Uxbridge 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 ...

station in

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. Uxb ...

in the London Borough of Hillingdon, West London. The station is the terminus of the Uxbridge branches 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 lin ...

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 ...

. The next station towards London is

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civ ...

. The station is 15.5 miles (25 km) west of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

and is in Travelcard Zone 6. The closest station on the Chiltern Line and Central line is

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 ...

, accessible by the U1 and U10 buses. The closest station on the

Great Western Main Line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington to . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. Opened in 1841, it was the o ...

(in future Crossrail) is

West Drayton West Drayton is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and from 1929 was part of the Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District, which became part of Greater London in 1965. Th ...

, accessible by the U1, U3, U5 and

222 __NOTOC__ Year 222 ( CCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antoninus and Severus (or, less frequently, yea ...

buses. Uxbridge was formerly the terminus of a branch of the District line which ran from Ealing Common; the Piccadilly line took over in 1933.

History

The

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, connec ...

(later merged into 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 ...

) 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 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 histo ...

took place the following year. The

London United Tramways London United Tramways Company Limited was an operator of trams and trolleybuses in the western and southern suburbs of London, UK, from 1894 to 1933, when it passed to the London Passenger Transport Board. Origins The company was formed in 18 ...

extension from

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character ...

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 took well over an hour to reach Shepards Bush". On 1 March 1910, an extension of the District line from

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 eas ...

to connect with the Metropolitan Railway at

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' ...

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. On 12 January 1983, the station buildings were given Grade II listed status. 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 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 inde ...

to Uxbridge. Such a project would require a business case approved by TfL and the completion of signal upgrade work on the

Design

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 spring A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, i ...

s. A tall concrete canopy arches over the tracks with a row of

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

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 station is below street level in a cutting. The stained glass panels by Erwin Bossanyi at the booking hall end of the platforms reflect the area's heraldic associations. The crown and three

seax ''Seax'' (; also sax, sæx, sex; invariant in plural, latinized ''sachsum'') is an Old English word for "knife". In modern archaeology, the term ''seax'' is used specifically for a type of small sword, knife or dagger typical of the Germanic pe ...

es on a red background are the arms of

Middlesex County Council Middlesex County Council was the principal local government body in the administrative county of Middlesex from 1889 to 1965. The county council was created by the Local Government Act 1888, which also removed the most populous part of the c ...

and the chained swan on a black and red background is associated with

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

. 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 A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

, which replaced trams in 1936. Ticket barriers are in operation.

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. The off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 8tph to Aldgate (all stations) * 8tph terminating at Uxbridge The morning peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 2tph to Aldgate (semi-fast) * 4tph to Aldgate (all stations) * 4tph to Baker Street (all stations) * 10tph terminating at Uxbridge The evening peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 7tph to Aldgate (all stations) * 3tph to Baker Street (all stations) * 10tph terminating at Uxbridge

Piccadilly line

The off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 3tph to Cockfosters * 3tph terminating at Uxbridge The peak time service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 6tph to Cockfosters * 6tph terminating at Uxbridge

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 s ...

routes: *

(Uxbridge to Hounslow) * 331 (Uxbridge to Ruislip) *

427 __NOTOC__ Year 427 ( CDXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hierus and Ardabur (or, less frequently, year 1180 ...

(Uxbridge to Acton ''Old Town Hall'') – this route acts as a shorter-distance stopping service of the 607. * A10 (Uxbridge to Heathrow Central) * U1 (Ruislip to West Drayton) * U2 (Uxbridge to Brunel University) * U3 (Uxbridge to Heathrow Central) * U4 (Uxbridge to Hayes ''Prologis Park'') * U5 (Uxbridge to Hayes & Harlington) * U7 (Uxbridge to Hayes Sainsbury's) * U9 (Uxbridge to Harefield Hospital) * U10 (Uxbridge to Ruislip ''Heathfield Rise'') * Express route 607 (Uxbridge to White City ''limited stop'') * Night route N207 (Uxbridge to Holborn) In addition non-London Buses routes include: * First Berkshire route 3 (Uxbridge to Slough) *

Carousel Buses Carousel Buses is a bus company based in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. Originally an independent company, it is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group. It is grouped together with Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel, both of Oxfordshi ...

route 581 (Uxbridge to Denham) – branded as ''Buckinghamshire County Rider'' *

route 101/102 (High Wycombe to Uxbridge/Heathrow Airport) *

route 104 (Uxbridge to High Wycombe) *

route 105 (Hemel Hempstead to Uxbridge) * Magpie Travel route CC1 (Uxbridge to Newland Park College Campus) * Red Rose route R21 (Uxbridge to Mount Vernon Hospital) *

route 583 (Uxbridge to Iver) As well as the Green Line Coaches service: *

Arriva Shires & Essex Arriva Shires & Essex is a bus operator providing services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire, with services extending to Oxfordshire and Greater London. Until 2002 its operations included Colchester. It is a subsidiary o ...

route 724 (Harlow to Heathrow) – branded as Green Line

References

External links

Departure board for Uxbridge station

The Uxbridge Parish website

** ** ** ** ** {{District line navbox Charles Holden railway stations Former Metropolitan Railway stations Metropolitan line stations Piccadilly line stations London Underground stations located above ground Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1904 Tube stations in the London Borough of Hillingdon Art Deco architecture in London Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hillingdon Grade II listed railway stations Tube station