Harefield Road was a proposed

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

station on the western branch of the Central line beyond its current terminus at

West Ruislip West Ruislip is a station on Ickenham High Road on the borders of Ickenham and western Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon in Greater London, formerly in Middlesex. It is served by London Underground (LU) and National Rail trains on ind ...

. Under the

London Passenger Transport Board The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for local public transport in London and its environs from 1933 to 1948. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and brand was Lond ...

's 1935–1940 New Works programme, the station would have been built alongside the existing

Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway The Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway was a railway built and operated jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and Great Central Railway (GCR) between Northolt (in north west London) and Ashendon Junction (west of Aylesbury). It was ...

(GW&GCJR) line between West Ruislip and Denham as the penultimate station on the Central line's extension from

North Acton North Acton is a part of Acton in west London, and is within the London Borough of Ealing. It runs adjacent to the industrial district of Park Royal. Historically part of the Municipal Borough of Acton in the county of Middlesex, it has formed pa ...

. Like many other new stations built by London Underground in the outskirts of the capital, the construction of the station was intended to stimulate new housing developments in what was a rural part of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. Works on the extension were postponed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and, after the war,

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

legislation was introduced to limit the expansion of urban areas. The area beyond West Ruislip fell within the designated

Metropolitan Green Belt The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It comprises parts of Greater London, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey, parts of two of the three districts of Bedfordshire and a s ...

, and, as the intended housing developments were no longer allowed, the extension beyond West Ruislip was cancelled.

Earlier station

The line through the station site was opened for goods services by the GW&GCJR on 20 November 1905 with passenger services beginning on 2 April 1906. and had previously been occupied by a short-lived station. On 24 September 1928, the GW&GCJR opened a station as Harefield Halt. This was renamed South Harefield Halt in May 1929. A goods yard was served from 27 June 1929. The station was south of

Harefield Harefield is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, northwest of Charing Cross near Greater London's boundary with Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the north. The population at the 2011 Census was 7,399. Haref ...

village and usage was low, so the halt and goods yard were closed on 30 September 1931.

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

A History of the London Tube Maps, Map from 1939 showing future extension of the Central line to Harefield Road and Denham
{{Closed london underground stations Proposed London Underground stations History of the London Borough of Hillingdon Unbuilt London Underground stations Disused railway stations in the London Borough of Hillingdon