Anyone who’s ever spent the festive period in London knows that getting around is no piece of Christmas cake – and 2023 won’t be any different. From black cabs hiking their fares to all the planned closures on the tube, there’s a lot of change to the city’s transport networks taking place over the coming weeks.
And the bus timetables are no exception. From Christmas Eve (Sunday December 24) until Tuesday January 2, services won’t be operating at their usual frequency or capacity, and, as usual, no buses will be running at all on Christmas Day. To keep you informed about all the changes, here’s a roundup of what’s gonna be running each day over the Christmas and New Year period.
London bus timetable changes for Christmas 2023
Saturday December 23 – normal Saturday timetable on day and night services.
Christmas Eve (Sunday December 24) – Sunday timetable during the day, and no night buses. 24-hour routes will finish around midnight.
Christmas Day (Monday December 25) – no service.
Boxing Day (Tuesday December 26) – Sunday timetable on day and night services.
Wednesday December 27, Thursday 28 and Friday 29 – Saturday timetable on day services, and a special timetable for the new weekday-only service SL6 (which runs between North Finchley and Walthamstow Central). Weeknight night services will run on these days.
Saturday December 30 – normal Saturday timetable on day and night services.
New Year’s Eve (Sunday December 31) – normal Sunday timetable on day bus routes. Special timetables will run on night and 24 hour bus routes. There’ll be enhancements, amendments and revised timetables for all the following routes:
- 6
- 8
- 21
- 35
- 36
- 37
- 44
- 47
- 87
- 97
- 104
- 108
- 109
- 129
- 131
- 132
- 153
- 158
- 171
- 188
- 214
- 238
- 254
- 280
- 297
- 407
- N2
- N18
- N25
- N29
- N86
- N98
- N109
- N205
- N207
- W3
You can read about each of the above routes in more detail on TfL’s webpage here. Many central London routes will be diverted away from Westminster and the West End from 7 pm due to closures and New Year celebrations.
New Year’s Day (Monday January 1, 2024) – Sunday timetables on day services and Monday timetables on all night services.
Tuesday January 2 – Normal timetables resume.
For more information on how other services are affected, have a look at our handy guide to service disruptions and reduced timetables across TfL’s network, or use this journey planner on their website. We also have a roundup of everything you need to know about train strikes throughout December.
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