No Southeastern trains on 25 and 26 December. Last Christmas Eve 2025 trains to Medway left St Pancras at 9.20pm. What is set for 2026, and the works before it.

Trains will not run on Christmas Day, and on Saturday 26 December most operators will have no service at all. Southeastern, which runs most Medway trains, ran none on Boxing Day last year. The detailed 2026 timetables are not out yet, but last Christmas’s pattern and the notices already booked for November and December tell you most of what to plan around.

The quick answer

  • Christmas Day and Boxing Day: no National Rail services on Friday 25 December; on Saturday 26 December most operators run nothing. Last year Southeastern ran no trains on either day.
  • Christmas Eve: last year the last direct trains to Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham and Rainham left St Pancras at 21.20 and Victoria at 21.10. The 2026 times will be published in late November or early December.
  • Already booked: on Sunday 22 November Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham stations close all day, with buses replacing trains between Strood and Rainham.

What is confirmed for Christmas 2026

National Rail’s Christmas and New Year 2026/27 summary covers Thursday 24 December to Monday 4 January 2027. So far it says:

  • Thursday 24 December: services on many routes will finish earlier than normal. National Rail says its guide to last trains from London will be published in late November or early December.
  • Friday 25 December: no National Rail services.
  • Saturday 26 December: most operators will have no service, with a very limited service from a few operators still to be confirmed.
  • Monday 28 December: this is the substitute Boxing Day bank holiday. Which trains run is still to be confirmed.
  • Thursday 31 December: early finishes on some routes, with special late trains on some London routes into New Year’s Day.

National Rail says each operator’s Christmas details, including Southeastern’s and Thameslink’s, will be added from the beginning of October. Its list of planned engineering works currently runs only to 19 December, so the Christmas works on Medway’s lines have not been published yet.

What Southeastern did last Christmas

Southeastern’s Christmas and New Year page still shows the 2025/26 arrangements. Christmas Day fell on a Thursday then, so the days do not line up with 2026, but the shape is useful:

  • A revised timetable ran from Saturday 20 December to Sunday 4 January.
  • On the weekdays before Christmas (22 and 23 December) and on Christmas Eve, a Saturday timetable ran on all routes. On Christmas Eve services finished early, with no trains after about 10pm.
  • No Southeastern trains ran on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
  • No Southeastern trains used London Victoria from Saturday 27 to Wednesday 31 December; they were diverted to Cannon Street. That matters for Medway, because the Victoria line via Rochester and Chatham is one of the town’s two routes into London (Southeastern newsroom, 17 November 2025).
  • From 1 to 4 January Charing Cross and Waterloo East closed, with most trains diverted to Victoria.
  • Between Christmas and New Year, off-peak fares applied all day except for Travelcards and journeys wholly within the London Travelcard zone.

Southeastern announced those works on 17 November. Expect this year’s announcement on a similar date.

Last trains on Christmas Eve 2025

These are last year’s times, from Southeastern’s last trains on Christmas Eve 2025 sheet. They are here to show roughly how early the service stops. They are not this year’s times.

Last direct Southeastern trains from London on Christmas Eve 2025, to Medway stations
ToFrom St PancrasFrom Victoria
Strood21.20No direct train listed
Rochester21.2021.10
Chatham21.2021.10
Gillingham21.2021.10
Rainham21.2021.10
Cuxton and Halling20.20, change at Strood19.55, change at Maidstone East and walk to Maidstone Barracks

For Cuxton and Halling, on the Medway Valley line, the sheet also listed a 20.04 from Charing Cross with a change at Paddock Wood.

Works already booked before Christmas

These are the notices National Rail has published so far for Medway’s stations between November and mid December:

  • Sunday 22 November: all lines close in the Rochester area. Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham stations are shut all day. Buses run between Strood and Rainham, and between Meopham and Rainham; no Thameslink trains run between Gravesend and Rainham (National Rail notice).
  • Monday 16 to Thursday 19 November: from about 23.55, buses replace Thameslink trains between Dartford and Strood or Gillingham (notice).
  • Tuesday 10 to Friday 13 November and Tuesday 8 to Friday 11 December: buses replace very early morning Thameslink trains between Gravesend and Gillingham, roughly between 00.25 and 04.25 (November, December).
  • Monday 30 November to Friday 4 December: between 09.10 and 15.00, only an hourly service runs between Paddock Wood and Strood on the Medway Valley line (notice).
  • Sunday 13 December: no trains to or from Charing Cross, Waterloo East or Cannon Street (notice). That is the last day of the Rochester Christmas Market, so anyone coming in from south east London should check their route.

The Dickensian Christmas Festival on 5 and 6 December has no Medway rail closures listed against it at the time of writing.

Buses and parking

Last December, buses in Medway were free for two weekends. On Saturday 13, Sunday 14, Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 December 2025, any local bus service within Medway or starting in Medway was free until the last bus of the day; trips back from Kent paid the normal fare. The council paid for it from government Bus Service Improvement Plan money and announced it only on Friday 12 December, the day before it started (Medway Council, 12 December 2025). Nothing has been announced for 2026, and the web address the council gave for details now returns “page not found”.

Arriva, which runs most Medway bus routes, has not yet published its Christmas service levels; its bank holiday page lists Kent and Medway dates only up to the August bank holiday. Medway Council has not announced any Christmas parking offer on its parking pages. For car parks and charges in each town, see parking in Medway, and for road closures see Medway roadworks. Normal off-peak journey times to London are on our Medway to London trains page.

Still to confirm

  • Southeastern and Thameslink Christmas timetables, from early October on National Rail’s Christmas pages.
  • Christmas works on Medway’s lines between 24 December and 4 January, probably in mid November.
  • Last trains on Christmas Eve 2026, late November or early December.
  • Arriva bus times over Christmas and New Year, and whether the council repeats the free bus weekends (announced on 12 December last year).

Frequently asked questions

Are there trains on Boxing Day 2026 in Medway?

Unlikely. National Rail says most operators will have no service on Saturday 26 December, and Southeastern ran no trains on Boxing Day last year. The substitute bank holiday on Monday 28 December is still to be confirmed.

What time is the last train to Chatham on Christmas Eve?

The 2026 times are not published yet. Last year the last direct trains left St Pancras at 21.20 and Victoria at 21.10.

Are Rochester and Chatham stations closed before Christmas?

Yes, on Sunday 22 November, when buses replace trains between Strood and Rainham all day.

Sources