Wednesday 14 September 2022 11:59 AM Details on trains to and from London and travel for the Queen's lying in state ... trends now

Trains will run through the night in and out of London from tonight to help mourners visiting the capital to pay their respects to the Queen over the coming days, with around 200 daily rail services added to timetables.

Operators such as Southeastern, Chiltern Railways, Great Western Railway confirmed they will all run overnight services to and from London Victoria, Marylebone and Paddington stations respectively in the next few days.

And mourners waiting for the next departure in the early hours of the morning are expected to be invited to sit on stationary trains at stations such as Charing Cross, Euston, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, Paddington and Victoria.

Network Rail warned visitors of 'unprecedented travel demand in the capital' while Transport for London commissioner Andy Byford said the challenge of keeping the capital moving would be 'bigger than the Olympics'.

The Queen's lying in state at Westminster Hall opens to the public later today at 5pm and up to 350,000 mourners are expected to pass through 24 hours a day until 6.30am next Monday - the day of the late monarch's funeral.

Southeastern will run overnight services every two hours from today until next Monday from Victoria to Dartford, Gillingham, Orpington and Ashford; Charing Cross to Orpington and Tunbridge Wells; and St Pancras to Ashford.

Chiltern will operate two additional overnight trains every day until Monday from Oxford to Marylebone, leaving at 1.35am and arriving at 3am; then a return journey leaving Marylebone at 3.15am and arriving at Oxford at 4.38am. 

Great Western Railway said extra services in the very early morning and late evening will be laid on next Monday to take people towards London and back home again. It added that all services 'are expected to be extremely busy'.

The extra trains are now being displayed on journey planners such as Trainline, but a rail industry source warned that the limited number of overnight services means they are 'not something people should be relying on'. 

There is likely to be further strain on the rail network because London Victoria Coach Station will be shut next Monday due to many of the roads around it being closed - with National Express switching services to Wembley. 

The late monarch's lying in state at Westminster Hall opens to the public later today at 5pm and mourners will pass through 24 hours a day until it closes at 6.30am next Monday - the day of the Queen's state funeral.

People will also be packing the streets of London today to see a procession taking the late monarch from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, which will begin at 2.22pm. Viewing areas for the public along the route opened at 11am, with large crowds expected, and the procession is set to arrive at Westminster Hall at 3pm. 

Avanti West Coast said it is running up to four additional services a day in each direction between London and Manchester up to and including this Friday, adding a total of around 16,000 seats to its capacity.

The firm said it is 'examining closely what opportunities there are for additional services' on Saturday and Sunday. It has operated a reduced timetable in recent weeks due to drivers refusing to work overtime shifts.

Over the summer, under-fire Avanti was forced to cut services between Manchester and London down from three trains an hour to just one, with the blame from bosses having fallen on 'staffing issues'.

Ticket retailer Trainline said it has recorded a 53 per cent increase in bookings for journeys to London next Monday compared with the same day this week.

Modern Railways reported that major London stations will remain open through the night over the coming days, and mourners are expected to be invited to sit in stationary trains at stations such as Charing Cross, Euston, King's Cross, Liverpool Street, Paddington and Victoria while they wait for the next departure.

And Transport for London's boss said it is facing the 'biggest event and challenge' in its history as more than one million people are expected to travel to the centre of the capital to pay their respects to the Queen.

Mr Byford, the organisation's commissioner, said that planning for the Queen's lying in state and funeral is more complicated than the 2012 Olympics as it is 'impossible' to accurately predict crowd sizes.

TfL is 'used to dealing with big crowds' and will take measures such as temporarily restricting access to the busiest Tube stations and directing passengers to other stations to 'spread the load', he said.

Mr Byford added that

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