Christmas travel rush begins

Some train services are already fully booked

The great Christmas getaway is expected to begin in earnest on Thursday as travellers head off early in an attempt to avoid problems on the road and rail networks.

Some long-distance trains are already completely full and train companies are warning passengers to buy their tickets as soon as possible where spaces are available.

Railtrack says more than 500 speed restrictions have now been removed from the network but almost as many remain in place, extending normal journey times.

Major roads are also expected to become extremely busy as people take to their cars to avoid the crowded railways.

Boarding controls

GNER has been worst hit by the rail crisis and two of its trains to Aberdeen and Inverness on Thursday are now full.

Passengers hoping to find a seat on other GNER services are being warned they must book in order to travel between now and 3 January.

Roads are expected to be busy from Thursday onwards

Routes to the West Country on Great Western are also busy and every seat is taken on three services heading for Penzance on Thursday lunchtime.

Other companies say they will have to introduce boarding controls to manage the crowds at stations during the weekend.

Rail companies cannot run the normal number of trains because there are still more than 460 post-Hatfield speed restrictions on the network where track is in a poor condition.

Repairs delayed

On Thursday morning, Railtrack released figures showing restrictions had been lifted at 505 locations where rails were repaired or replaced.

The recovery programme will continue throughout Christmas, bringing some hope for an improvement to services in the New Year.

However, Railtrack is already falling behind on its re-railing programme because it is waiting for the more complicated pieces of track to be delivered.

This means it is likely to be Easter before the railways are running normally.