Last time there was no Metro or bus on Christmas Day or New Year's Day. Boxing Day's bank holiday is Mon 28 Dec 2026. Free weekend parking and what's due.
Plan for no Metro and no buses on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. That is what Nexus ran in its most recent published festive timetable, and National Rail already confirms there will be no National Rail trains on Christmas Day 2026. Nexus has not published its 2026 Christmas timetable yet; the last one on its site is below as the best guide, and we will replace it when the new one appears.
Christmas Day is a Friday this year and Boxing Day a Saturday, so the Boxing Day bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. That is the day most likely to catch people out.
The quick answer
- No Metro, buses or Shields Ferry on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day, on the pattern of Nexus’s last published festive timetable.
- Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve: services finish early. In 2024 the Metro went hourly from about 6pm on Christmas Eve and every 30 minutes from about 9pm on New Year’s Eve.
- The Boxing Day bank holiday is Monday 28 December 2026.
Metro over Christmas: what happened last time
The most recent full festive timetable on Nexus’s own site is for Christmas and New Year 2024. It said:
| Day | Metro service (2024) |
|---|---|
| Christmas Eve | Revised weekday service until about 6pm, then hourly (every 30 minutes between Pelaw and South Gosforth) |
| Christmas Day | No service |
| Boxing Day | Revised Sunday service, about 8am to 8pm |
| 27 to 30 December | Normal timetable |
| New Year’s Eve | Revised weekday service until about 9pm, then every 30 minutes (15 minutes between Pelaw and South Gosforth) |
| New Year’s Day | No service |
| 2 January | Normal weekday service |
Nexus added that times vary by location and direction, so check the stop you actually use once the 2026 version is out. Our Whitley Bay Metro times page has the normal first and last trains.
Buses and the Shields Ferry
Nexus’s 2024 summary for buses:
- No buses on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
- Christmas Eve: Arriva and Go North East ran a weekday service and Stagecoach mostly a Saturday service, with last departures generally between 6pm and 7pm.
- Boxing Day: Go North East and Stagecoach ran some daytime services, with extra services paid for by Nexus.
- New Year’s Eve: a Saturday service until about 6pm, then reduced services until about 7.30pm, when most bus services finished.
The Shields Ferry ran a normal service on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, a Sunday timetable on Boxing Day, and nothing on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. Nexus noted then that the ferry had no evening service.
Mainline trains from Newcastle
Whitley Bay has no mainline station, so longer journeys start at Newcastle. National Rail’s Christmas and New Year 2026/27 summary covers Thursday 24 December 2026 to Monday 4 January 2027 and says:
- Christmas Eve: trains on many routes finish earlier than normal.
- Christmas Day: no National Rail services.
- Saturday 26 December: most operators run no service, with a very limited service from a few.
- Monday 28 December: the substitute Boxing Day bank holiday, services to be confirmed.
- New Year’s Eve: trains on some routes finish earlier than normal.
Each train company’s own Christmas details are linked from the same page, and National Rail says they start filling in from the beginning of October.
Parking: free on December weekends last year
In December 2025 North Tyneside Council made on-street parking in Whitley Bay town centre free on Saturdays as well as Sundays for the whole month, and suspended the ticket machines and phone payments on these streets: Beach Avenue, Brook Street, Clifton Terrace, Coquet Avenue, Duchess Street, Duke Street, Fern Avenue, Holly Avenue, Laburnum Avenue, Jesmond Terrace, Marine Gardens, North Parade, Ocean View, Oxford Street, Park Avenue, Park Parade, Roxburgh Terrace, Station Road and Victoria Terrace. Back Park View, Park Road, the Playhouse and Whitley Road car parks were listed as free council car parks. Front Street in Tynemouth was free on both weekend days, with the two-hour limit still applying. All of that is from the council’s 1 December 2025 announcement.
The 2025 announcement came on 1 December, so expect news of any 2026 scheme around then. Normal charges and car parks are on our parking in Whitley Bay page, and road closures on our roadworks and travel page.
What is still to be confirmed
- Nexus’s 2026 Christmas and New Year timetable for Metro, buses and the ferry. The 2024 version was online by 13 December; we will check from late November and update this page.
- Train operators’ Christmas timetables, from October onwards.
- Whether free December parking returns in 2026, expected around 1 December.
Bin days also move over Christmas: see Whitley Bay Christmas bin collections.
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