West Ealing railway station is 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 or ...

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

, situated in west London. It is down the line from

London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...

and is situated between to the east and to the west. Its three-letter station code is WEA. Most trains serving the station 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 ...

running between

Abbey Wood Abbey Wood is an area in south east London, England, straddling the border between the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Bexley. It is located east of Charing Cross. Toponymy The area takes its name from Lesnes Abbey Woo ...

and . Services on the

Greenford branch line The Greenford branch line is a Network Rail suburban railway line in west London, England. It runs northerly from a triangular junction with the Great Western Main Line west of West Ealing to a central bay platform at Greenford station, where ...

to are operated by

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 ...

History

The station was opened on 1 March 1871 as Castle Hill on the

, which was constructed from London Paddington through Ealing to

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

in 1836–1838. The station was renamed Castle Hill Ealing Dean in 1875. From 1 March 1883, the station was served by District Railway 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 ...

. This service was discontinued as uneconomic after 30 September 1885. On 1 July 1899, the station was renamed West Ealing. West Ealing Station 2047831

Originally the station consisted of four platforms in a staggered layout: platform 1 (along with a siding) and the island comprising platforms 2 and 3 to the west of the Drayton Green Road bridge, and platform 4 on the east side. The station was located next to the

London Co-operative Society The London Co-operative Society (LCS) was a consumer co-operative society in the United Kingdom. History The Society was formed in September 1920 by the amalgamation of the Stratford Co-operative Society and the Edmonton Co-operative Society, ...

's main

creamery A creamery is a place where milk and cream are processed and where butter and cheese is produced. Cream is separated from whole milk; pasteurization is done to the skimmed milk and cream separately. Whole milk for sale has had some cream re ...

, and so was equipped with a dedicated

milk train Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

platform in the mid-1900s. Platform 1 and its siding were demolished in the late 1960s; platform 4 was demolished and moved west of the bridge by early 1990, partially covering the site of the then long-closed milk depot; platform 2 was partially demolished and fenced off by early 1991 as trains on the main line no longer served the station. The remains of the milk train platform can still be seen today, next to platform 5. From around 1985 to 1990, access to the original platform 4 was opposite the station building, across Drayton Green Road bridge. The previous station building (which is now closed) was completed in early 1987, following demolition of the previous century-old building a year earlier. Since October 2008, Oyster "pay as you go" can be used for journeys originating or ending at West Ealing. In December 2018,

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 ...

commenced operating a once per day

parliamentary service A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act req ...

on weekdays from

South Ruislip South Ruislip is an area of west London in the London Borough of Hillingdon, south-east of Ruislip, south of Eastcote, north-west of Northolt, and west of South Harrow. A 2017 estimation put the population of South Ruislip ward as 13,150 resident ...

and to

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 ...

via the Greenford line. It replaced a service to London Paddington via the

Acton–Northolt line The Acton–Northolt line (ANL), historically known as the New North main line (NNML), is a railway line in West London, England. Built between 1903 and 1906, it runs from the Great Western Main Line at Old Oak Common TMD to the Chiltern Main ...

. It became once a week on Wednesdays only after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. It ran for the last time on 7 December 2022, when it was replaced by a bus service.Operators adopt for post Covid railway ''

Modern Railways ''Modern Railways'' is a British monthly magazine covering the rail transport industry which was published by Ian Allan until March 2012, and Key Publishing since then. It has been published since 1962. The magazine was originally based in She ...

'' issue 891 December 2022 page 74

Crossrail

West Ealing was first proposed to be part of the

Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...

project in the 1990s. In 2003, initial public consultation proposed that no Crossrail services would stop at the station. Following criticism, it was proposed that services would call at the station 7 days a week, with station improvements including a new ticket hall and step-free access. However, the

would terminate at the station at a new platform, to allow for a greater number of services to run into Paddington. In May 2011,

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 ...

announced that it would deliver improvements and alterations to prepare the station for Crossrail services. In 2015, the station design was approved by Ealing Council, allowing construction to commence. The work would include a new station building designed by

Bennetts Associates Bennetts is a specialist insurance broker for motorcycles headquartered in Peterborough, with a contact centre in Coventry, England, owned by Saga plc. On 17 February 2020 it was announced that The Ardonagh Group had agreed to purchase Benne ...

with access from Manor Road, a new platform for the Greenford branch, platform extensions and step-free access to all platforms. Outside the station, public realm improvements funded by Transport for London and

Ealing Borough Council Ealing London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Ealing in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. History There have previously been a number of ...

would include a raised speed table with granite paving, widened pavements, street trees and cycle parking. In September 2016, Great Western Railway began operating services from Paddington with Class 387 trains, which led to most Greenford services that had previously run to Paddington to terminate at West Ealing, using the newly built platform 5. In June 2017, it was announced that completion of the station was delayed until 2019. In December 2017,

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 ...

took over management of the station from

, with

TfL Rail TfL Rail was the concession which operated commuter services on two separate railway lines in London, England and its environs whilst the Crossrail construction project linking these lines was underway. On 24 May 2022, upon the opening of th ...

services running from May 2018, transferring to the Elizabeth line in May 2022. In 2019, contracts for the new station building was awarded, allowing construction of the new station building. Following delays due to the

, the new station building opened on 25 March 2021, providing step free access to all platforms. The existing station building on Drayton Green Road was permanently closed.

Accidents and incidents

On 5 August 1989, an express passenger train travelling from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

collided with a piece of rail left on the track, probably by vandals, and the locomotive, Class 50 50025 ''Invincible'', was derailed along the points near to platform 2 (these points were removed by November of that year). There were no serious injuries.

Services

Services at West Ealing are operated by the

and

, with a very limited service operated by

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 4 tph to * 2 tph to * 2 tph to * 2 tph to From May 2023, the station is due to also be served by services to and from . A Sunday service was introduced at the station is May 2019. Prior to this, the station was closed on Sundays. The services to Greenford do not run on Sundays. The station is also served by a very limited Chiltern Railways service of one train per week to on Wednesdays only. It will last run on 7 December 2022 with a bus to operate the service from the following week.

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 E7 and E11 serve the station.

References

External links

{{UK railway stations Railway stations in the London Borough of Ealing DfT Category E stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1871 Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations served by Chiltern Railways Railway stations served by the Elizabeth line Railway stations served by Great Western Railway 1871 establishments in England