People travelling home for Christmas are being warned they face a festive season of misery, overcrowding and delays on the roads and railways.

Motoring and rail organisations are advising travellers to plan ahead as much as possible.

Last night rail watchdog groups warned that speed restrictions meant far fewer trains would be running this Christmas, particularly on cross-country routes.

"Most of the speed restrictions are still in force and GNER has had to reduce the number of trains it runs," said Rail Passenger Council spokesman Scott Richmond.

"This means they are running 40% of their Christmas timetable. There is going to be massive overcrowding and the same applies to other high speed train operators such as Virgin and First Great Western. It will be standing room only for many on long-distance journeys."

The British Airports Authority said it expected this holiday season to be far busier than last year. An extra 200,000 domestic passengers took to the air last month to beat the crisis on the railways, the authority said yesterday.

Train passenger numbers fell following the Hatfield crash on October 5. Subsequent introduction of speed limits saw many more people use alternative transport.

But George Muir, director general of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said the train services were doing their best within the limitations set by Railtrack.

Railtrack was continuing its programme of track replacement and upgrading over the holiday period and passengers should notice an improvement from the new year, he added.