West Drayton railway station serves
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. The se ...
and
Yiewsley
Yiewsley ( ) is a large suburban village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, 2 miles (3 km) south of Uxbridge, the borough's commercial and administrative centre. Yiewsley was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Hillingdon, Middl ...
, western suburbs of
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 ...
. It is served by local trains operated by the
Elizabeth line
The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid Urban rail, urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of London Paddington statio ...
. It is down the line from and is situated between to the east and to the west. The station is managed by
Transport for London (TfL).
History
West Drayton station is on the original line of 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 ...
, and was opened on 4 June 1838 at the same time as the line.
However the original station was located slightly to the west of the current station, and was relocated to its current position from 9 August 1884 when the
Staines and West Drayton Railway branch line to Staines was opened.
From 1 March 1883, the station was served by
District Railway
The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the first par ...
services running between and
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
. The service was discontinued as uneconomic after 30 September 1885.
West Drayton was the
junction station ''Junction station'' usually refers to a railway station situated on or close to a junction where lines to several destinations diverge. The usual minimum is three incoming lines. At a station with platforms running from left to right, the minimum ...
for both the Staines branch, and an earlier branch to that opened on 8 September 1856.
The
Uxbridge branch line closed to passengers on 10 September 1962, but the line south of the
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
was retained for freight traffic until 8 January 1979.
The Staines branch closed to passengers on 29 March 1965, but freight trains still run from West Drayton serving the aviation fuel terminal for
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
at Colnbrook and
aggregates depots at Thorney and Colnbrook.
From 1895 the station was named ''West Drayton and Yiewsley''; it reverted to the original name ''West Drayton'' on 6 May 1974.
In preparation for the introduction of Elizabeth line services, the operation of the station was transferred from
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 ...
to
MTR Crossrail
MTR Corporation Limited is a majority government-owned public transport operator and property developer in Hong Kong which operates the Mass Transit Railway, the most popular public transport network in Hong Kong. It is listed on the Hon ...
on behalf of
Transport for London at the end of 2017.
Description
West Drayton station is situated on Station Approach in
Yiewsley
Yiewsley ( ) is a large suburban village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, 2 miles (3 km) south of Uxbridge, the borough's commercial and administrative centre. Yiewsley was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Hillingdon, Middl ...
. It is north of the centre of
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. The se ...
and immediately to the south of the
Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...
, in the
London Borough of Hillingdon
The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...
.
The station has five platforms. Platform 1 down main line (away from London), platform 2 is the up main line (towards London), platform 3 is the down relief line, platform 4 is the up relief line. A fifth platform on the up goods line is not used for passenger services. This is used for freight services to access the branch line to Colnbrook and also to wait to continue on the up relief line. The platforms on the main lines see little use, other than when the relief lines are closed for maintenance. Access between the platforms is via steps and a pedestrian underpass.
Crossrail and the Elizabeth Line
The station received major improvements through the Crossrail construction project in preparation for Elizabeth Line services which commenced in May 2022. A new glass and steel extension was built together with a redeveloped main ticket office and new platform canopies. The platforms were extended to be greater than 200m long, accessed by a new over platform footbridge with four lifts.
Services
Services at West Drayton are operated by the
Elizabeth line
The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid Urban rail, urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of London Paddington statio ...
using
EMUs
Emus may refer to:
* Emu
The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...
.
The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
* 4 tph to
* 4 tph to of which 2 continue to
On Sundays, the service between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway is reduced to hourly in each direction.
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
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, ye ...
,
350
__NOTOC__
Year 350 (Roman numerals, CCCL) was a common 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 Sergius and Nigrinianus (or, less frequentl ...
,
698
__NOTOC__
Year 698 ( DCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 698 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...
,
U1,
U3 and
U5 serve the station.
References
External links
Train timesan
from
National Rail
National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...
To learn more about West Drayton check the community website at http://www.ub7.org.
{{UK railway stations
Railway stations in the London Borough of Hillingdon
Great Western Main Line
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1838
Former Great Western Railway stations
Railway stations served by the Elizabeth line