Uxbridge tube station

For the station in the York–Durham Heritage Railway, see Uxbridge railway station (Ontario).
Uxbridge London Underground

Main entrance
Uxbridge
Location of Uxbridge in Greater London
Location Uxbridge
Local authority London Borough of Hillingdon
Managed by London Underground
Number of platforms 4 (facing 3 tracks)
Accessible Yes [1]
Fare zone 6
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011 Increase 6.91 million[2]
2012 Increase 7.18 million[2]
2013 Increase 7.59 million[2]
2014 Increase 8.07 million[2]
Key dates
1904 Opened (Metropolitan)
1910 Start (District)
1933 End (District)
1933 Start (Piccadilly)
1938 Moved
1 May 1939 Goods yard closed[3]
Listed status
Listing grade II
Entry number 1358405[4]
Added to list 12 January 1983
Other information
Lists of stations
London Transport portalCoordinates: 51°32′45″N 0°28′42″W / 51.5459°N 0.4783°W / 51.5459; -0.4783

Uxbridge is a London Underground station in Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, north-west London. The station is the terminus of the Uxbridge branches of both the Metropolitan line and the Piccadilly line. The next station towards London is Hillingdon. The station is 15.5 miles (25 km) west of Charing Cross and is in Travelcard Zone 6. The closest station on the Chiltern Line and Central line is West Ruislip, accessible by the U1 and U10 buses. The closest station on the First Great Western line (in future Crossrail) is West Drayton, accessible by the U1, U3, U5 & 222 buses.

History

The Harrow and Uxbridge Railway (later merged into the Metropolitan Railway) first opened a station in Uxbridge on 4 July 1904 on Belmont Road, a short distance to the north of the existing station. The station was situated on a different track alignment, now used as sidings. The original service from central London was provided by steam-drawn trains but electrification took place the following year.

The original Uxbridge station at Belmont Road in October 1933

The London United Tramways extension from Shepherds Bush was opened a few weeks before the underground station. The manager, as reported in a local newspaper at the time, commented on the high prices of the underground journey: the tram journey however took well over an hour to reach Shepherds Bush.

On 1 March 1910, an extension of the District line from South Harrow to connect with the Metropolitan Railway at Rayners Lane was opened, enabling District line trains to serve stations between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge. The original Belmont Road station had two platforms, and after the introduction of shared operation one platform was used by each line.

On 23 October 1933 District line services to Uxbridge were replaced by Piccadilly line trains.

On 4 December 1938 the current station was opened on a new alignment.[5]

The London Borough of Hillingdon announced in June 2011 that it would be lobbying Transport for London to have the Central line diverted from West Ruislip station to Uxbridge. Such a project would require a business case approved by TfL and the completion of signal upgrade work on the Metropolitan line.[6]

Design

Ticket hall in February 2011 looking towards Uxbridge High Street entrance following refurbishment

The station was designed by Charles Holden with L H Bucknell and features a red-brick facade with paired sculptures by Joseph Armitage over the entrance, representing stylised "winged wheels" with leaf springs.[7] A tall concrete canopy arches over the tracks with a row of clerestory windows above the platforms. The canopy at Uxbridge is similar to the one at Cockfosters, the terminus at the other end of the Piccadilly line.

The stained glass panels by Erwin Bossanyi at the booking hall end of the platforms reflect the area's heraldic associations.[7] The crown and three seaxes on a red background are the arms of Middlesex County Council and the chained swan on a black and red background is associated with Buckinghamshire. The centre shield is possibly the arms of the local Basset family; a downward-pointing red triangle on a gold background was borrowed from the Bassett arms for use on the arms of Uxbridge Urban District Council in 1948.

The forecourt of the new station was originally laid out to provide a turning circle for trolleybuses, which replaced trams in 1936. Ticket barriers are in operation.

Connections

Platforms 3 (right) and 4 looking east

London Buses routes:

In addition non-London Buses routes include:

As well as the Green Line Coaches service:

Services

See also

References

  1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures" (XLS). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  3. Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be - freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News (London Underground Railway Society) (591): 175–183. ISSN 0306-8617.
  4. "Uxbridge Underground Station". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 2013-08-15.
  5. Pearce, K. R. (2009). Uxbridge From Old Photographs. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-84868-390-7.
  6. Coombs, Dan (17 June 2011). "'Extending Central Line to Uxbridge will cut traffic'". Uxbridge Gazette. Archived from the original on 2011-06-30.
  7. 1 2 Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1991). London 3: North West. The Buildings of England. Yale University Press. p. 362. ISBN 978-0-300-09652-1. Retrieved 5 February 2011.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Uxbridge tube station.
Preceding station   London Underground   Following station
TerminusMetropolitan line
towards Baker Street or Aldgate
Piccadilly line
towards Cockfosters
  Former services  
Preceding station   London Underground   Following station
TerminusDistrict line
(1910-1933)
towards Upminster
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