Ho-ho-home for Christmas: LNER Shares Its Top Festive Travel Tips

Almost half a million journeys are expected on LNER services between 22 December 2025 and 4 January 2026, while 27 December is set to be the busiest day of travel with over 66,000 bookings being made so far.  

With more people travelling, customers are advised to leave extra time to get to the station and find their platform, as train doors may close up to two minutes before departure time. 

For those who book directly with LNER, there’s an option to receive live platform and seat reservation notifications straight to their phones via LNER Assistant. 

As Christmas fast approaches, LNER has the following tips for travellers: 

• Be seat sure 

Make a free seat reservation where possible on the LNER app or website. 

• Travel light 

Please only bring what you can carry, so bags can be safely stored onboard. 

• Ask for assistance if needed 

Passenger Assistance is available for all customers if you need a helping hand. 

Customers can also join the LNER Perks loyalty programme and receive £5 credit for signing up and earn 2% credit to use on future journeys with LNER when booking directly. 

Colette Casey, Customer Experience Director at LNER, said: "We’ve been working hard behind the scenes at LNER to make sure we keep our customers on the move over the festive period, and spread some Christmas cheer along the way too. 

"We also hope that our Christmas onboard offerings, including our new festive menu and the Christmas edition of our Routes podcast, make that journey home extra special – there’s plenty to keep younger travellers entertained as well.” 

For those journeying with children, the LNER Family Lounges in Edinburgh, York and London King’s Cross are welcoming spaces for kids to play. Once onboard, there’s a Christmas episode of the LNER Kids Club podcast to listen to, and festive activity books for some fun. 

Customers travelling in First Class will be offered the Festive Menu, which includes a range of seasonal favourites sourced locally from suppliers along the LNER route. The ‘Let’s Eat At Your Seat’ service is available to customers in Standard with tasty refreshments that can be delivered directly to their seat.  

Although there is no planned engineering work affecting the East Coast route this Christmas, major work on the West Coast Main Line and the Leeds to York route may affect other operators. As timings may change over the holiday period, customers are advised to check the latest information about their full journeys on National Rail Enquiries website.