Christmas train chaos as rail works to shut five out of seven main routes

Tens of thousands of train passengers face serious delays over Christmas and New Year when five of Britain's seven main rail routes will be severed by engineering work.
Network Rail is planning to close parts of Britain's busiest lines for up to two weeks.
Travellers could see their journey times double as they are forced to use replacement bus services.
But the huge volume of traffic over Christmas and the potential for treacherous weather could significantly increase the delays further.
One of the worst-hit will be the London to South Wales route, which will be out of action for ten days - from Christmas Eve to January 3.
In the Midlands, all trains between Nottingham and Derby will be cancelled for eight days. Meanwhile, passengers in the North face being stranded as services terminate at earlier stations on Christmas Eve.
The extent of the work has sparked fears of a repeat of the chaos that blighted Christmas in 2007.
Network Rail was hit with a record £14million fine for the over-running repair work in Rugby and London.
The delays are yet another blow to passengers who have faced fare rises of up to 15 per cent, threats of strikes by ticket office staff and delays caused by flooding.
Critics said the closures were ' completely unacceptable' and called for Network Rail to face further fines.
Tory transport spokesman Theresa Villiers said: 'Passengers face more misery with these closures coming on top of threatened rail strikes.

 

'It's vital that the Government makes Network Rail accountable to passengers. We need to give Network Rail tougher requirements to get engineering work done as efficiently as possible to minimise closures.'
LibDem MP Norman Baker said: 'This is unacceptable. We were promised a rail service which would operate fully all year round. Passengers will rightly feel they have been misled.
'The time has come for Network Rail to pay the fares of every passenger forced to use a replacement bus service.'
The major routes being partly closed are: London to South Wales, London to Weymouth, London to Derby and Nottingham, London to Norwich and the London to Glasgow line between Manchester and Glasgow.
The main lines unaffected by the engineering work are London to Edinburgh and London to Penzance.
The work will take place in nine locations on Christmas Eve, 28 on December 27 and 13 on January 1.
Anthony Smith, of customer watchdog Passenger Focus, said: ' Engineering work causes major inconvenience. We're putting pressure on train companies to have more staff to ensure work finishes on time.'
Network Rail said: 'There is much less work planned this year, with the east and west coast lines remaining open, so passengers can look forward to less disruption this Christmas.'