Rayners Lane 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 ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

station in the district of

Rayners Lane Rayners Lane is a suburban district in the London Borough of Harrow that forms the western part of Harrow. Located between Pinner and West Harrow, it takes its name from a road in the area, also called Rayners Lane (formerly also spelt ''Rayner ...

in north west

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, amid a 1930s development originally named

Harrow Garden Village Harrow Garden Village was a housing development in the 1930s around Rayners Lane Underground station in London, England, which until then had been a "country halt" on the Metropolitan line. This was Metro-land Metro-land (or Metroland) is a ...

. The station is on the

Uxbridge branch The Uxbridge (Vine Street) branch line was a railway line to Uxbridge in the historical English county of Middlesex, from the Great Western Railway main line at West Drayton. It opened in 1856 as a broad gauge single line, long. It was converted ...

of both 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 line i ...

, between

Eastcote Eastcote is a suburban area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in northwest London. In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot. The name came from its position to the e ...

and

West Harrow West Harrow is a locality directly to the west/southwest of Harrow town in the London Borough of Harrow, in the county of Greater London and historically in the county of Middlesex. Location As its name suggests, West Harrow is located on ...

stations, and the

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...

, between

and

South Harrow South Harrow is the southern part of the town of Harrow, located south-west of Harrow-on-the-Hill in the London Borough of Harrow. Its development originally spread south and west from the hamlet of Roxeth in the urbanisation process and easi ...

stations. The station is located to the west of the junction of Rayners Lane, Alexandra Avenue and Imperial Drive ( A4090). It is in

Travelcard Zone 5 Fare zone 5 is an outer zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services. The ...

. Just east of the station, the Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines tracks join for services to Uxbridge and separate for those to

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

History

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 ...

(

Harrow and Uxbridge Railway The Harrow and Uxbridge Railway Company was a British railway company. It was established in 1897 under the auspices of the Harrow and Uxbridge Railway Act 1897. In 1904, it opened what is now the Uxbridge branch of the Metropolitan line, conne ...

) constructed the line between

Harrow on the Hill Harrow on the Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) and is located some half a mile south of the mod ...

and

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

and commenced services on 4 July 1904 with, initially,

Ruislip Ruislip ( ) is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon in West London, and in the historic county of Middlesex. Ruislip lies west-north-west of Charing Cross, London. The manor of Ruislip appears in the Domesday Book, and some of the ear ...

being the only intermediate stop. At first, services were operated by steam trains, but track

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

was completed in the subsequent months and electric trains began operating on 1 January 1905. Progressive development in the north

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 ...

area over the next two decades led to the gradual opening of additional stations along the Uxbridge branch to encourage the growth of new residential areas. Rayners Lane opened as ''Rayners Lane Halt'' on 26 May 1906, and was named after a local farmer called Daniel Rayner. It was nicknamed ''Pneumonia Junction'' because of its exposed location On 1 March 1910, an extension of 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 servic ...

was opened from

to connect with the Metropolitan Railway at Rayners Lane junction east of the station enabling District line trains to serve stations between

and Uxbridge from that date. On 23 October 1933, District line services were replaced by Piccadilly line trains.

Design

The station, more a halt, was rebuilt, following the start of house building in the locality in the 1930s that saw passenger figures rise from 22,000 per annum in 1930 to 4 millions in 1937 by a new station to a design by

Charles Holden Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

and

Reginald Uren Reginald Harold Uren FRIBA (5 March 1906 – 17 February 1988) was a New Zealand-born architect who worked in the United Kingdom for most of his career. Life and work Uren was born in the Belfast area of Christchurch, South Island on 5 March 1 ...

that opened on 8 August 1938. Work had started in earnest with the opening of a temporary timber booking hall and shops on 14 March 1935 allowing work on the new station to proceed.Rails Through The Clay : Croome & Jackson : Lond : 1962 The station, now

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Listed by Historic England, features the large cube-shaped brick and glass ticket hall capped with a flat

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

roof and geometrical forms typical of the new stations built in this period. To the west of the station, there is a reversing siding between the running tracks and, during the day, half of the Piccadilly line service reverses here. Two sidings were located south of the station but these were no longer used: with no connection with the running lines. In late 2017 these sidings were lifted.

Services

Metropolitan line

The Metropolitan Line is the only line to operate an express service, though currently for Metropolitan Line trains on the Uxbridge branch this is eastbound only in the morning peaks (06:30 to 09:30) Monday to Friday. Metropolitan Line trains are able to terminate at Rayners Lane from the westbound platform either by a crossover to the east of the station or via a center reversing siding to the west, under normal circumstances all westbound Metropolitan Line trains continue to the terminus of the branch at Uxbridge. The off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 8tph Eastbound to Aldgate (all stations) * 8tph Westbound to Uxbridge The morning peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 2tph Eastbound to Aldgate (semi-fast, running non-stop between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Wembley Park) * 4tph Eastbound to Aldgate (all stations) * 4tph Eastbound to Baker Street (all stations) * 10tph Westbound to Uxbridge The evening peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 7tph Eastbound to Aldgate (all stations) * 3tph Eastbound to Baker Street (all stations) * 10tph Westbound to Uxbridge

Piccadilly line

Piccadilly line trains are also able to terminate here by means of a crossover to the east of the station (separate from the Metropolitan Line crossover) and via the center reversing siding although only the latter is used in normal service. Between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge there is no Piccadilly Line service before approximately 06:30 (Monday - Friday) and 08:45 (Saturday - Sunday), except for one early morning departure from Uxbridge at 05:18 (Monday - Saturday) and 06:46 (Sunday). The off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 6tph Eastbound to Cockfosters * 3tph Westbound to Uxbridge * 3tph Terminate Here The peak time service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 12tph Eastbound to Cockfosters * 8tph Westbound to Uxbridge * 4tph Terminate Here

Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 398, H9, H10 and H12 serve the station.

References

External links

* * ** One platform shows a London Underground style roundel name board, the other a Metropolitan Railway Diamond name board. ** **

Gallery

File:Rayners Lane stn entrance.JPG, Entrance on southern face of station building File:Rayners Lane stn look west.JPG, Eastbound platform looking west File:Rayners Lane London Underground station.jpg, Westbound platform looking east File:Rayners Lane stn roundel.JPG, Platform roundel File:Rayners Lane stn siding.JPG, Reversing siding to the west of the station, with Piccadilly line train awaiting departure File:Rayners Lane. Enamel Way Out Signage.jpg, Way Out Sign {{District line navbox Metropolitan line stations Piccadilly line stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Harrow Former Metropolitan Railway stations London Underground stations located above ground Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1906 Charles Holden railway stations Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Harrow Grade II listed railway stations 1906 establishments in England