No Elizabeth line trains at West Drayton or Hayes on 28 and 29 November. Last Christmas the Piccadilly line was shut to Uxbridge; 2026 plans follow in December.

The first big closure of the Christmas season is already booked: on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November, no Elizabeth line trains will run through West Drayton, Hayes & Harlington or Heathrow to London. TfL and National Rail have not yet published their plans for the Christmas and New Year fortnight itself. Last year TfL announced them on 2 December. (National Rail, TfL)

The quick answer

  • 28 and 29 November: no trains between Paddington and Maidenhead or Heathrow, so no Elizabeth line at West Drayton or Hayes & Harlington all weekend. Replacement buses run from Slough to Ealing Broadway.
  • Christmas 2026 Tube and rail plans are not out yet. On 25 September TfL’s own status feed shows no planned closures on the Metropolitan, Piccadilly or Elizabeth lines between 19 December and 4 January.
  • Last Christmas, the Piccadilly line did not run to Uxbridge on Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, 3 January or 4 January. The Metropolitan line kept Uxbridge connected.

How Uxbridge gets to London

Uxbridge has no National Rail station. It is the end of the line for the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines, and the borough’s rail stations, West Drayton and Hayes & Harlington, are on the Elizabeth line and Great Western main line out of Paddington. That matters at Christmas, because the Tube and the main line close for different work on different days. Our Uxbridge to London page has the normal times and fares.

Already booked before Christmas

Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November: the Dolphin Junction weekend. Network Rail is rebuilding the eastern side of Dolphin Junction, between Slough and Langley, and closing all lines between Maidenhead and Paddington. National Rail’s notice says (National Rail):

  • no Elizabeth line trains between Maidenhead and Abbey Wood, or between Heathrow and Shenfield, all weekend
  • no Heathrow Express
  • no Great Western trains between Maidenhead and Paddington
  • replacement buses between Maidenhead and Slough, and between Slough and Ealing Broadway to connect with the Tube

For West Drayton and Hayes that leaves the Tube at Uxbridge, Hillingdon or Ealing Broadway, or the replacement buses. National Rail’s notice says the job follows work on the western side of the same junction during Christmas 2025.

Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December: work between Hayes & Harlington and Slough closes two of the four lines, so Elizabeth line and Great Western trains are amended both days. (National Rail)

What happened last Christmas (2025)

TfL’s festive announcement came on 2 December 2025, with the detail on a page for each day. What it meant around Uxbridge, from TfL’s own pages:

Day What changed near Uxbridge
Christmas Eve, Wed 24 Dec Services ran but finished early
Christmas Day, Thu 25 Dec No Tube, Elizabeth line or TfL buses; TfL listed only taxis, Santander Cycles, coaches, Dial-a-Ride and some non-TfL buses
Boxing Day, Fri 26 Dec Reduced Sunday service on the Tube from 07:00; no Piccadilly line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge; no Metropolitan line between Rickmansworth and Amersham or Chesham; no Elizabeth line at all; buses on a Sunday service
New Year’s Eve, Wed 31 Dec Tube ran all night; no Piccadilly line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge
Sat 3 Jan No Piccadilly line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge
Sun 4 Jan No Piccadilly line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge; no Elizabeth line between West Drayton and Maidenhead before 11:45

Sources: TfL’s press release of 2 December 2025 and its day pages for Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, 3 January and 4 January, now taken down and read from the Internet Archive.

The pattern to take from that: the Piccadilly branch to Uxbridge was the part of the local Tube that closed, while the Metropolitan line kept running from Uxbridge through Ickenham, Ruislip and Harrow. If the same happens in 2026, the Metropolitan is your line into town.

Last year the Congestion Charge was suspended from Christmas Day to 1 January, and ULEZ did not operate on Christmas Day only. (TfL)

The 2026 dates to plan around

Christmas Day is a Friday, Boxing Day a Saturday, and the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. New Year’s Day is a Friday. (GOV.UK) Expect Sunday-style services on the bank holidays; how TfL treats Saturday 26 December will be in its announcement.

Parking on the bank holidays

On bank holidays Hillingdon does not enforce on-street pay and display bays, single yellow lines, business permit bays or most residents’ bays, except in zones RL, RL2, RL3 and RL4, which are enforced. Everything else, including double yellow lines, still applies. Only eight council car parks operate on bank holidays, including Cedars and Grainges multi-storeys in Uxbridge, the Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Complex, Ruislip Lido main car park and Willow Lawn. (Hillingdon Council) Prices and the rest of the rules are on our parking in Uxbridge page, and live works on the Uxbridge roadworks and travel page.

Still to be confirmed

  • TfL’s Christmas 2026 plan, including last trains on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day services. Expected early December, going by 2025.
  • Network Rail’s Christmas works on the Great Western main line, which would close the Elizabeth line through West Drayton and Hayes if they come.
  • Any council Christmas parking offer for 2026: none has been announced.

Our Hillingdon term dates page has the school holidays, and the Christmas bin collections page the rubbish changes.

Sources