£13m of 1960s wiring, five days, and no trains at all to Birmingham New Street
What happened
On Tuesday 27 October 2026, Network Rail confirmed that no trains will serve Birmingham New Street from Thursday 24 December to Monday 28 December 2026. Full services resume on Tuesday 29 December. In practice, the station normally has no trains on Christmas Day or Boxing Day anyway. So the days that really change are Christmas Eve, Sunday 27 December and the bank holiday on Monday 28 December. The reason is a £13 million project to replace overhead power lines on the approaches to and through the station. Much of that wiring dates from the 1960s. There is more work going on at the same time. At Soho, £6.4 million is being spent on junction equipment and 800 metres of renewed track. Track is also being renewed between Birmingham and Sandwell, and at Berkswell between Birmingham and Coventry, where a new turnout for sidings supports HS2 construction. This is the first of three phases. Further work is planned for the Christmas periods in 2027 and 2028. Mark Goodall, route director for Network Rail's Central route, said passengers want and deserve a railway they can rely on. Tom Painter, executive director of West Midlands Rail Executive, said the investment is essential to delivering a stronger, more reliable railway network.
Why this matters
Birmingham New Street is not just a big station. It is the point where a large share of Britain's cross-country rail network physically passes through. If you are travelling between the South West and the North East, or Wales and the East Midlands, or Scotland and the South Coast, there is a good chance your route touches it. Closing it for five days does not create a local problem. It creates a national one. And it is happening in the week when more people travel to see family than at any other point in the year. Network Rail's argument for choosing Christmas is straightforward: it is when the fewest commuters are affected, because offices are shut. The counter-argument, which passengers have made for years, is that it is when the most families are affected. Both are true. The work does need doing, 1960s overhead wiring is a genuine cause of delays, and three Christmases in a row is a long commitment to make to a single programme. Knowing about it in late October rather than mid-December is the useful part.
What the evidence actually says
Here is what has been confirmed, operator by operator, so you can see whether it touches your journey. Avanti West Coast trains will not call at Birmingham New Street. Replacement buses will run to Wolverhampton and Birmingham International. CrossCountry will amend or divert some services. Replacement buses will cover several links, including Coleshill Parkway, Worcestershire Parkway, Tamworth and Wilnecote, Birmingham International, and Wolverhampton. London Northwestern Railway: on 27 and 28 December, some London and Northampton services will start and end at Birmingham International. Separately, buses replace trains between Northampton and Rugby via Long Buckby from 27 December to 1 January. Crewe and Liverpool services will run only between Wolverhampton and Crewe or Liverpool, at reduced frequency. West Midlands Railway has several route changes, including Birmingham International to Rugeley Trent Valley, Shrewsbury to Birmingham New Street, and Wolverhampton to Walsall. Lichfield, Four Oaks, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Kings Norton services will be replaced by buses or will not run. Transport for Wales will run no trains between Wolverhampton and Birmingham International. The station building itself stays open. You will be able to reach Grand Central and the city centre. The assisted travel lounge and the toilets remain open. The Avanti first class lounge will be closed. Network Rail has said queuing systems will operate at busy times. One caution: timetables for Christmas periods are regularly adjusted right up to the week itself. Treat the above as the current plan and check again in December.
Qurexa perspective
There is a Christmas problem that has nothing to do with trains, and every year it catches people out. GP practices and pharmacies close over the bank holidays. If your repeat prescription is due anywhere near late December, the time to order it is early December, not the week before Christmas. Practices are usually processing a fortnight's worth of requests in a few working days, and the queue is real. If you are travelling to family and taking medicines with you, pack them in hand luggage or a bag that stays with you, not in a case that goes in a coach hold. Rail replacement journeys involve more transfers than usual, and bags go astray. Take enough for longer than you plan to be away. Five days of disruption can turn a two-day visit into four, and getting an emergency supply away from your own pharmacy is possible but slower than simply having spares. If you are in our delivery area and want your December medicines to arrive before the holidays rather than during them, let us know early. Planning ahead is the whole of the advice, and it is free.
Practical advice
Check your specific journey before you book anything. National Rail Enquiries has a dedicated page for this closure at nationalrail.co.uk/newstreetclosure, and your train operator's own site will have the detail for its services. Consider travelling on a different date. Network Rail suggests this, while being honest that the days either side will be busier than usual. If you must travel on those dates, allow a lot of extra time. Rail replacement buses are slower than trains, and transfers between stations take longer when everyone is doing it at once. Birmingham Snow Hill and Moor Street will be busier than normal. Both are walkable from New Street, but Christmas Eve services there finish early, so check last trains carefully. If you need assistance to travel, book Passenger Assist in advance. It can be booked up to two hours before travel, but during a disruption of this size, earlier is far better. The assisted travel lounge at New Street remains open. If you have a wheelchair, pushchair or heavy luggage, check that your replacement bus route is accessible. Not every replacement vehicle is the same. Network Rail's national helpline is 03457 11 41 41. Keep your tickets and receipts. If your journey is delayed on the day, Delay Repay may apply, and the rules are set by your operator.
What to know
No trains will serve Birmingham New Street from Thursday 24 December to Monday 28 December 2026. Services resume Tuesday 29 December. The work is a £13 million replacement of 1960s overhead power lines, plus £6.4 million of junction and track work at Soho and further track renewal towards Sandwell and Berkswell. This is phase one of three, with further Christmas work planned in 2027 and 2028. Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, London Northwestern Railway, West Midlands Railway and Transport for Wales are all affected, with replacement buses to Wolverhampton and Birmingham International. The station stays open for access to Grand Central and the city centre, and the assisted travel lounge remains open. Check nationalrail.co.uk/newstreetclosure before travelling, book Passenger Assist early if you need it, and order repeat prescriptions in early December rather than late. Sources: Network Rail Media Centre, 'Christmas travel: plan your journey as Birmingham New Street prepares for major upgrade', 27 October 2026, https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/christmas-travel-plan-your-journey-as-birmingham-new-street-prepares-for-major-upgrade ; Rail Business Daily, 'No trains to or from Birmingham New Street station this Christmas due to major upgrades', 2026, https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/no-trains-to-or-from-birmingham-new-street-station-this-christmas-due-to-major-upgrades/ ; National Rail Enquiries, https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ This article is for general information. Check your own journey with your train operator before travelling, and speak to your GP practice or pharmacy about holiday prescription timings.
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