'West Ashfield' is a staff training facility for the

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 ...

on the third floor of Ashfield House in

West Kensington West Kensington, formerly North End, is an area in the ancient parish of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Charing Cross. It covers most of the London postal area of W14, includ ...

. It was opened in 2010 at a cost of £800,000.

Facilities

Designed by Reyneke Designs and completed in 2009, the facility is used by TfL for training staff and is laid out exactly as a real station would be, except it is significantly shorter, the suicide pit is a painted effect and the train façade in the tunnel won't move into the station. The single platform is nominally a westbound platform on the District line situated between

and

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

station. Staff are able to run training sessions which reflect signal points, tannoy announcements and electricity power controls. A fan in an upper corner of the room simulates the familiar blast of air when a train arrives and the platform can vibrate to simulate the rumbling of an approaching train. There is a

model railway Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

at the West Ashfield training facility, also designed by Reyneke Designs, which is used to simulate various faults so that staff can learn how to deal with them. The five stations on the model railway are Hobbs End, Kensington Palace, West Ashfield, Strand-on-the-Green and Hammersmith Bridge.

Decommissioning

As part of the joint venture between Transport for London and the developers of the

Earls Court Exhibition Centre Earls Court Exhibition Centre was a major international exhibition and events venue just west of central London. At its peak it is said to have generated a £2 billion turnover for the economy. It replaced exhibition and entertainment grounds, ...

site, the plan is to regenerate the area. This will involve shutting down the historic

Lillie Bridge Depot Lillie Bridge Depot is a historic English traction maintenance depot on the London Underground Piccadilly and District lines, situated between West Brompton and West Kensington stations in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It is a ...

along with Ashfield House by 2024.

References

External links

IanVisits tour of the station

West Ashfield Station - a simulated London Underground Station by Reyneke Designs
"3D Animation created to develop and communicate the design concept, generate interest, secure funding, and form part of the tender documentation."
West Ashfield Station Lighting Sequence Animation by Reyneke Designs
"Lighting Sequence Animation created to illustrate the design intention, demonstrate timings and form part of the tender documentation."
The Making of a Fully Signalled London Underground Model Railway by Reyneke Designs
"The Model Railway forms part of the West Ashfield Station training facility on the third floor of Ashfield House in West London. It is a fully signalled LUL railway in miniature, comprising 5 stations, 3 of which are situated in controlled areas. The maximum number of trains that may be in service is 16." {{coord , 51, 29, 28, N, 0, 12, 14, W, type:railwaystation_region:GB-HMF, display=title London Underground Simulation