Acton Main Line railway station

Acton Main Line
Acton Main Line Location of Acton Main Line in Greater London
Location	Acton
Local authority	London Borough of Ealing
Grid reference	TQ203812
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Station code	AML
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	3
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2008–09	0.336 million[1]
2009–10	0.264 million[1]
2010–11	0.347 million[1]
2011–12	0.350 million[1]
2012–13	0.384 million[1]
2013–14	0.442 million[1]
2014–15	0.454 million[1]
Railway companies
Original company	Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
1 February 1868	Opened as Acton
1 November 1949	Renamed Acton Main Line
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°31′02″N 0°16′00″W / 51.5171°N 0.2668°W

Acton Main Line railway station is a National Rail railway station in Acton in west London.

It is the first National Rail station on the Great Western Main Line out of the terminus at London Paddington. The station is served by local trains operated by Great Western Railway between Paddington and Greenford. It is in Travelcard Zone 3.^[2]

History

Acton Main Line was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) on 1 February 1868.^[3] Originally simply named Acton, it was operated by the Western Region of British Railways following nationalisation in 1948. On 1 November 1949 it was renamed Acton Main Line.^[3] When sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Railways in 1993.

Together with the underground stations at West Acton and North Acton, Acton Main Line serves the GWR garden estate. This large area of family housing, bordered on three sides by the stations named and on the fourth side by the A40 road, was developed by GWR in the 1920s to accommodate its staff, particularly drivers from the Old Oak Common depot.^[4]

By 1947 the station had four platforms, all partially covered along their length by wooden canopies, as well as a siding next to platform 1.^[5][6] Both platform 1 and its siding were demolished in the late 1960s, when the imposing Victorian station building was also pulled down and replaced with a small booking office.^[7] As a result of this, the current three platforms no longer have canopies and are numbered 2, 3 and 4. The platform 1 permanent way is still intact, and is used as a fast through line for non-stopping trains; all Intercity Trains pass through on the Great Western Main Line. The current station building was completed in early 1996; there was also extensive renovation of the adjacent bridge on Horn Lane throughout 1995 and 1996. In mid-2013 a gated barrier was built, dividing platforms 2 and 3 for their entire length.

Services

The typical Monday to Saturday daytime service from the station is:

• 2 trains per hour to London Paddington
• 2 trains per hour to Greenford

Additionally, after 9pm a number of Great Western Railway main-line services call at Acton Main Line. These include services between London Paddington, Slough and Reading.^[8]

There is no Sunday service.

Future Crossrail services

Crossrail trains will call at Acton Main Line, with 4 services an hour in both the peak and off-peak. Services are expected to commence in 2019. To accommodate Crossrail services, various alterations will be made by Network Rail:

• New station building with a larger ticket hall with level access from Horn Lane
• Step-free access between street level and all platforms via a new footbridge with stairs and two lifts
• Platforms 2–4 extended to enable 10-car trains to stop
• Improved passenger facilities including a new canopy on platform 4, along with information and security systems.^[9]

Connections

London Buses routes 260 and 266 serve the station.

References

1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. A. Jowett (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas. Atlantic Publishing.
3. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 13. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
4. See section "The Railway Expansion" at Acton History.
5. "Wall's Ice Cream and Sausage Factory and environs, Acton, from the west, 1947". Britain from Above. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
6. "Acton Main Line Railway Station, the Wall's Ice Cream and Sausage Factory and environs, Acton, 1947. This image was marked by Aerofilms Ltd for photo editing.". Britain from Above. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
7. "Acton Main Line station, 1960 & 2012". Flickr. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
8. Services all indicated onNational Rail timetable.
9. "Western section". Crossail. 23 Oct 2015. Retrieved 23 Oct 2015.

External links

• Train times and station information for Acton Main Line railway station from National Rail