TRAIN services in and out of London Kings Cross, one of the country's busiest terminals, have been cancelled today because of overrunning Network Rail engineering works.
The station is the locus for all Scotland-London trains travelling on the East Coast Main Line.
It is understood that the station will effectively be closed throughout the day due to delays to works north of the station.
East Coast Trains said customers would need to start or finish their journey at Finsbury Park in north London, with at least one change of train.
Passengers travelling between Scotland and London had already been warned to avoid the West Coast Main Line due to planned engineering works this weekend near London Euston, meaning East Coast services would be busier than usual.
A reduced service to and from the station will go ahead as planned on Sunday, with trains leaving up to 20 minutes earlier than normal from King's Cross.
East Coast spokesman, Paul Emberley, said: "Network Rail has apologised to passengers for the inevitable delays to their travel plans on Saturday as a result of the overrunning engineering works.
"East Coast is particularly sorry too for the inconvenience to its customers as a result, on what we know is an already very busy travel day immediately following the Christmas break.
"For customers intending to start or finish their journey at King's Cross, consideration should be given to deferring travel plans to either Sunday or Monday.
"We're working hard over the holiday period to make the necessary adjustments to our timetable as a consequence, and to provide as much information as we can."
It comes after 17 of Britain's major train operators, including East Coast and Virgin, faced criticism for ran no Boxing Day services at all.
Passengers took to social media to complain the train companies needed to "join the rest of us in the 21st Century" as thousands headed out in search of sales bargains or to attend sporting fixtures.
Scotrail, which operates the vast majority of train services in Scotland, was operating a reduced service yesterday although an electrical fault caused severe disruption to a number of services in and out of Glasgow Central for most of the day.
However, the majority of operators in England and Wales, such as CrossCountry and Merseyrail, were running no services at all on Boxing Day.
Campaigners have blamed a "blind spot" in private rail franchises, which puts the rail franchises under no obligation to run services on December 26.
Michael Dugher, Labour's transport spokesman, said: "The travelling public are facing misery on Boxing Day as yet again ministers have allowed the rail network to shut down for the day. Before the last General Election, the Tories repeatedly criticised the lack of rail services on Boxing Day.
'But it is clear they have done absolutely nothing about it in government. Yet again, this Tory-led Government has been shown to be all talk and no action."
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: 'Deciding the level of service on specific days is a matter for train operators. But we know passengers want to travel on Boxing Day, and that's why we have worked with the rail industry to ensure there are limited services on some franchises on that day.
'Network Rail and train companies have ensured that a large part of the railway will remain open over the Christmas/New Year period and alternative routes are provided where the lines are closed for essential engineering work, and that these are communicated properly to the public.'
Meanwhile, overhead wire problems at Scotland's busiest train station caused misery for Boxing Day shoppers.
Around a dozen services to and from Glasgow Central were cancelled yesterday due to the fault, with replacement buses to Paisley Gilmour Street laid on until around 3pm when the problem was resolved. Knock-on delays meant services continued to face disruption until late afternoon.
The power line glitch occurred shortly after 8.30am, just as bargain hunters were beginning to flock to the city to cash in on the sales.
Services to and from Ayr, Ardrossan, Wemyss Bay, Gourock, Largs and Ayr were "severely disrupted".
The fault also caused disruption for passengers travelling on the lines to East Kilbride, Barrhead and Kilmarnock.
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