Major engineering works on the West Coast Main Line means the southern section will be closed and there will be no trains on December 23 and 24.

It is part of the £125million Bletchley resignalling project, near Milton Keynes, allowing only one train per hour from Euston via an alternative route.

No trains will run on Christmas or Boxing Day.

The work will result in no direct services from Euston to Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool or Glasgow on December 23 and 24.

Direct services will resume on December 27, but with two of the four lines closed up to and including Hogmanay, this means fewer trains to the usual destinations.

Robin Gisby, Network Rail network operations managing director, said: "Services on the West Coast on December 23 and 24 will be severely affected.

"We understand and regret the impact this will have on passengers and freight services, but believe it is necessary to achieve the long-term benefits."

Chris Gibb, chief operating officer of Virgin Trains, said: "We are working hard with industry colleagues to ensure customers have as much advance information as possible, irrespective of who will actually be running long distance services on the West Coast Main Line by this time."