Britain’s rail network remained largely closed yesterday after broken resolutions from transport chiefs to review the 58-hour shutdown over Christmas.

Passenger groups, green campaigners and opposition MPs called for urgent action to end the Christmas hiatus whereby the last trains on major lines depart between 8pm and 10pm on Christmas Eve and return only on 6am on December 27.

The scarcity of services forced an estimated 45,000 away supporters of football clubs in the Premier League and Championship, the top two divisions, on to the roads. “Families and football fans had no choice but to get into their cars, pump into the atmosphere and put up with potentially eyewatering levels ofmore CO2 congestion because the railways remain shut,” said Stephen Hammond, a Conservative transport spokesman.

With no services on the West Coast Main Line and London Midland, Arsenal fans had to travel by car or coach to their team’s clash with Aston Villa at Villa Park in Birmingham.

This week 34 MPs from the three main parties backed a parliamentary motion calling for services to be reintroduced.

Britain remains the only large European country to shut the railways over Christmas. A full festive service was suspended in the early 1960s. This is despite a recent increase in demand that has pushed rail usage to its highest levels since the end of the Second World War. A quarter of British households still do not have access to a car.

Blame for the situation has been passed between rail industry leaders, government ministers and train operating companies who all cite a lack of coordination in finding a resolution.

Some operators, such as Virgin Trains, are known to be keen to run services on Boxing Day but say that they would require a public subsidy. They also say that they are hampered by Network Rail’s maintenance practices.

First TransPennine Express, which runs services in the North of England, is thought to have looked at reduced services between Manchester, Leeds and York but found that it would be impossible because of scheduled works. Aslef, the train drivers’ union, would consider Christmas working in exchange for double pay and an extra day off.

The Association of Train Operating Companies said that there were some trains running yesterday, including the Heathrow Express and other airport services. A limited bus and Underground service operated in London.

“Even if there may be greater demand than in previous years for Boxing Day rail services, there is unlikely to be a strong business case to open up large parts of the network, and demand for services is likely to be lower than at other times,” a spokesman said. Passenger Focus, the national rail passenger watchdog, argued that there was scope for more services. Amy Stockton, a spokes-woman, said: “The industry has to look at whether there is sufficient demand.”

A year ago Iain Coucher, the chief executive of Network Rail, promised that action would be taken to “run railways every single day of the week”.

Progress has been limited to a requirement on the operator of the South Central franchise in London and the South East to run “some Boxing Day services”.

Four companies - Go Via, Stagecoach, National Express and NedRailways - are on the shortlist, and the successful bidder will be announced in the summer. But the Department for Transport has no plans to alter existing franchise agreements. Germany, France, Italy and Spain operate full, or close to normal, rail services over Christmas.

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