
| Fri 2 and Sat 3 Jan | Two an hour to and from Waterloo |
| Sun 4 Jan | Hourly, diverted via Guildford |
| Mon 5 Jan | Normal service |
The reason for the Clapham Junction starts was engineering work between Waterloo and Clapham Junction from 27 December to 4 January: all lines between Waterloo and Clapham Junction were shut on 27 and 28 December for track, signalling and power work. On New Year’s Eve SWR ran extra trains out of Waterloo after midnight, but the ones it listed served suburban routes and Basingstoke, not Bournemouth.
For everyday journey times and fares to London, see our Bournemouth train times to London page.
Buses
morebus, the main operator in Bournemouth and Poole, has not published its 2026 Christmas times. Its Christmas and New Year 2025 page shows the shape it followed last year:
- Christmas Eve: a Saturday service on most routes, with a reduced evening service on the m1 and m2. No night buses that night
- Christmas Day: only the m1, m2 and route 5 ran, on special timetables, with every single fare £3 and returns £6
- Boxing Day: special timetables on the m1, m2, 40 and 50. Night buses N1, N2 and N5 ran that night
- Between Christmas and New Year: a Saturday service on most routes on the weekdays, and a normal weekend service at the weekend
- New Year’s Day: special timetables on the m1, m2, 40 and 50, with night buses on New Year’s Eve night
- Normal service from Saturday 3 January
On the Saturday-service days, morebus said concessionary passes were not valid before 9:30am. This year Christmas Day is a Friday, so the day-by-day pattern will not repeat exactly.
Driving and parking
Everyday car park tariffs are on our Parking in Bournemouth page, and current road closures on Bournemouth roadworks and travel.
BCP Council has run festive free parking before. In 2021 it offered free parking in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole town centres on Thursday evenings and Sunday daytimes in December, and on Saturday afternoons in district car parks including Boscombe, Southbourne, Westbourne and Winton (BCP Council, festive travel offers, 23 November 2021). We could not find a scheme for 2024 or 2025 on the council’s news pages, and none is announced for 2026.
Still to be confirmed
- SWR’s Christmas 2026 timetable and last trains, from early October
- National Rail’s last trains from London on Christmas Eve, late November or early December
- Any Network Rail engineering work on the Bournemouth line between 24 December and 4 January
- morebus Christmas times, usually published in December
- Any BCP Christmas parking offer
We will update this page as each is published.
Also on this site
- Bournemouth Christmas bin collections
- Bournemouth Christmas market and Tree Wonderland
- Bournemouth pantomime
- Bournemouth school term dates
Sources: National Rail, Christmas and New Year 2026/27; South Western Railway, Christmas and New Year services (2025/26 timetable); morebus, Christmas and New Year bus times 2025; BCP Council, festive travel offers, 2021. Checked 25 September 2026.
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