The main line from Norfolk and Suffolk to London should be open as usual for most of its route over much of the Christmas season - although Liverpool Street station will be closed.

Trains from Norwich and Ipswich to London will run as far as Stratford in east London - three miles from Liverpool Street - although there are Central Line, Elizabeth Line and Jubilee Line trains from here into the heart of the capital.

There should be no replacement buses on the main line which have become the bane of lives of most festive travellers over recent years.

As is normal there will be no Christmas Day or Boxing Day trains on the route - but on other days a normal timetable should operate as far as Stratford.

Liverpool Street main line station will be closed from Christmas Eve until January 2 to allow Network Rail to replace some of the tracks in the Bishopsgate approach to the station - but Stratford is already a major interchange and disruption for passengers is expected to be limited.

There is less good news for passengers on the other side of the region - the line will be closed during this period south of Cambridge station to allow work on a new station so passengers from stations like Bury St Edmunds will be encouraged to use the easterly route to the capital.

Network Rail is to announce a full list of its planned Christmas engineering work later this month - and there could be some disruption to local, cross-country and suburban services.

Helen Hamlin, Network Rail’s director of system operations, said: “The festive period is a unique opportunity, when fewer people are travelling, to do big pieces of work to make services better, more punctual and more reliable.

“Most of the railway will be open as normal over Christmas and New Year, so passengers can go ahead and book their travel – timetables will start to go live this weekend.”