St Mary's Cathedral Christmas Service, Sydney CBD Christmas lights at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, 2018 Credit:Christopher Pearce On December 24, St Mary's will host carols at 7.30pm and 8pm. Services will be held at 5pm, 6pm, 8pm, 11.15pm and midnight. On Christmas day, masses will be held at 7am, 9am, 10.30am and 6pm. St John’s Cathedral Christmas Service, Parramatta Join the community for carols at 9.30am on December 23. Christmas Eve services will be held at 10am and 11pm. The church will host an 8am and 10am Christmas Day service.

Village Church Christmas Service, Annandale On December 23, the Village Church will host a Christmas for kids and barbecue at 4pm. This will be followed by 7pm carols. A Christmas Eve service will be held at 9.30pm. The Village Church will host a 9.30am Christmas Day mass and a midday lunch for the community. St Paul's Anglican Church Christmas Service, Chatswood Christmas Eve mass will be held at 11pm. On Christmas Day, St Paul's will host mass at 9am.

TRANSPORT Commuters are encouraged to plan their trips and use public transport as often as they can, particularly for those heading to the airport. Public transport will have altered timetables. Commuters are urged to plan their trips over the holiday period. Credit:Wolter Peeters Trains On Christmas Eve, trains will run on the normal weekday timetable. From December 25 to January 1 weekend timetables will apply.

Buses Buses will run on reduced or special timetables from December 24 to January 1. Things to note: On Christmas Day and Boxing Day, buses will run on the Sunday timetable. On December 31, most buses will run on a changed weekday timetable. On New Year's Day, most buses will run on the Sunday timetable. Ferries Ferries will operate on different timetables in the holiday period. Credit:James Brickwood On Christmas Eve, ferries will run on the weekday timetable, except for F1, which will run on a summer holiday timetable.

Christmas Day will bring a few changes to the ferry timetable. The F1 will run on a special Christmas timetable, while the F2, F5 and F6 will run on the public holiday timetable. There will be no services for routes the F3 and F7. The F4 and F8 will run on shortened public holiday timetables. On Boxing Day, all ferries will run on the public holiday timetable. Some services will be affected by the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race From December 27 to 30, ferries will run on the regular timetable, except the F1 which will run on the summer holiday timetable. On New Year's Eve, most ferry services will end about 5pm and resume at midnight. The F1 and F2 will run on the New Years Eve timetable, while all other ferries will run on the weekday timetable. Public holiday timetable will apply to all ferries on New Year's Day.

Roads Double demerits for speeding, seatbelt, mobile phone and motorcycle helmet offences will apply from 12.01am on Friday, December 21 through to 11.59pm on Tuesday, January 1. PETROL Most Caltex, 7/Eleven and BP service stations will remain open 24 hours a day. Shell service stations will be open from 6am to midnight between 23 December and 1 January.

Centrelink, Medicare and child support payments All service centres and most phone lines providing Centrelink, Medicare and child support services will be closed from December 25 to 27, and on January 1. Automatic payments will not be delayed by the holidays, but some people may receive their payments earlier than usual. MEDICAL All hospitals are open throughout the holiday period.

Doctors There are few GPs available on Christmas Day, but Victoria Tower Medical in Burwood will be open from 8am to 10pm. Dentists Emergency Dentistry, Sydney CBD, will be able to provide medical assistance if you call them on Christmas Day. Chemists

Chemist Warehouse has number of stores open on Christmas Day including Bondi Junction (9am - 6pm), Lane Cove (10am - 5pm), and Parramatta (9am - 7pm). RETAIL The holiday period means changes to business operating hours. Credit:Christopher Pearce For shoppers needing a last minute present on Christmas Eve, most department stores will close at 6pm but Kmart Bondi Junction will be open until 10pm. If crowds aren't your thing, Kmart Broadway is now open 24 hours a day, until closing at 6pm on Christmas Eve. For shoppers keen to make the most of the Boxing Day sales, some shops will open as early as 5am, including Myer in the CBD. The David Jones sale will begin online at 9am on December 24. Stores will reopen at 7am on Boxing Day.

Supermarkets Woolworths and Coles supermarkets will be closed on Christmas Day, so if you've forgotten anything, duck out on Christmas Eve - most will be open late, including Coles Broadway which will be open until midnight. Sydney Fish Markets The Sydney Fish Markets will be open for 36 hours from 5am December 23 to 5pm December 24. Credit:Janie Barrett Beginning at 5am on December 23, the market will be open for 36 hours continuously, closing at 5pm on Christmas Eve.