Greenford station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Greenford | |
 |
|
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Greenford |
| Local authority | London Borough of Ealing |
| Operations | |
| Station code | GFD |
| Managed by | London Underground |
| Platforms in use | 4 (3 tracks) |
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |
| Transport for London | |
| Zone | 4 |
| 2004 annual usage | 2.29 million † |
| 2007 annual usage | 3.515 million † |
| History | |
| Key dates | Opened 1904 |
| Transport for London List of London stations: Underground | National Rail |
|
| † Data from Transport for London [1] | |
Greenford station is a London Underground and National Rail station in Greenford, Greater London, and is owned/managed by LUL. Greenford is the terminus of National Rail's Greenford Branch Line, and is in Travelcard Zone 4.
Contents |
[edit] History
The original Greenford station was main line only and opened by the Great Western Railway on 1 October 1904. The present station, next door, and built as part of the extension to the Central Line carried out under the LPTB's 1935-40 New Works plan, was only completed after the Second World War. It opened on 30 June 1947, allowing the GWR station to be closed.
[edit] The station today
The London Underground platforms are served by trains on the Central Line, on which it is located between Perivale and Northolt stations. Greenford station is above ground level and has an island platform layout, with access up from the booking hall to the platforms. It is unique on the London Underground in two ways: firstly, it is the only station that has an escalator ascending from street level up to platform level (though Alperton on the Piccadilly Line had a similar arrangement the escalator there is walled up and disused); and secondly it is the last remaining wooden escalator in service on the network. Such escalators were removed from sub-surface Underground stations in the wake of the fatal 1987 King's Cross fire.
Between the Underground platforms a third, central bay platform facing south-east serves the Greenford branch service, which is operated by the First Great Western train operating company. The next station on this line is South Greenford and the line joins the Great Western Main Line at West Ealing. Trains on the Greenford branch run through to and from Paddington.
The line between Greenford and West Ealing also carries infrequent freight services from Paddington New Yard and sand traffic for Park Royal (these can be observed from the Tube platforms). The route was also used for occasional passenger services on diversion, though this practice was finally withdrawn in 2005. In addition, also visible is one of the few remaining semaphore signalling installations in London; this is part of the unmodernised signalling on the adjacent line eastbound from Northolt Junction towards Old Oak Common West Junction, with Greenford East signal box controlling the main line approaches and the Greenford branch as far as South Greenford, and it still uses the Great Western type of lower quadrant signals.
Plans were drawn up at the start of the 1990s under British Rail to demolish Greenford East signal box and replace its semaphore signals, and share the upgraded signalling between the newly built Slough IECC and the forthcoming Marylebone IECC. These plans however were subsequently shelved indefinitely, as the declining frequency of rail traffic controlled by Greenford East simply did not justify the huge financial cost of such an upgrade. This situation might change in the future though, if the often-proposed Crossrail project is finally realised.
[edit] Image gallery
 Looking west from eastbound Central line platform. Bay for diesel trains to Paddington in the centre. The remains of the GWR station and the under-used tracks are hidden by the undergrowth on the extreme right. |
 Westbound Platform |
 Looking east with a First Great Western diesel train to Paddington leaving the bay platform. Note anachronistic reference to "British Rail". |
 Wooden escalator leading up to the platforms, last of its kind in use on the London Underground. |
 Roundel on eastbound Central line platform. |
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Greenford station from National Rail
- Greenford station is at coordinates Coordinates:
| Preceding station |  London Underground |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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towards West Ruislip
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Central line | |||
| National Rail | ||||
| Terminus | First Great Western Greenford Branch Line |
South Greenford | ||
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