White City is a London Underground station on Wood Lane in

White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football clu ...

, west London, England, on the Central line between

Shepherds 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, ...

and

East Acton East Acton is an area in Acton in London, England, west of Charing Cross. It is partly in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and partly in the London Borough of Ealing. It is served by East Acton Underground station, on the Central ...

stations in Travelcard Zone 2. The station is in a deep brick-sided cutting – and is designed in a similar way to Harrow-on-the-Hill station.

History

The station was opened on 23 November 1947, replacing the earlier Wood Lane station. Its construction started after 1938 and had been scheduled for completion by 1940, but the Second World War delayed its opening for another seven years. The architectural design of the station won an award at the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

and a commemorative plaque recording this is attached to the building to the left of the main entrance.

The station today

An interesting feature of the station is that the line adopts right-hand running through the station rather than the conventional left-hand running. This is a historical consequence of the reversal of the tracks in the tunnels of the anti-clockwise loop track built for the now-disused Wood Lane station, situated a short distance to the south of White City which was opened in 1908 as the then western terminus of the Central London Railway. The two tracks return to their normal left-hand orientation by a surface fly-over roughly halfway between White City and East Acton stations. The station's running layout has three tracks, with the centre track having platforms on each side meaning that it can handle trains running in either direction. A siding between the running lines to the north of the station allows trains from Central London to be reversed and run back eastwards. Trains going out of service can return to the below-ground White City depot to the south of the station via sidings between the running lines. The nearby Wood Lane station on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines provides an interchange between the lines. This station is also directly opposite the BBC Television Centre and is within walking distance of Loftus Road, home of Queens Park Rangers F.C. and

Westfield London Westfield London is a large shopping centre in White City, west London, England, developed by the Westfield Group at a cost of £1.6bn, on a brownfield site formerly the home of the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition. The site is bounded by the We ...

. The station received a certificate of merit in the 2009 National Railway Heritage Awards, London Regional category, for the modernisation (completed in 2008) that took care to retain heritage and architectural features.

Similarly named station

An earlier Wood Lane station on 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 ...

was located a short distance to the south and was also known as ''White City'' from 23 November 1947 until its closure in 1959.

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 72, 95,

220 __NOTOC__ Year 220 ( CCXX) was a leap 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 Antonius and Eutychianus (or, less frequently, year 973 '' ...

228 Year 228 ( CCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Modestus and Maecius (or, less frequently, year 981 '' Ab urbe con ...

272 __NOTOC__ Year 272 ( CCLXXII) 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 Postumius and Veldumnianus (or, less frequently, year 102 ...

and night route N72 serve the station directly.

White City bus station White City bus station serves the White City area of west London and Westfield London shopping centre. The bus station was opened on 29 November 2008 to serve the new Westfield London shopping centre. The station has been built around the Grade ...

is a few minutes walk south of the station.

References

External links

* White City Station in 1951.
Shepherd's Bush and White City development
{{Central line navbox Central line (London Underground) stations London Underground Night Tube stations London Underground stations located above ground Tube stations in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1947 1947 establishments in England Tube station