How to avoid delays on the big Christmas getaway

The annual Christmas pilgrimage is soon to get under way and the prospect of delayed trains or motorway tailbacks can often be anxiety-inducing.

The RAC has predicted this year will be the busiest festive getaway since it began recording the data in 2013, with Christmas Eve alone set to involve 4.2m trips.

But it is not only on the roads – there will also be changes to trains and buses in the region which travellers will need to be aware of as they make their Christmas travel plans.

Here is your guide to getting around the West over the festive period.

The M5, M4 and A303 are the usual suspects when it comes to tailbacks on the roads.

Specific areas drivers may want to avoid include:

• Stonehenge and Amesbury on the A303
• The Almondsbury Interchange on the M4 and M5 near Bristol
• The interchange at the M5 and M6 in Birmingham

After lunchtime on Saturday, 20 December is expected to be among the busiest times on the roads, according to the RAC.

It said the best times to travel by road throughout Christmas week are:

• Saturday, 20 December: before 12:00 GMT
• Sunday, 21 December: before 10:00
• Monday, 22 December: after 17:00
• Tuesday, 23 December: before 11:00
• Wednesday, 24 December: before 11:00

Beyond the West, the M4 eastbound from Cardiff, the M25 and the M1 are all predicted to be busy in the lead up to Christmas.

The railway network is very busy at this time of year, with blanket advice always to check before you travel.

Around the West, there are a few changes to trains, but nothing major.

Most services to and from the region will end at about 21:00 on Christmas Eve, and restart on 27 December.

Great Western Railway (GWR) is suspending the Night Riviera Sleeper service from 20-27 December. There could be some disruption to late night services between Swindon and Cheltenham on 22 and 23 December, but otherwise the line will run mostly as normal.

GWR is advising people to book in advance and to travel at quieter times, with its busiest days expected to be 22, 23, 27 and 28 December.

There are no planned changes on Cross Country Trains in the West but passengers could face delays in Birmingham, Cambridgeshire and west Yorkshire.

South Western Railway has planned engineering works after Christmas, centred in London from 27 December.

Buses across the region will run as normal until Christmas Eve, when special timetables kick in and services begin winding down.

In Wiltshire, normal timetables on Swindon’s Bus Company and Salisbury Red’s will operate until Christmas Eve, when a Saturday service will run on most routes with last departures at 20:50.

Gloucestershire will have normal bus times until Christmas Eve, when a Saturday service will run across Gloucester, Stroud and Cheltenham until about 19:00.

Bristol’s First Bus network, which also includes journeys to Bath and Wells, winds down in the evening of 24 December, and will not get going again until 27 December.

It is a similar story in Somerset, for Buses of Somerset, First, and the Falcon service, which runs from Plymouth, to Wellington, Taunton and Bristol Airport, which will also stop on Christmas Eve until the 27 December.

On National Express, buses often run on Christmas Day, with services from London to Taunton, Bristol, Bridgwater, Gloucester, Swindon, Cheltenham and Cirencester all available.