Birmingham New Street has major works from 24 to 28 December, and every Bromsgrove train runs through it. No trains on 25 December; free parking day likely.
Birmingham New Street will have major engineering work from Thursday 24 to Monday 28 December 2026, and National Rail warns that journeys “to, from or through” the station will be significantly disrupted. For Bromsgrove, Barnt Green and Alvechurch that is almost every journey: the Cross City line runs straight into New Street.
The quick answer
- Christmas Eve to Monday 28 December: expect disruption on any journey through New Street. Details are due from October.
- No trains at all on Christmas Day, and most operators run none on Saturday 26 December. Monday 28 December is the substitute Boxing Day bank holiday.
- Early finishes on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Check your whole journey on the day.
What National Rail has confirmed so far
National Rail’s 2026/27 Christmas guide covers Thursday 24 December to Monday 4 January. It says:
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Thu 24 December | Many routes finish earlier than normal; New Street works begin |
| Fri 25 December | No National Rail services |
| Sat 26 December | Most operators run no trains; a very limited service from a few, to be confirmed |
| Mon 28 December | Substitute Boxing Day bank holiday; services to be confirmed; last day of New Street works |
| Thu 31 December | Some routes finish earlier than normal |
The guide says each operator’s own plan will be added “from the beginning of October onwards”, and that the full list of major works will follow. The current engineering works list, which reaches into mid December, has no Bromsgrove, Barnt Green or Alvechurch closure booked.
Source: National Rail, Christmas and New Year 2026/27 travel summary.
Why New Street matters so much here
Bromsgrove station is run by West Midlands Railway, and its Birmingham trains all run to New Street. Services to London mean changing there too: there is no direct train from Bromsgrove. So four days of major work at New Street is, in practice, four days of disruption to nearly every rail trip out of the district, whatever the line looks like at this end. Our Bromsgrove train times page has the normal service.
What happened last Christmas
West Midlands Railway’s own festive guide for 2025 is still live, and it shows the pattern:
- No WMR trains on Christmas Day or Boxing Day 2025.
- Between Christmas and New Year it ran “an amended timetable with potential rail replacement bus services”. Rail replacement buses ran between Worcester and Kidderminster/Bromsgrove until 4pm on 28 December.
- On New Year’s Eve the Cross City North route (New Street to Lichfield) stopped at 10pm, replaced by buses, and on New Year’s Day it did not run until 10am.
- It offered 50% off Off-Peak Day Returns between 27 December and 5 January.
Source: West Midlands Railway, Festive travel guide. None of that is promised for 2026, but it is the operator’s own record of how it ran the season last time.
Free parking in town
Bromsgrove District Council has given free parking in its car parks before Christmas in three of the last four years, never on the same pattern:
| Year | Free parking | Announced |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Saturday 13 December, all day | 8 December 2025 |
| 2023 | Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 December (Small Business Saturday) | The week of the event |
| 2022 | 3 and 4 December, and 17 and 18 December | 23 November 2022 |
The 2025 offer applied at council-owned car parks only; the station car park is not the council’s. Sources: the council’s news releases Free parking day to bring Christmas cheer (2025), Free parking and more this weekend for Small Business Saturday (2023) and Festive Parking is coming to town (2022). We did not find a 2024 release.
Normal charges, the 30 free minutes and the car park that closed this month are on our parking in Bromsgrove page. Road closures, including the A38 works, are on roadworks and travel.
Still to be confirmed, and when
- West Midlands Railway’s Christmas timetable and the New Street work plan: National Rail says operator detail arrives from October. We will update this page when it does.
- Christmas Eve last trains: National Rail’s last-trains list comes late November or early December.
- Bus timetables: operators have published nothing for Christmas 2026 yet.
- The council’s free parking day, announced on 8 December last year.
For the rest of the season: Christmas bin collections, the lights switch-on and the Christmas market.
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