East Acton tube station

Location

The station is located on Erconwald Street and is near the A40 Western Avenue connected via Old Oak Common Lane, 0.6 mi from the centre of East Acton. Wormwood Scrubs, Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs and Imperial College Hammersmith branch are accessible from the station.

History

In 1905, the Great Western Railway (GWR) proposal to construct the Ealing & Shepherd's Bush Railway (E&SBR) so that it would connect its main line route at Ealing Broadway to the West London Railway (WLR) north of Shepherd's Bush was approved by Parliament. Construction had not started and in 1911, the Central London Railway (CLR, now part of the Central line) and GWR agreed running powers for CLR services to continue from Shepherd's Bush to Ealing Broadway using the GWR route. The CLR request for a short extension from Wood Lane to connect to the E&SBR tracks gained parliamentary approval on 18 August 1911 under the Central London Railway Act, 1911.

Since the CLR was exclusively a passenger service, two extra dedicated tracks for the GWR's freight trains were opened in 1938, but were closed in 1964. The trackbed of these rails is now overgrown with vegetation, visible immediately to the north of the station.

Improvements and closures

The tracks at East Acton were replaced in 2005 which saw a partial closure of the line from West Ruislip or Ealing Broadway to White City between 13 and 14 August 2005. In 2007, the station was refurbished by Metronet.

From August 2021, the eastbound platform was rebuilt. During the works eastbound Central line trains (towards central London) and all Night Tube trains did not stop at East Acton. Originally planned to last five months until December 2021, it was discovered that structural elements required full replacement rather than repair and the platforms did not reopen until 19 September 2022.

Services

East Acton station is on the Central line between North Acton to the west and White City to the east. To the east, the two tracks change direction to continue to White City.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:

• 9 tph eastbound to Epping
• 3 tph eastbound to Loughton
• 6 tph eastbound to Hainault via Newbury Park
• 3 tph eastbound to Woodford via Hainault
• 9 tph westbound to West Ruislip
• 3 tph westbound to Northolt
• 9 tph westbound to Ealing Broadway

Night Tube services also serve the station, with a frequency of 3 tph in both directions.

Connections

London Buses routes 7, 70, 72, 95, 228, 260 and 272 and night route N7 serve the station.

References

1. "East Acton – Google Maps".
2. "Central line facts". [[Transport for London]].
3. Jackson, Alan A. (1999). "London's Local Railways". Capital Transport.
4. (4 August 2005). "Buses Replace Trains as Track Replacement Works Take Place at East Acton". [[Transport for London]].
5. (July 2007). "Station Refurbishment Summary". London Underground Railway Society.
6. "East Acton Underground Station". TFL.
7. Wells, David. (21 March 2022). "FOI request detail – Status of platform repair works at East Acton Station".
8. (November 2022). "Underground Diary". London Underground Railway Society.
9. {{cite map/Standard Tube Map
10. (25 March 2018). "Central line". Railfanning London's Railways.
11. Clive, Feather. (24 September 2018). "Central line". Clive's Underground Line Guides.
12. {{cite map/Standard Night Tube Map
13. (June 2016). "Buses from East Acton". [[Transport for London]].