Rail passengers are being reminded to plan ahead and check before they travel as upgrades to the rail network continue in the south east over Christmas and New Year.

Nearly 2,700 members of Network Rail’s so-called ‘orange army’ of engineers will be working across the region this festive season carrying out work designed to increase capacity, reduce delays and improve reliability.

The engineering team will work almost 30,000 hours collectively, beginning on the morning of Christmas Eve. This will mean significant changes to many Southeastern services.

On Christmas Eve and Tuesday, December 27, there are no trains at Charing Cross, Waterloo East, St Johns and New Cross . Only Hastings trains will be going to and from London Bridge and there will be a limited service to and from Cannon Street. It means trains will be diverted to Victoria or Blackfriars and these lines will be busier than usual.

There will be no trains running on the entire network on Christmas Day. On Boxing Day, there will be no trains running from Medway to London. Passengers can, however, get a high speed service from Gravesend to St Pancras, which will be running every half hour between 8am and 8pm.

On Wednesday 28, Thursday 29 and Friday 30, there will be a Saturday-style limited service.

There is some good news however, with extra trains running from London to Medway on New Year’s Eve. The last train back to the Towns leaves Victoria at 2.37am.

Reduced services will be running on January 1 and 2.

John Halsall, Network Rail south east route managing director, said: “My teams are gearing up to work around the clock to improve the railway infrastructure in the south east for the hundreds of thousands of passengers that use it every day. By starting work on Christmas Eve, our engineers will have four full days to get the work done when there are fewer passengers travelling.

“The work we are doing is part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan which will help improve the reliability of the network on the south east and keep passengers moving.

“I would like to thank passengers for their patience while we carry out this essential work and urge people to check before they travel this Christmas.”

David Statham, managing director of Southeastern Railway, added: “We are encouraging passengers to check their journey before they travel and in particular we urge passengers to check the last trains on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.”

To check changes to your journey over Christmas and New Year, visit www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/christmas or www.nationalrail.co.uk/Christmas.

There will be reduced Arriva bus services in Medway over Christmas and New Year - but with some special timetables to ensure people can get to the shops for the sales.

Normal services will operate today (Friday) and these will continue tomorrow but there will be some early finishes on Christmas Eve. There are no services on Christmas Day.

On Boxing Day there will be some services running - the 190 between Chatham and Dockside Shopping Centre, the 166 between Chatham bus station and Lordswood and the 700 from Chatham to Bluewater.

On December 27, normal Sunday services will be running, with special timetables again for the 166 and 700.

Between December 28 and 30, Saturday services will be running.

On New Year’s Eve it will be Saturday services but with early finishes and on New Year’s Day a Sunday service will operate.

On January 2 a Sunday service will be running, but with special timetables again for the 166 and 700.

Richard Lewis, customer information manager at Arriva, said: “We would urge anyone planning to use our services over the Christmas and New Year period to check our special timetables before setting off on their journey, particularly if they are travelling on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve when services will have early finishes.

“We would like to wish all our customers a very Happy Christmas, and we look forward to welcoming them on board in the New Year.”

For the full seasonal timetables, visit www.arrivabus.co.uk/christmas-buses-kent-and-surrey.