Neasden Depot is a

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 counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

depot located in

Neasden Neasden is a suburban area in northwest London, England. It is located around the centre of the London Borough of Brent and is within the NW2 ( Cricklewood) and NW10 ( Willesden) postal districts. Neasden is near Wembley Stadium, the Welsh H ...

in the

London Borough of Brent The London Borough of Brent () is a London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of Harrow to the north-west, Barnet to the north-east, Camden to the east, the City of Westminster to the south-east, as well as the Royal Borou ...

, between

and

Wembley Park Wembley Park is a district of the London Borough of Brent, England. It is roughly centred on Bridge Road, a mile northeast of Wembley town centre and northwest from Charing Cross. The name Wembley Park refers to the area that, at its broades ...

stations on the

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in Hillingdon. Printed in magenta on the tube map, the lin ...

. It is the largest depot on the London Underground, and is currently responsible for maintenance and overhaul of the 191 S Stock trains used on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines.

History

Neasden was opened as a locomotive and coach plant in 1882, producing locomotives and coaching stock for the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

. The final locomotive produced at the works was in 1898. The depot serviced both steam and electric Metropolitan locomotives. Major work was undertaken at Neasden between 2010 and 2011, with much of the 1930s layout being altered to make it suitable for maintenance of the S Stock, which began to be rolled out in 2010 to all London Underground Sub Surface lines. Due to the rebuild, Neasden's steam shed has now been decommissioned and converted into the Depot's training facility.

Jubilee Line

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in east London and in the suburban north-west, via the Docklands, South Bank and West End. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the Underground network, although some secti ...

trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often know ...

also stable at Neasden Depot, however these are now serviced in

Stratford Market Depot Stratford Market Depot is a London Underground depot located in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham, between Stratford and West Ham stations on the Jubilee line. Constructed in the mid 1990s as part of the Jubilee Line Extension, the sit ...

, an extensive new build facility built as part of the

Jubilee Line Extension The Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) is the extension of the London Underground Jubilee line from to through south and east London. An eastward extension of the line was first proposed in the 1970s. As part of the development of London Docklands, ...

on part of the site of the old Stratford Works. Although not part of the Depot, the Jubilee line signalling control centre is based on the same site.

Metropolitan Line

Neasden 1988 Battery Loco 32 and 20 behind

Neasden is now the main depot for the Metropolitan line, stabling passenger trains, and works vehicles including

battery electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or ...

s and wagons. Access to the depot by road is just off Neasden Lane, and is the home to one of only a handful of

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

s on the Underground. It is also possible to access the depot by foot from Neasden station via a

subway Subway, Subways, The Subway, or The Subways may refer to: Transportation * Subway, a term for underground rapid transit rail systems * Subway (underpass), a type of walkway that passes underneath an obstacle * Subway (George Bush Intercontin ...

at the north end of the station. A final point of entry is at the end of Quainton Street, in Neasden village, where the street names are named after the furthest extents of the old Metropolitan Railway:

Quainton Quainton (formerly Quainton Malet)Plea rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40/647; 7th entry, with "North" in the margin; the defendant, Richard Longe is of Quenton Malet is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, E ...

, Verney,

Chesham Chesham (, , or ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, north-west of central London, and part of the London commuter belt. It is in the Chess Valley, surrounded by farmla ...

and

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

. The depot also carries out S Stock servicing for trains used on the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited serv ...

, on the

Hammersmith & City line The Hammersmith & City line is a London Underground line that runs between Hammersmith in west London and in east London. Printed in pink on the Tube map, it serves 29 stations over . Between and it skirts the City of London, the capital's fi ...

and on the Circle line.

Incidents

On 17 March 1976, a train inspector discovered an IRA bomb on a train at Neasden depot. It was later defused.

References

External links