South Ruislip station

South Ruislip is a station served by London Underground and Chiltern Railways in South Ruislip in west London. The station is owned, managed and staffed by London Underground.[5] The station is in Travelcard Zone 5.

South Ruislip
Station building
South Ruislip Location of South Ruislip in Greater London
Location	South Ruislip
Local authority	London Borough of Hillingdon
Managed by	London Underground
Owner	London Underground
Station code	SRU
DfT category	F1
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	5
London Underground annual entry and exit
2015	1.72 million[1]
2016	1.76 million[1]
2017	2.02 million[1]
2018	1.91 million[2]
2019	1.95 million[3]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2015–16	0.234 million[4]
2016–17	0.229 million[4]
2017–18	0.223 million[4]
2018–19	0.230 million[4]
2019–20	0.221 million[4]
Key dates
1906	Tracks laid (GW&GCR)
1 May 1908	Opened (GW&GCR)
21 November 1948	Started (Central line)
Other information
External links	TfL station info page Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51.5565°N 0.3988°W
London transport portal

History

A 1914 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of South Ruislip (shown here as Northolt Junction)

The GWR/GCR Joint line to High Wycombe carried services from both Paddington and Marylebone. They met at Northolt Junction, situated slightly to the east of the station, from where four tracks ran westwards to Ruislip Gardens and West Ruislip; there the route shrank to two tracks only. Opened on 1 May 1908[6] and originally known as Northolt Junction, the station became South Ruislip & Northolt Junction from September 1932 and received its present name on 30 June 1947.[7][8] In October 1942, a Wellington bomber flying to the nearby airfield at RAF Northolt crashed near the station, killing all the crew and six civilians.

The station was designed by Brian Lewis and F.C.C. Curtis and first served by Central line trains on 21 November 1948 when the Central line extension from London towards West Ruislip was completed after being delayed by World War II. The rounded booking hall was not completed until 1960.[9] The concrete, glass and granite chip frieze in the booking hall is one of the earliest public works by glass artist, Henry Haig.[10]

In late 1973 and early 1974 the track layout was simplified and the manual signal box was removed in early 1990, along with other manual signal boxes on this line, and its function replaced by colour light signalling and power operated points, both controlled from Marylebone. The track alignments were improved to allow higher speed running at the junction for the services from Marylebone, and the pointwork which had allowed trains from Paddington to call at the westbound Chiltern station platform was removed. All eastbound services were moved to the former through road; the eastbound road, which had formerly extended from the platform road at West Ruislip, was closed and lifted, and the eastbound platform widened.[11] The alignment of the turnout towards Marylebone was improved to allow higher-speed running. Fragments of the old trackwork can still be seen to the north of the line at this point. The trackwork at this station has been upgraded and now permits higher speed running up to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).

The station was transferred from the Western Region of British Rail to the London Midland Region on 24 March 1974.[12]

The station today

Ticket barriers control access to all platforms.

A large West London Waste Authority bulk rubbish handling depot lies to the east of the station which sees a daily waste train in operation. There is also a single-track connection with the Acton–Northolt line.

The lines to Marylebone formerly passed either side of West Waste. As part of Chiltern Railways' Evergreen 3 route improvements works, Northolt Junction was remodelled and included provision to the north of the waste transfer depot of a new down main line alongside the existing up main to allow services to be accelerated. The new down main line has a line speed limit of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) compared with the former 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).[13] The existing down main was remodelled to become the down loop line, used by trains stopping at South Ruislip station.

The bridge outside which carries the lines over Station Approach is lower than others locally at 11 feet 9 inches (3.58 m) and is often hit by high vehicles. Either side of it, false deck beams have been installed so the danger of any impacts causing damage to the bridge itself has been lessened.

Services

Services at South Ruislip are operated by London Underground on the Central Line and by Chiltern Railways. The off-peak services at the station are:

London Underground (Central Line)

• 9 tph to West Ruislip
• 9 tph to Epping

Chiltern Railways

• 1 tph to London Marylebone
• 1 tph to High Wycombe

On weekends, the northbound service runs to Gerrards Cross instead of High Wycombe.

There is also one Parliamentary Service on Mondays-Fridays to West Ealing via the Greenford branch line.[14][15]

Connections

London Buses routes 114 and E7 serve the station.

References

1. "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures (2007–2017)" (XLSX). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. January 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
2. "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
3. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
4. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
5. "National Rail Enquiries — Station Facilities for South Ruislip". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
6. Chronology of London Railways by H.V.Borley
7. Chronology of London Railways by H.V.Borley page 72
8. Forgotten Stations of Greater London by J.E.Connor and B.Halford page 124
9. Edwards 1985, p.36
10. Pearson, Lynn (20 November 2007). "A period of extraordinary fecundity: a survey of postwar murals" (PDF). p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2013. (paper based on Pearson, Lynn (2007). "Roughcast textures with cosmic overtones: a survey of British murals, 1945-80". Decorative Arts Society Journal. 31: 117–137.)
11. Slater, J.N., ed. (May 1974). "Notes and News: Ruislip and Beaconsfield reduced". Railway Magazine. London: IPC Transport Press Ltd. 120 (877): 248. ISSN 0033-8923.
12. Slater, J.N., ed. (May 1974). "Notes and News: Transfer of Marylebone-Banbury services". Railway Magazine. London: IPC Transport Press Ltd. 120 (877): 248. ISSN 0033-8923.
13. "Planning Application to Hillingdon Borough Council for revised railway track layout at Northolt Junction" (PDF). London: Chiltern Railways. 23 February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
14. 2V27 1102 South Ruislip to West Ealing Real Train Times 10 December 2018
15. 2M27 1147 West Ealing to High Wycombe Real Train Times 10 December 2018

Bibliography

• Edwards, Dennis. F. (1985) Bygone Ruislip and Uxbridge. Chichester: Phillimore & Co. ISBN 0-85033-592-2

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • South Ruislip and Northolt Junction station, 1937
  • Rotunda ticket hall under construction, 1954
  • Temporary booking hall, 1955