Wood Lane was a station on the London Underground that was located in

Shepherd's 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, i ...

, west London. It was opened in 1908 on the Hammersmith branch of the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

(now the

Hammersmith & City line The Hammersmith & City line is a London Underground line that runs between Hammersmith in west London and in east London. Printed in pink on the Tube map, it serves 29 stations over . Between and it skirts the City of London, the capital's fin ...

), on the viaduct adjacent to the bridge over Wood Lane and close to a station of the same name but on the Central London Railway (now the Central line). It was closed temporarily in 1914, reopened in 1920 and eventually closed permanently in 1959 at which time it was served by 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 ...

History

Exhibition station

The two Wood Lane stations were opened in 1908 to serve the Franco-British Exhibition and the

1908 Olympic Games The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

in the area that was to become known as

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 ...

. The

's Wood Lane opened with the name Wood Lane (Exhibition) on 1 May 1908 and the Central London Railway's Wood Lane station opened on 14 May 1908. Both were intended to be temporary and to be closed after the exhibition and the Games. Wood Lane (Exhibition) station was closed on 31 October 1914, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The other Wood Lane became the permanent western terminus of the Central London Railway.

Reopening

The station was brought back into use on 5 November 1920,London's Disused Underground Stations by J.E.Connor page 60 with the name Wood Lane (White City), but was open only when an exhibition or event was being staged. It was served by the

and was between

and

Latimer Road Latimer may refer to: Places England * Latimer, Buckinghamshire, a village ** Latimer and Ley Hill, a civil parish that until 2013 was just called "Latimer" * Latimer, Leicester, an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicest ...

Final renaming and subsequent closure

The Central line's Wood Lane closed, and was replaced by White City station situated just to the north, on 23 November 1947. The Metropolitan line station changed its name to White City on the same date. It retained this name for the remainder of its existence. Following a fire in which one of the wooden platforms was destroyed, the Metropolitan line White City station was permanently closed. It was last used on 24 October 1959, and the Television Centre complex now runs on both sides of the railway. The station at viaduct level was largely demolished; the ticket office at ground level remains and has been repainted, though is not visible from the street. The entrance from Wood Lane (and a main entrance to the exhibitions) was situated along a road which no longer exists that ran approximately along the line of the entrance to the Television Centre multi-storey car park. The centre point of the platforms was approximately opposite the largest of the BBC satellite dishes to the west of the line. Underground Stations in Shepherd's Bush

As part of the plans for the redevelopment of White City, a new Wood Lane station was built on the

. Opened on 12 October 2008, it is on the east side of Wood Lane about north-east of the former Metropolitan line station.

Latimer Road & Acton Railway

The Latimer Road & Acton Railway (LR&AR), a nominally independent company, proposed a line linking the Hammersmith & City Railway at Wood Lane with 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 ...

east of their

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

station. The H&CR initially insisted that the LR&AR built a separate

exchange station A charging station, also known as a charge point or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug-in electric vehicles (including electric cars, electric trucks, electric b ...

at Wood Lane, rather than using the existing platforms. The GWR wanted the LR&AR to also build a separate Acton station, and a house was demolished at Friar's Place for this. The railway was authorised by act in 1882, but between 1885 and 1893 four acts for extensions of time were needed, as the LR&A Company could not reach agreement with the Great Western and the Metropolitan for joint-working of the line. When this was finally achieved (confirmed by act in 1895), capital could not be raised. The line was abandoned by act in 1900, after only small parts had been built, including an iron bridge (later demolished) over the North & South Western Junction Railway near the current Westway road bridge. The later Ealing & Shepherd's Bush Railway followed a similar route to the proposed LR&AR line, the Metropolitan ironically promoting a bill in 1912 to connect the Hammersmith & City to this line, which failed on opposition from the Great Western, the Central London Railway, and the

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 ...

References

External links

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** {{Metropolitan line navbox Disused London Underground stations Former Hammersmith and City Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1908 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1914 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1920 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1959 Shepherd's Bush 1908 establishments in England ru:Вуд-лэйн (станция метро)