seetheworld

We thought we had it all figured out until I came upon articles that say the Liverpool station will be closed over the holidays for repairs.

Is there another line we can take on the rail that will get us into Cambridge Christmas morning?

Thank you.

DCJones

The One Railway site states:

Services from / to Cambridge, Cheshunt and Enfield will terminate / start from Seven Sisters.

Seven Sisters is northeast of Finsbury Park and is on the Victoria Tube Line.

Hope this helps.

seetheworld

Thank you for the One Railway site information. We will check it out.

We have now figured that round-trip train fares will cost us $700 USD, so there is crazy talk going on about renting a car from the airport on Christmas Eve and returning it Boxing Day. OMG.

janisj

Just and FYI - when checking fares and timetables make sure you use Liverpool <b><u>Street</u></b>. &quot;Liverpool&quot; is an entirely different place several hundred miles north . . . .

Musicteacher

The best trains to Cambridge leave from Kings Cross and not from Liverpool Street; however, I would doubt that there is any service on Christmas Day.

sashh

Unless things have changed in the last 12 months there will be NO TRAINS on Christmas day or boxing day.

Your only options are a taxi - which you would have to pre book and will cost a fortune or a hire car.

WillTravel

Or the other option is the National Express, as I mentioned on another thread.

seetheworld

WillTravel, I checked the National Express and it doesn't have service on Christmas Day.

I am looking at a print out from Rail Europe that departs from London Liverpool to Cambridge. It shows a few travel times on Dec. 25th.

Here's one BBC article (not the one from the official site; can't seem to find it right now)

http://tinyurl.com/23xnbn

Rail Europe schedule - London to Cambridge:

http://tinyurl.com/yuktqk

So is this &quot;London Liverpool&quot; the same as &quot;Liverpool Street&quot; station?

This is very confusing to me.

We already checked into a car hire and a one-way on Christmas will cost more than a single airfare.

My biggest fear will be having DH rent a car and driving us out of Heathrow, in the dark, on Christmas Eve to our flat (not so much driving to Cambridge on Christmas morning).

seetheworld

Here's the other &quot;disruption to service&quot; notice:

http://tinyurl.com/ynqmj3

WillTravel

Seetheworld - sorry about that. That's definitely inconvenient.

flanneruk

There's no such station as &quot;London Liverpool&quot;. Liverpool station ISN'T closed over Christmas. Liverpool Street station in London IS closed from Dec 23 to Jan 1.

Rail Europe - a foreign website that simply doesn't know what it's talking about - has invented this non-existent &quot;London Liverpool&quot; station. And it's conjured these Christmas Day trains out of nowhere.

Ignore it - now and forever more. <b>There will no trains in England on Christmas Day between London and Cambridge, whatever fiction this hapless foreign website tries to invent </b>

Assume no public transport between London and Stansted or Cambridge on Christmas Day. Your options are:

-to get public transport (National Express bus or train from Kings Cross or Tottenham Hale) on Christmas Eve, or
- hire a car in London to return it to Cambridge or Stansted, or
- reschedule.

welltraveledbrit

I would hire a car. I can't bear the trains to and from London around Christmas time. In the afternoons and evenings they are invariable full of &quot;Christmas cheer&quot; and by that I mean crowds of drunk office workers.

nona1

No trains run on Christmas Day, honestly.

You are going to have to hire a car. On the plus side - the roads will be virtually deserted (compared to usual) so you'll have a nice easy trip.

I'd avoid re-scheduling and driving on Christmas Eve (or trains) as this day is always a nightmare to travel anywhere as everyone else has the same idea.

alanRow

On Christmas Day in the UK the following 3 &quot;train&quot;* services will run

Heathrow Express
Gatwick Express
Stansted Express

which run between central London and the airport in their name.

The train will probably be replaced by a coach on that and several other days around that time

flanneruk

The Stansted Express DIDN'T run on Christmas Day last year, and has made no announcement it will this year.

That's why I said &quot;Assume no public transport between London and Stansted or Cambridge on Christmas Day&quot;. Unlike Rail Europe (and it seems, some posters on this site) I don't go round inventing non-existent rail services

alanRow

I thought last year was the first year it had run - admittedly as a coach

alanRow

Must be misremembering - it is early

seetheworld

Whimper.

Thank you for telling us that Rail Europe's schedule doesn't exist, flanneruk.

Now DH will look into renting a car and do the drive himself. C

Yes, this has the makings of a Griswald Christmas. :-B

Dukey

Might I suggest that for getting the best car hire rate you should consider using either AutoEurope or their sister company Kemwel.

Please try to stay away from Flanner's ultra top secretly-located home while driving in the UK since he has been known to protest about tourists who don't know how to drive on the correct side of the road and ergo endangering his life and limb even more than RailEurope does.

Have a great trip.

caroline_edinburgh

I second the recommendation not to drive on Christmas Eve, especially this year since it falls on a Monday. Lots of people will finish work at lunchtime then drive, sometimes hundreds of miles, to visit family or take a holiday.

The roads are virtually empty both on Christmas Day and on Boxing Day.

Out of interest, do the trains run on Christmas Day where you live ?