West Ealing railway station

West Ealing railway station is on the Great Western main line in Ealing, west London. It is 6 miles 46 chains (10.6 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Ealing Broadway to the east and Hanwell to the west. Its three-letter station code is WEA.

West Ealing
West Ealing Location of West Ealing in Greater London
Location	West Ealing
Local authority	London Borough of Ealing
Grid reference	TQ166807
Managed by	TfL Rail[1]
Station code	WEA
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	3
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2015–16	0.989 million[2]
2016–17	0.924 million[2]
2017–18	1.035 million[2]
– interchange	84,457[2]
2018–19	1.078 million[2]
– interchange	65,972[2]
2019–20	1.182 million[2]
– interchange	69,361[2]
Railway companies
Original company	Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
4 June 1838	Line opened
1 March 1871	Station opened as Castle Hill and Ealing Dene
1 March 1883	District Railway service introduced
30 September 1885	District Railway service ceased
1 July 1899	Renamed West Ealing
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51.5137°N 0.3203°W
London transport portal

Most trains serving the station are operated by TfL Rail running between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 4. Branch line services to Greenford with Great Western Railway and Chiltern Railways operating one service a day. Once Crossrail opens fully, the TfL Rail service will become part of the Elizabeth line and run through central London to Abbey Wood and Shenfield.

History

The original station building visible in the distance, on the far right, in 1962. The milk dock is visible near the centre; platform 1 and its siding are visible on the extreme right.

The original station building in 1978

The station was opened in 1871 as Castle Hill and Ealing Dene on the Great Western Railway, which was constructed from London Paddington through Ealing to Maidenhead in 1836–1838.[3] From 1 March 1883, the station – then named Castle Hill (Ealing Dean) – was served by District Railway services running between Mansion House and Windsor. This service was discontinued as uneconomic after 30 September 1885.[4][5] The station was located next to the London Co-operative Society's main creamery, and so was equipped with a dedicated milk train platform in the mid-1900s.

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.[6] 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;[7] platform 2 was partially demolished and fenced off by early 1991 as trains on the main line no longer served the station. From around 1985 to 1990, access to the original platform 4 was opposite the station building, across Drayton Green Road bridge. The current station building 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.[8]

In September 2016, Great Western Railway began operating services from Paddington with Class 387 EMUs, which led to some Greenford services that had previously run to Paddington to terminate at West Ealing using the newly converted terminal platform. All Greenford services terminate at West Ealing from January 2017.[9] As part of the changes for Crossrail, services from the Greenford branch line now terminate at West Ealing. Network Rail created capacity for this by converting the former LCS milk train bay into an extra bay platform.[10] Platforms 3–4 were also extended to enable 9-car trains to stop.

In December 2018, Chiltern Railways commenced operating a once per day parliamentary service on weekdays from South Ruislip and to High Wycombe via the Greenford line.[11][12] It replaced a service to London Paddington via the Acton–Northolt line.

Before May 2019, the station was not served by any trains on Sundays. This was because the TfL Rail services to Heathrow did not call on Sundays and both the TfL Rail service to Hayes & Harlington and GWR Greenford Shuttle services did not run. From May 2019, the TfL Rail service to Hayes & Harlington started running on Sundays, initially giving West Ealing a half-hourly service on Sundays.

Accidents and incidents

On 5 August 1989, an express passenger train travelling from Oxford to Paddington 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.[13][14]

Description

West Ealing is on the original line of the Great Western Railway. The restricted facilities are an intermittently open booking office and a ticket machine. The station is in Travelcard Zone 3.

Presently there are five lines (two for fast services out of Paddington), but only platforms 3–5 exist. There are also the remains of another platform next to platform 5, which is the now long-closed LCS dedicated milk depot platform.

Services

Timetable

Trains at West Ealing are operated by TfL Rail and Great Western Railway with a limited service provided by Chiltern Railways.

The typical daily service (trains per hour – tph) is:[15]

• 4tph to London Paddington (TfL Rail)
• 2tph to Hayes & Harlington (TfL Rail)
• 2tph to Heathrow Terminal 4 (TfL Rail)

In addition, Monday-Saturday there is an additional:

• 2tph to Greenford (GWR)

There is also one train per day on Mondays-Fridays only to High Wycombe, operated by Chiltern Railways.

Great Western Railway Class 165 at the Greenford bay platform, 2017

TfL Rail Class 345 on the London bound platform, 2019

Connections

London Buses routes E7 and E11 serve the station.

Future

The area of the former milk train bay, 2012. This was converted in 2016 into an extra bay platform for the Greenford branch, as part of the Crossrail project.

Once Crossrail is fully open, Elizabeth line services are due to run from the station across central London.[16] A new station building is being constructed on Manor Road[17] , providing a larger entrance with step-free access to the platform (via lifts). This new station building is due to open early in 2021, at which time the existing station building on Drayton Green Road shall be permanently closed.

References

1. Station facilities for West Ealing
2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. MacDermot, E T (1927). History of the Great Western Railway. 1 (1833–1863) (1 ed.). London: Great Western Railway.
4. Rose, Douglas (December 2007) [1980]. The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (8th ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-315-0.
5. Day, John R.; Reed, John (2008) [1963]. The Story of London's Underground (10th ed.). Harrow: Capital Transport. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-85414-316-7.
6. Law, John. "glc - west ealing station gwr" on Flickr. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
7. Mitchell, V; Smith, K (2000). Branch Lines of West London. Midhurst: Middleton Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-901706-50-5.
8. "Oyster PAYG on National Rail" (PDF). National Rail Enquiries. 20 October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2009.
9. "Greenford line alterations". Great Western Railway. Archived from the original on 14 October 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
10. Transport Watch: 'Tube crime down for third consecutive year' - Ealing Gazette
11. 2V27 1102 South Ruislip to West Ealing Real Train Times 10 December 2018
12. 2M27 1147 West Ealing to High Wycombe Real Train Times 10 December 2018
13. "Photo of 50025 at West Ealing, August 1989". Rail Blue. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
14. "Accident at West Ealing in August 1989". Railways Archive. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
15. "Paddington to Heathrow Airport (TfL Rail)" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
16. "Crossrail - West Ealing Station" www.crossrail.co.uk; Retrieved 21 March 2016
17. "Crossrail Station Design Contract Awarded". Crossrail. 17 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2012.

External links

• Train times and station information for West Ealing railway station from National Rail