Transport for London has confirmed that the congestion charge will be suspended from Christmas Eve until January 2nd, making it easier for Londoners and tourists to enjoy the capital and take home a bargain from the festive sales.
Drivers will be able to enter central London without paying the charge every day over Christmas and New Year, including on Christmas Day when no public transport services will run and on New Year’s Day when many services will operate reduced services.
As in past years, TfL will provide free travel for everyone celebrating New Year’s Eve, allowing millions of party goers to get home safely.
Free travel will be available from 23:45 on 31 December to 04:30 on 1 January on buses, Tube, tram, DLR, TfL Rail and London Overground. Some London Overground and TfL Rail services may finish earlier.
TfL says it will use the festive season to carry out “essential improvement work,” with “thousands of engineers” working on rail, road and station upgrades and improvements. The agency says while most of its network will continue to operate, some local closures will be necessary to allow the work to be carried out.
Transport Commissioner, Mike Brown MVO, said: “We need to use the quieter Christmas period to carry out vital work across our network and to prepare for Elizabeth line services that will start serving the Capital from December 2018.
“Customers travelling in and around London during this time are encouraged to use our festive travel website to help plan journeys in advance so that they can enjoy the many events that are taking place across the Capital over the Christmas and New Year period.”
Full details of the seasonal changes can be found at tfl.gov.uk/festive-travel.
