Nothing runs on 25 December, 26 December is a Saturday with few trains, and the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. What changes around Clapham.
Christmas 2026 falls on a Friday, and that moves more than the date. There are no trains and no Tube on Christmas Day, Friday 25 December. Boxing Day is a Saturday, so the bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December, and National Rail says most operators will run no trains at all on Saturday 26 December. The detail for Clapham’s own lines is not out yet: operators start adding it from early October and the last-trains guide follows in late November. This page sets out what is confirmed, what happened last year, and when the rest arrives.
The quick answer
- Christmas Day, Friday 25 December: no National Rail trains, and last year no Tube or Overground either. Buses stopped too. Santander Cycles and taxis kept running.
- Saturday 26 December: “most train operators will have no service”, National Rail says, with a very limited service from a few. Last year the Tube ran a Sunday service on Boxing Day.
- Christmas Eve, Thursday 24 December: trains finish early. Last year the last South Western Railway trains out of Waterloo all left before 10pm.
What National Rail has confirmed for 2026/27
National Rail’s Christmas travel page treats Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027 as the festive period. So far it says:
| Day | 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, details to be confirmed |
| Monday 28 December | Substitute Boxing Day bank holiday; services to be confirmed |
| 24 December to 4 January | Operator details added "from the beginning of October onwards" |
The guide to last trains out of London is due “late November / early December”, and the New Year’s Day guide in early December. The engineering works list on National Rail currently runs only to 19 December 2026, so no Christmas closures on the lines through Clapham have been announced yet.
The Tube and Overground: last year’s pattern
Clapham North, Clapham Common and Clapham South are on the Northern line, and Clapham High Street and Wandsworth Road are on the London Overground. TfL has not published its 2026 Christmas plans. Last year it did so on 2 December 2025, and the pattern was:
- Christmas Eve: services ran but “will finish early”.
- Christmas Day: “no service on the majority of public transport”, including the Tube and buses. Santander Cycles, rental e-scooters, taxis and Dial-a-Ride kept running.
- Boxing Day: “A Sunday service will operate on the London Underground, London Buses and on London Trams.” Some parts of the network, including the Elizabeth line, did not run.
- New Year’s Eve: services ran all night, with central stations liable to close at short notice to prevent overcrowding.
If TfL keeps that pattern, the Northern line would be running on Saturday 26 December 2026 when most National Rail trains are not. That is not confirmed until TfL publishes.
Clapham Junction: what South Western Railway did last year
Clapham Junction is the station most of SW4 uses for trains towards Surrey and the south west, and last Christmas it was the end of the line. South Western Railway’s Christmas page, still showing the 2025/26 plan, says “major engineering work will take place between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction between Saturday 27 December 2025 and Sunday 4 January 2026”. In practice:
- On 24 December 2025, services “end before 2200”. The last trains from Waterloo ranged from 6.20pm to Exeter St Davids to 9.42pm to Basingstoke.
- On 25 and 26 December there were no SWR trains at all.
- On 27 and 28 December all lines between Waterloo and Clapham Junction were closed, and every SWR train started and finished at Clapham Junction.
- From 29 December to 4 January, the Windsor lines via Barnes, to Reading, Windsor and Richmond, still terminated at Clapham Junction, while the main line via Wimbledon reached Waterloo again.
- On New Year’s Eve, SWR ran extra trains out of Waterloo between 1.20am and 4.45am.
Whether the 2026 works repeat that closure is not yet known. SWR has not updated the page for this Christmas.
Driving and parking
Lambeth treats Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day as it does any bank holiday. Pay-for-parking bays and resident and business permit bays are free, but yellow lines, disabled bays and bus lanes are still enforced, and the council runs a removal service on bank holidays (Lambeth). With the bank holiday on Monday 28 December this year, check which days the signs count. There is more on the three council car parks and the free bays in our parking in Clapham page.
Last year TfL suspended the Congestion Charge from 25 December to 1 January, and the ULEZ applied every day except Christmas Day. Our roadworks and travel page has the current charges and what is closed on the roads now.
Still to be confirmed
- Early October: operators start adding 2026/27 detail to National Rail, including whether SWR closes Waterloo to Clapham Junction again.
- Early December: TfL’s Christmas and New Year plans for the Northern line, Overground and buses; National Rail’s last trains and New Year’s Day guides.
This page will be updated as each lands.
More for Christmas in Clapham
- Clapham bin collection days, with the Christmas changes
- Lambeth school term dates: schools break up on 18 December
- Clapham Christmas lights switch-on
- Clapham tube and train times
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