Wembley Stadium railway station is a
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
station in
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
,
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
, on the
Chiltern Main Line
The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull.
It is one of tw ...
. It is the nearest station to
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
, and is located a quarter of a mile (400 m) south west of the sports venue.
History
First Wembley Stadium station
The first station to bear the name Wembley Stadium, at (), about east-north-east of the present station, was opened by the
LNER LNER may refer to:
* London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947
* London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018
* Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...
on 28 April 1923 as ''
The Exhibition Station (Wembley)''. It had one platform, and was situated on a
loop
Loop or LOOP may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live
* Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets
* Loop Mobile, an ...
which forked off the
Chiltern Main Line
The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull.
It is one of tw ...
between Neasden Junction and Wembley Hill station (now Wembley Stadium station, see below). It then curved round in a clockwise direction to regain the Chiltern Main Line at a point slightly closer to Neasden Junction. The connections faced London to allow an intensive service with no reversing. The station was renamed several times, becoming Wembley Stadium station in 1928. The station was last used on 18 May 1968 for the
1968 FA Cup Final
The 1968 FA Cup Final was the 87th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 18 May 1968 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between West Bromwich Albion and Everton.
West Brom won 1–0 after extra time. Jeff Astle scored the winning goal, thus a ...
between
Everton v
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
, and was officially closed on 1 September 1969.
Traces of the line can be seen on maps and in aerial photographs. It was normally used only for passenger services for events at the stadium or the
Empire Pool within the estate, built for the 1924-25
British Empire Exhibition
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925.
Background
In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibit ...
. Temporary sidings led into the "Palace of Engineering" exhibition hall where both the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
's locomotive ''
Caerphilly Castle
Caerphilly Castle ( cy, Castell Caerffili) is a medieval fortification in Caerphilly in South Wales. The castle was constructed by Gilbert de Clare in the 13th century as part of his campaign to maintain control of Glamorgan, and saw extensi ...
'' and the
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...
's ''
Flying Scotsman'' were displayed, with each claimed by its owners to be the most powerful passenger locomotive in Britain.
Present station
![Wembley Stadium map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Wembley_Stadium_map.png)
On 20 November 1905 the
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
opened a new route for freight trains between Neasden Junction and Northolt Junction. Passenger services from
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
began on 1 March 1906, when three new stations were opened: Wembley Hill, 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 eas ...
. On 2 April 1906 these services were extended to
Northolt Junction.
Wembley Hill station was renamed ''Wembley Complex'' on 8 May 1978 in order to indicate its proximity to the nearby sports facilities, as well as to a recently opened conference centre, before getting its present name ''Wembley Stadium'' on 11 May 1987. There were originally four tracks with the two platforms on passing loops outside the inner non-stop running lines; the current two-track layout dates from the 1960s. The 4 tracks were closed for a week by a landslide in a cutting near the station from 18 February 1918.
Services
Train services are operated by
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains.
Chiltern Railw ...
and run from
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
towards
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...
and
Birmingham Snow Hill.
The typical off-peak service is:
*2 trains per hour to London Marylebone only
*1 train per hour to Gerrards Cross calling at Sudbury Hill Harrow, Northolt Park, West Ruislip and Denham
*1 train per hour to High Wycombe calling at South Ruislip, Gerrards Cross and Beaconsfield.
The service to central London is quicker than from other stations in the area. Trains can reach
London Marylebone
Marylebone station ( ) is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone an ...
non-stop in ten minutes.
During busier periods (usually due to an event at the stadium) a seven carriage shuttle operates between Marylebone and Wembley Stadium using the turnback siding just west of the station to enable trains to quickly turn around to go back to London. There is an enhanced northbound service too, with trains travelling to Banbury, Birmingham and beyond making additional calls at the station.
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
83,
92,
182,
223,
440
Year 440 (CDXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valentinianus and Anatolius (or, less frequently, year 1193 ''Ab urbe ...
,
483 and night route
N83 serve the station.
It is bounded to the south by the
Harrow Road
The Harrow Road is an ancient route in North West London which runs from Paddington in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queens Park and Kensal Green, straddling the NW10 ...
(
A404 road
The A404 is a road in the United Kingdom that starts at Paddington in London and terminates near Maidenhead in Berkshire. It is long.
Route
The road initially follows a course through north-west London via Harlesden, Wembley, Harrow, Nor ...
).
Gallery
File:Wembly stadium station 2001.JPG, Wembley stadium station in 2001, before it was modernised
File:Wembleystat2.JPG, The station with the 'White Horse Bridge' above it
Notes
External links
Wembley Stadium at Chiltern Railways
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wembley Stadium Railway Station
Railway stations in the London Borough of Brent
Former Great Central Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1906
Railway stations served by Chiltern Railways
Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena