North Acton tube station

History

The joint "New North Main Line" (NNML; the present day Acton–Northolt line) of the Great Central and Great Western opened in 1903 and its North Acton Halt railway station followed in 1904, though it was closed by 1913. The Great Western Railway (GWR) built the Ealing & Shepherd's Bush Railway, which connected the Central London Railway (CLR) with the GWR's Ealing Broadway station. CLR trains began using the route on 3 August 1920. The stations at North Acton and were built and owned by the GWR, and both opened on 5 November 1923, the new North Acton being a short distance east of the 1904 halt. As Transport for London explains:

North of the Central line tracks were two freight lines, removed in the 1960s, running alongside the Central line as far as White City; to the north of those at a slightly higher level were the two tracks of the NNML. The NNML platforms closed when the Central line was extended on new track from North Acton to Greenford station in 1947. Today, only the outer-most NNML platform remains partially intact, having been removed in the early 1950s.

Between South Ruislip station and Old Oak Junction, the GWR line was progressively run down, and in many places it is now single-track, including the stretch running past North Acton, which was reduced to single-track in 1993. From May 2008 until December 2018 only freight trains and a once-daily passenger service provided by Chiltern Railways used this stretch of line.

The Underground station had only two platforms until 1992, whereby for operational flexibility an island platform was created by building a third platform north of the other two, where the old freight line track bed had been. The third platform became the eastbound road while the eastbound platform (now the middle platform) was resignalled to allow it to be used also for terminating and starting services. This change allows shuttle services to be run to White City from Ealing Broadway and from West Ruislip in the event of problems elsewhere on the Central line, and at certain times of the day some trains coming from central London are scheduled to terminate at North Acton .

Today

Passenger access is down from the booking hall, which is part-way down the southern side of the cutting with two exits up to Victoria Road. This is the last station before the Central line splits into the West Ruislip and Ealing Broadway branches. Approximately half the trains stopping at the station head to each destination. The support centre for Carphone Warehouse and numerous other companies have offices in the vicinity. There are approximately 600 new flats directly opposite the station, and there is a Holiday Inn Express hotel next door to the station with the Ramada Encore hotel another five minutes' walk away. A Tesco Express store is also open along with a Lebanese restaurant in the opposite block.

Development

There have been vague and uncosted suggestions over the years to move the station to the east to provide an interchange with the North London Line. This would, however, be in an area with no extra passenger generation, and merely to move the station for interchange purposes has never been sufficient reason. The idea was revived in February 2008, when the Greater London Authority stated in a 'Park Royal draft Opportunity Area Planning Framework' that

In 2004, the multinational Diageo company agreed to build Central line platforms at Park Royal station to the west of North Acton, as part of its First Central business park, built on the site of the now demolished Guinness brewery. By 2017 this had not yet happened. Such a new station might influence whether adjacent stations were ever moved (particularly Hanger Lane station not far to the west). The entrance to a 'North London Line' North Acton station could be just a few metres on the other side of Victoria Road from the current North Acton station eastern entrance. There is a footpath to the west immediately next to the railway, from nearby Chase Road to Park Royal Road.

Connections

London Buses routes 95, 218, 260, 266, 440, 487 and N266 serve the station.

Gallery

File:North Acton tube station.jpg|Looking west, with westbound (left) and eastbound trains in January 2006 File:North Acton eastbound.JPG|Looking east, with the island platform on the left in May 2008 File:North Acton stn westbound.JPG|Looking west, with the island platform on the right in May 2008 File:North Acton look west.JPG|Looking west, with the disused GWR station on the extreme right in May 2008 File:North Acton Roundel.JPG|Station roundel on westbound platform in May 2008 File:North Acton Square looking north.jpg|New North Acton Square in front of the main tube station entrance in June 2020 File:Willesden Junction map with Old Oak Common.png|Acton North Tube station in relation to the Old Oak Common proposals

References

References

1. (2008). "The Story of London's Underground". Capital Transport.
2. {{harvnb. Day. Reed. 2008
3. [http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/modesoftransport/tube/linefacts/?line=central Transport for London : Central line facts]
4. [https://www.picclickimg.com/d/w1600/pict/262191380605_/North-Acton-Underground-Railway-Station-Photo-White-City.jpg View of North Acton in the 1920s–1940s]. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
5. [http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw004137?search=ealing&ref=463 "The Crookes Laboratories Ltd off Gorst Road and the surrounding industrial area, North Acton, 1947. This image was marked by Aerofilms Ltd for photo editing."]. Britain from Above. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
6. [http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/eaw018394?search=ealing&ref=666 "Industrial properties between Victoria Road and Wales Farm Road, North Acton, 1948. This image was marked by Aerofilms Ltd for photo editing."]. Britain from Above. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
7. [http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw058340?search=north%20acton&ref=97 "The Ducon Condenser Works and the surrounding residential and industrial area, North Acton, 1938. This image has been produced from a damaged negative."]. Britain from Above. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
8. [http://www.ltmcollection.org/photos/photo/photo.html?IXMAXHITS=1&IXSR=gY_hAS0iZX4&IXsummary=location/location&IXlocation=north+acton&IXFIRST=1&IXenlarge=997159 London Transport Museum] Historical photograph of North Acton station in 1933
9. Jones, Richard (17 April 2006). [https://www.flickr.com/photos/richardajones/8391694845/ "37425 North Acton, 17/04/06"]. [[Flickr]]. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
10. Lang, Duncan (18 March 2013). [https://www.flickr.com/photos/duncan_lang_1/8569257565/ "Untitled"]. [[Flickr]]. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
11. Heywood, Paul (18 August 2014). [https://www.flickr.com/photos/tramfan/14956455681/ "London"]. [[Flickr]]. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
12. [http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/planning/docs/parkroyal/Draft_Park_Royal_OAPF.rtf Greater London Authority]{{Dead link. (April 2020)
13. [https://web.archive.org/web/20040705144616/http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/33 alwaystouchout] Park Royal Central line platforms
14. [http://www.brent.gov.uk/servlet/ep.ext?extId=101150&reference=32956&st=PL London Borough of Brent: Central line agreement] Audit trail for planning agreement not all on-line, but starts here
15. [http://www.firstcentral.co.uk/firstcentral_map.pdf First Central business park] {{Webarchive. link. (16 January 2016 Map of Park Royal Central line platforms)