Diamond Jubilee 2012: UK travel advice over the bank holiday

Millions of Britons are celebrating The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee over the extended bank holiday weekend.

While a large number of events take place across the nation, people travelling to London to join the celebrations are being urged to plan ahead.

From the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames to the Jubilee Family Festival in Hyde Park, the capital  is playing host to a series of high-profile events. While there is much fun to be had,  it will inevitably be extremely busy across central London as well as major cities across Britain.

Due to a number of road and bridge closures, motorists are being urged to consider alternative modes of transport.

To make your journey to events as smooth and safe as possible, transport operators across the UK have issued some guidance on how to travel efficiently during the four-day holiday.


 [Related link: Share your Diamond Jubilee memories with our new Y! Reporter app]


Saturday 2 June

Main events:  The Jubilee Family Festival, Hyde Park and Epsom Derby, Surrey

Roads

•    Roads near Hyde Park will be very busy
•    Road closures will be in place, with a possible closure of Park Lane to help crowds safely disperse

Tube

•    All Tube services are expected to operate as normal with no planned engineering work.
•    Stations including Hyde Park Corner, St James’s Park and Green Park will be busier than usual

Docklands Light Railway

Operating as normal

London Overground

Operating as normal

  [Related story: Final details of Jubilee Pageant revealed]

Sunday 3 June

Main events: The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, The Big Jubilee Lunch, Diamond Jubilee Festival, Battersea Park, The Jubilee Family Festival, Hyde Park, street parties


Roads

•    Many central London bridges between Battersea Bridge and Tower Bridge inclusive will be closed for large parts of the day
•    Albert Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge and Tower Bridge will be closed to all traffic and pedestrians starting from 7am until 8pm
•    Millennium Bridge and the Jubilee footbridge will also be closed for the same duration
•    Vauxhall Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Southwark Bridge and London Bridge will be open to traffic and pedestrians apart from between around 3pm and 5.30pm. People are advised that these are for crossing the river only, they are likely to be very busy and that they are not viewing locations
•    Battersea Bridge and Chelsea Bridge will be open for pedestrians only throughout, but once again they are likely to be very busy and the river pageant will not be visible from them
•    Areas along the Thames will be very busy, with a number of dedicated viewing areas, and anyone who is not a spectator should avoid these areas
•    Anyone wanting to watch the events is advised to decide which side of the river they intend to watch from and to be there by no later than 2pm
•    The bridge closures and large number of spectators will mean that a significant number of bus routes will either be diverted or will not run their full routes.  Bus services that usually cross the river between Battersea Bridge and Tower Bridge inclusive will not do so throughout the day between 7am and 9.30pm
•    Instead a number of ‘bus hubs’ will be established at or near to transport interchanges either side of the river. Bus hubs will be located at:  Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Battersea Bridge Road, Chelsea World’s End, Elephant & Castle, Holborn, Holborn Circus, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Moorgate Finsbury Square, Piccadilly, Tottenham Court Road, Tower Bridge Road, Vauxhall and Victoria
•    A street party event will mean that Piccadilly will be closed to traffic from 7am to at least 6pm
•    The Mall will be closed to all traffic and pedestrians so that preparations for a Jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace on Monday 4 June can take place
•    The second day of the Jubilee event in Hyde Park will mean that the surrounding roads are likely to be busy

Tube

•    All Tube services will operate with no planned engineering work across the whole network.
Some stations, particularly those near to the Thames, are expected to be much busier than normal and those not planning to attend Diamond Jubilee events are advised to avoid the following stations if possible: Westminster, Embankment, Temple, Blackfriars, Tower Hill, Vauxhall, Pimlico, Waterloo, Southwark, London Bridge, East Putney and Putney Bridge.

Docklands Light Railway

•    An enhanced service will operate on the DLR
•    The majority of services will be operating as normal, but the Richmond to Willesden Junction and South Tottenham to Barking sections will not operate due to engineering work

River Transport

The pageant event means that river travel, including via private vessels, will not be allowed between 2.30pm and 6pm on the stretch between Battersea Bridge and the Thames Barrier at Woolwich

Cycle hire

Barclays Cycle Hire Docking stations will be available, but it is likely that due to crowds and road closures some central London stations will not be replenished


                                            [Related link: Latest Diamond Jubilee News Headlines]

Monday 4 June

Main events: The Diamond Jubilee Concert and National Beacon Lighting, Buckingham Palace/The Mall

Roads

•    Roads near Hyde Park will be very busy
•    Park Lane is likely to be closed to traffic between 10pm and 11.30pm so that crowds can safely disperse
•    Many roads around central London will be closed to traffic, with a number of bus services diverted or not running their full routes

Tube

•    All Tube services expected to operate as normal with no planned engineering work across the whole network
•    Stations including Hyde Park Corner, Green Park, St.James’s Park and Marble Arch will be busy

Docklands Light Railway

A full service will operate

London Overground

The majority of services will be operating as normal, but Richmond to Willesden Junction and South Tottenham to Barking are closed for engineering work

Cycle Hire

Docking stations will remain available, but it is likely that due to crowds and road closures some central London stations will not be replenished

 [Related link:4,000 beacons to be lit across the world]

Tuesday 5 June

Main events: Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Ceremonial Procession

Roads

•    Many roads around central London will be closed to traffic, with a number of bus services diverted or not running their full routes.
•    Hyde Park, St.James Park, Green Park and the Mall will all be very busy

Tube

Tube services will operate a Saturday service with no planned engineering work across the whole network.

Docklands Light Railway

A full service will operate on the DLR

London Overground

All services will operate as normal apart from South Tottenham to Barking, closed for engineering works.

Cycle Hire

Cycle Hire Docking stations will remain available, but it is likely that due to crowds and road closures some central London stations will not be replenished.

TFL also reminds visitors to bring vital items, such as regular medication and sun cream or waterproof clothing depending on the weather.

There will be toilets and food concessions at all key locations and the St John Ambulance will provide several first aid points.

For more information, follow their live travel updates on the TFL Website,  @TfLTravelAlerts and @TfLTrafficNews on Twitter for more information.

And if you’re not planning on travelling to London for the bank holiday weekend, check out what else is going in major cities across the UK.

Edinburgh

Main events: The Vogrie Diamond Jubilee Park Party, Picnic and Performances, Beacon Lighting, Palace of Holyroodhouse

On 4 and 5 June, buses will be running a Saturday service throughout the city. Services X12, 15 & 35 will run a public holiday timetable, while service 67 will run a normal weekday timetable.

Where street parties are taking place there will be road closures and diversions.

Birmingham

Main events: Lord Mayor’s Show, Victoria Square, 1950’s pageant, The Big Jubilee Lunch, Birmingham Pride 2012, Victoria Square

Transport services will operate as normal over the four-day bank holiday weekend in the West Midlands. A normal service will also run in Wolverhampton and the Black Country

Where street parties are taking place there will be road closures and diversions.

Manchester

Main events: The Big Jubilee Lunch

Metrolink and buses across the city will operate normal Sunday and bank holiday services

Where street parties are taking place there will be road closures and diversions.

Due to the Great Manchester Cycle, on Monday 4 June there will be no MediaCityUK tram service until 4pm - but passengers for MediaCityUK, the Lowry and other Salford Quays attractions can use the nearby Harbour City and Broadway stops, just a couple of minutes' walk away.

Bristol

Main events: Big Jubilee Party, M Shed Museum Square, Diamond Jubilee Downs Day, The Downs, Sea Walls

For the Diamond Jubilee Downs Day on Sunday, Circular Road will be closed from its junction with Ivywell Road to junction with Ladies Mile from 7.30am until 11pm.

Where street parties are taking place there will be road closures and diversions

See Bristol’s local bus timetable over the Jubilee weekend.

Cardiff

Main events: The Big Jubilee Lunch, St Mary Street,  1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards Homecoming Parade, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Beacons, Cardiff Castle

Where street parties are taking place there will be road closures and diversions. Click here for a full list of road closures in Cardiff

Trains will run normal Saturday services will run on Saturday and Sunday, and weekday services on Monday and Tuesday, except for a reduced train service running between Wrexham and Bidston, with trains every two hours

Traveline Cymru advises travellers to check the information closer to the date of travel as services may be subject to change.

See Cardiff's bus timetable for the Jubilee weekend