There was a familiar feeling of misery for many passengers in the week before Christmas as hundreds of trains were cancelled, motorways were closed and ferry passengers queued for miles to board their ships.
But transport campaigners say politicians and transport bosses have the power to ease some of the problems faced by travellers.
There will be more gloom in the short term, according to the RAC, due to increased Boxing Day traffic and the possibility of dangerous winds in Scotland and northern England.
Nearly 21 million people went to visit family or friends before Christmas, and thousands more took planes or trains as what became known as the greater Christmas getaway gained momentum.
Storm Pia caused rail and road disruption in Scotland and northern England on Wednesday. Eurostar workers in France went on strike the next day and the knock-on effect was a huge demand for ferry services. During rush hour, drivers waited in line for 90 minutes.
Saturday was expected to be the busiest day of the year on the roads, with 20% more car journeys than last Christmas weekend, according to the RAC and Inrix.
Motorists on the M25 are expected to face delays of 50 minutes in the Boxing Day and journeys in busy parts of the UK will be 25% longer on 27 December.
On Saturday, the Port of Dover Travel reported a 90-minute wait at French border controls due to increased traffic following a surge in ferry bookings following Thursday’s Eurotunnel outage.
The Met Office today warned of possible power outages and high winds with flying debris in Scotland, Northern England and North Wales.
While the weather is beyond the control of ministers and railway chiefs, there are other ways to ease the burden on passengers, according to the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) and the Clean Cities Campaign (CCC).
National Highways removed 1,600 kilometers of roadworks on December 19 as an “early Christmas present” for motorists over the festive period. They will return on January 2.
Widespread engineering work is planned for the rail network, although Network Rail said it was doing less work than usual and no trains were running on Christmas Day.
In London, Paddington station is closed until Wednesday for HS2 works, while King’s Cross is closed today and Victoria station does not operate South East services until January 2.
Passengers will gamble on services from operators such as Avanti West Coast, which cut services in December and saw 32% of services canceled or severely delayed.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” said CBT campaign manager Michael Solomon Williams.
“It no longer makes sense to distinguish between commuting travel and leisure travel.”
He said fewer people have been traveling during the week since the pandemic.
“People work on weekends, go to football matches. There are many reasons why we need more services at weekends and Christmas, when people are traveling across the country more than ever before.
“Another time makes more sense, say the second week of January or on a Monday.”
He added that another salve for travelers would be the establishment of Great Britain Railways, which was announced by the government in May 2021 but shelved in October 2022. Passengers will also be told to pay an extra 4.9% on rail fares in the new year.
“They could have frozen the fees like they have with the fuel tax for the last 13 years,” Solomon Williams said. “The cost of traveling by train has become twice as much as driving.”
CCC chief executive Oliver Lord said cuts to services on the busiest travel days of the year meant people were more likely to opt for the car, increasing traffic congestion.
“A third of rail use is now recreational,” he said. “What will they think if a family wants to use the train to get out of town three or four times a year and their experience is engineering jobs, rail bus service and trips that take three times as long?
“This is a great opportunity for the government to make a strategic decision,” Lord added. “If we said the first week or two of January was a period where businesses and companies could do things a little differently, work from home more, that would be a great new year’s resolution from the government.”
Deputy editor Naomi Leach said travelers facing cancellations or delays should make sure they claim compensation. Which? Trip.
“Sadly, severe travel disruptions over the holiday period appear to be becoming increasingly common, with passengers once again facing the misery of canceled trains as they try to get home for Christmas,” he said.
“If your train is canceled or delayed, be sure to note your ticket number and claim through Delay Refund, a nationwide program that aims to compensate rail passengers for delays of 15 minutes or more.
“For delays of one hour or more, Eurostar operates its own compensation scheme which accepts claims from 24 hours after the disruption occurred.”