How to avoid travel chaos on road and rail this Christmas and New Year

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. By “messy Monday,” 23 December, additional congestion is expected on: M1 from Luton to Northampton M5 from Bristol to Taunton A303 around Stonehenge M42 between the M40 and M6 interchanges A64 around York The RAC predicts the busiest single getaway day for motorists will be Christmas Eve, with peak time 10am-4pm. Hourly East Midlands trains will run from Sheffield, Corby and Nottingham as far south as Bedford, for rail-replacement buses to Milton Keynes Central – connecting to the West Coast main line, and therefore London Euston. Last direct trains on key intercity routes on 24 December are as follows: London King’s Cross-Edinburgh: 5.30pm/Edinburgh-London King’s Cross: 4.13pm London Euston-Manchester Piccadilly: 5.55pm/Manchester Piccadilly-London Euston: 6.13pm London Paddington-Cardiff Central: 7.48pm/Cardiff Central-London Paddington: 8.18pm London Victoria-Gatwick Airport: 8.45pm/Gatwick Airport-London Victoria: 7.32pm Bristol Temple Meads-Leeds: 4.35pm/Leeds-Bristol Temple Meads: 4.11pm Glasgow Queen Street-Aberdeen: 6.41pm/Aberdeen-Glasgow Queen Street: 6.36pm All Caledonian Sleeper services are cancelled until 27 December. “The current offer falls short, and our members are determined to secure a fair deal.” A TfL spokesperson said: “If this action goes ahead we expect the Elizabeth line to operate normally, but would ask customers to check before they travel.” Bus/Coach National Express and FlixBus will operate many hundreds of coach journeys between them on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, including to and from airports.