No trains from Fareham on Christmas Day, early finishes on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day moved to 28 Dec. What is confirmed, plus last year's buses and parking.
There will be no trains from Fareham on Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026, and on Christmas Eve services on many routes finish earlier than usual. Those two points are fixed nationally every year. The line-by-line detail for the lines through Fareham has not been published yet.
National Rail’s festive guide covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027 and says the train companies will add their own plans “from the beginning of October onwards” (National Rail).
The quick answer
- Christmas Day: no National Rail trains anywhere.
- Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December: most operators run nothing. The bank holiday itself moves to Monday 28 December, and what runs that day is still to be confirmed.
- Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve: early finishes on many routes. National Rail’s last-trains-from-London guide follows in late November or early December.
Day by day, 24 December to 4 January
| Date | What is published |
|---|---|
| Thu 24 December | Services on many routes finish earlier than normal |
| Fri 25 December | No National Rail services at all |
| Sat 26 December | Most operators run no service; a very limited service from a small number, details to be confirmed |
| Sun 27 December | Not yet detailed |
| Mon 28 December | Boxing Day bank holiday substitute; services to be confirmed |
| Tue 29 to Wed 30 December | Not yet detailed |
| Thu 31 December | Services on some routes finish earlier than normal |
| Fri 1 January 2027 | Extra services after midnight on a number of London area routes |
| Sat 2 to Mon 4 January | Not yet detailed |
National Rail’s advice for Christmas Eve is not to assume the normal timetable is running and to check the whole journey is possible that day. If you are coming home to Fareham from London on the evening of the 24th, do not book anything that depends on a late train until its last-trains guide is out.
Which trains serve Fareham
South Western Railway manages Fareham station and runs the direct trains to London Waterloo, a journey of about an hour and 47 minutes. Southern runs the coastway service towards Havant and Brighton, and Great Western calls on its Cardiff route. Our Fareham train times page has the everyday timetable and fares. Each of the three will publish its own Christmas plan, and they will not all look the same.
Engineering works over Christmas
None announced yet for the lines through Fareham. National Rail’s list of planned engineering notices, read on 25 September 2026, reaches only as far as 19 December, and the last one touching this area is a Guildford to Havant and Portsmouth Harbour notice starting on 7 December (National Rail engineering works). Network Rail usually books its biggest jobs for the Christmas shutdown, so expect notices for 27 December onwards to appear during October and November.
Buses: what ran last Christmas
First Solent and Stagecoach have not published their 2026 festive timetables. For Christmas 2025, Portsmouth City Council’s travel site published this summary for First Solent’s Portsmouth network (Travel Portsmouth):
- Christmas Eve: normal Saturday service, finishing early at 8pm
- Christmas Day: special hourly service on routes 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8, from 8am to 6pm
- Boxing Day: special service on routes E1/E2, 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8
- New Year’s Eve: Sunday service with an early finish; New Year’s Day: special service on routes 1, 2, 3, 7 and 8
That table covers the Portsmouth network and does not say which of those routes reach Fareham, so treat it only as a guide to the shape of the holiday. Check First Bus in December for the Fareham routes themselves.
Parking in Fareham town centre over Christmas
Fareham Borough Council’s car parks charge Monday to Saturday 8am to 6pm, and on Sundays and bank holidays from 10.30am to 4pm. There is no charge on Christmas Day, and parking is free after 6pm (Fareham Borough Council). Boxing Day on Saturday 26 December is an ordinary Saturday for charging, and Monday 28 December is a bank holiday, so the shorter Sunday hours apply.
Last year the council also made all town centre car parks free from 5pm on its two Festive Thursdays late-shopping evenings, 11 and 18 December 2025 (Fareham Borough Council). The council has not announced 2026 free parking. Its new Carols in the Garden evenings in the Civic Gardens, on Thursday 10 and Thursday 17 December 2026 from 4.30pm to 6pm, point visitors to “Festive Thursday activities” in the shopping centre the same evenings (Fareham Borough Council), so those look like this year’s late-shopping nights. Last year’s free parking was announced on 19 November.
Still to be confirmed
- South Western Railway, Southern and Great Western Christmas timetables: from October 2026.
- National Rail’s last trains from London on Christmas Eve: late November or early December.
- First Solent’s Christmas bus timetable and any Festive Thursdays free parking.
Also on Fareham News
- Fareham roadworks and travel: live closures, updated weekly
- Parking in Fareham: every car park and tariff
- Fareham Christmas lights switch-on
- Fareham Christmas bin collections
- Fareham school term dates
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