No trains run on Christmas Day, and last year the Uckfield line had none on Boxing Day either. What is known for 2026, last year's closures and the last 29 bus.

No trains run anywhere on Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026. For Crowborough the bigger question is Boxing Day: last year the Uckfield line had no Southern service at all on 26 December, and on Sunday 4 January buses replaced trains between Oxted and Uckfield.

The 2026 detail is not out yet. National Rail says operators will add their Christmas plans to its pages from the beginning of October, and its guide to last trains from London will follow in late November or early December.

The quick answer

  • Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December: trains finish early, and National Rail warns not to assume the normal timetable
  • Christmas Day: no trains. The Boxing Day bank holiday is on Monday 28 December this year, and services for it are still to be confirmed
  • Last year the Uckfield line had no trains on Boxing Day, and a rail replacement bus on Sunday 4 January

What is confirmed for Christmas 2026

From National Rail’s Christmas and New Year 2026/27 summary, which covers Thursday 24 December to Monday 4 January:

Date What National Rail says
Thursday 24 December Services on many routes finish earlier than normal
Friday 25 December No National Rail services
Saturday 26 December Most operators run no service; a very limited service from a small number of operators, details to be confirmed
Monday 28 December Substitute Boxing Day bank holiday; services to be confirmed
Thursday 31 December Services on some routes finish earlier than normal
Friday 1 January 2027 Special late services on some London routes after midnight, guide due in early December

Southern is one of the operators whose own Christmas page is still to be filled in. Network Rail had not announced its engineering work for Sussex this Christmas when we checked on 25 September.

What happened on the Uckfield line last Christmas

Last year’s pattern is the best guide to what to plan around.

  • Boxing Day 2025: no Uckfield line trains. National Rail’s notice for Southern’s amended Boxing Day service listed only a handful of routes out of London Victoria: to Gatwick Airport, Brighton, Sutton and East Croydon via Crystal Palace. The Uckfield line was not among them.
  • Sunday 4 January 2026: buses replaced trains between Oxted and Uckfield, and between Purley and East Grinstead, according to Network Rail’s announcement of 19 November 2025.
  • The same announcement closed South Bermondsey station from 27 December to 4 January and put buses between London Bridge and Tulse Hill from 1 to 4 January, on a different route into London Bridge.

Network Rail published its Sussex plans on 19 November last year, so expect this year’s around the same time.

Last trains on Christmas Eve

On a normal weekday the last direct train home leaves London Bridge at 23:07, as our Crowborough train times page sets out. On Christmas Eve expect it to be much earlier. As a guide, GTR’s Christmas 2023 press release, said its routes would run normally until 5pm and then close down gradually, with last trains reaching their destinations by 9pm.

Check the 2026 times on National Rail’s journey planner once they are loaded, and again on the day.

Buses: the 29 to Brighton and Tunbridge Wells

Brighton and Hove Buses’ route 29 links Crowborough with Uckfield, Brighton and Tunbridge Wells. Its Christmas 2025 page shows how the holidays affect it:

  • Christmas Eve 2025: a Saturday service, finishing early. The last 29 from Churchill Square to Tunbridge Wells left at 19:45, and the last from Tunbridge Wells to Churchill Square at 19:52. A later 29 ran from Churchill Square as far as Uckfield only, at 20:45.
  • Christmas Day: the company ran a handful of routes, none of them the 29.
  • Boxing Day: a special timetable on a list of routes that included the 28/29B but not the 29.
  • 27 December to 2 January: Saturday or Sunday services, with New Year’s Day on a Sunday service.

The company published those plans on 24 November 2025. We will add the 2026 times when they appear.

The line right now

Before Christmas comes, the Uckfield line has its own problems. A speed restriction means some trains stop short at Crowborough with a bus onward to Uckfield until at least 5 October; see the latest on the Uckfield line and our roadworks and travel page, which we keep current.

Driving and parking

Council car parks in Crowborough are free all year, with time limits that still apply over Christmas. Our parking in Crowborough page has the details. Wealden had not announced any Christmas parking changes when we checked.

What is still to be confirmed, and when

  • Southern’s Christmas timetable and Christmas Eve last trains: National Rail says from early October, with the last trains guide in late November or early December
  • Network Rail’s Sussex engineering works: last year announced on 19 November
  • Brighton and Hove Buses’ Christmas times: last year published on 24 November

Also on Crowborough Today

Sources