North Acton tube station

This article is about the London Underground Central line station. For other "Acton" stations, see Acton station (disambiguation).

North Acton
North Acton Location of North Acton in Greater London
Location	North Acton
Local authority	London Borough of Ealing
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	3
Fare zone	2 and 3
London Underground annual entry and exit
2018	5.79 million [1]
2019	6.24 million [2]
2020	3.72 million [3]
2021	3.15 million [4]
2022	5.23 million [5]
Key dates
5 November 1923	Opened
Other information
External links	TfL station info page
Coordinates	51°31′25″N0°15′35″W / 51.52361°N 0.25972°W / 51.52361; -0.25972
London transportportal

North Acton is a London Underground station in North Acton, west London in the London Borough of Ealing. The station is on the Central line between East Acton and Hanger Lane on the West Ruislip Branch and West Acton on the Ealing Broadway Branch. It is on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 2 and Zone 3.

History

North Acton station facing east in March 1979, showing the old waiting room and only two Central line tracks.

Facing east in May 2008. Tracks from the left were once two of the NNML, two GWR freight and two Central line track beds. The closer bridge carries Victoria Road; that beyond carries the North London Line.

The joint "New North Main Line" (NNML; the present day Acton–Northolt line) of the Great Central and Great Western opened in 1903 and its North Acton Halt railway station followed in 1904, though it was closed by 1913. The Great Western Railway (GWR) built the Ealing & Shepherd's Bush Railway, which connected the Central London Railway (CLR) with the GWR's Ealing Broadway station. CLR trains began using the route on 3 August 1920. ^[6] The stations at North Acton and West Acton were built and owned by the GWR, and both opened on 5 November 1923, the new North Acton being a short distance east of the 1904 halt. ^[7] As Transport for London explains: ^[8]

On 18 August 1911, the Central London Railway abandoned its policy of no through running with any other railway, and secured powers to build a short extension from Wood Lane to connect with the intended Ealing & Shepherds Bush line of the Great Western Railway, over which it proposed to exercise running powers.

North of the Central line tracks were two freight lines, removed in the 1960s, running alongside the Central line as far as White City; to the north of those at a slightly higher level were the two tracks of the NNML. ^{[9] [10] [11] [12] [13]} The NNML platforms closed when the Central line was extended on new track from North Acton to Greenford station in 1947. Today, only the outer-most NNML platform remains partially intact, having been removed in the early 1950s. ^{[14] [15]}

Between South Ruislip station and Old Oak Junction, the GWR line was progressively run down, and in many places it is now single-track, including the stretch running past North Acton, which was reduced to single-track in 1993. From May 2008 until December 2018 only freight trains and a once-daily passenger service provided by Chiltern Railways used this stretch of line.

The Underground station had only two platforms until 1992, ^[16] whereby for operational flexibility an island platform was created by building a third platform north of the other two, where the old freight line track bed had been. The third platform became the eastbound road while the eastbound platform (now the middle platform) was resignalled to allow it to be used also for terminating and starting services. This change allows shuttle services to be run to White City from Ealing Broadway and from West Ruislip in the event of problems elsewhere on the Central line, and at certain times of the day some trains coming from central London are scheduled to terminate at North Acton .

Today

Passenger access is down from the booking hall, which is part-way down the southern side of the cutting with two exits up to Victoria Road. This is the last station before the Central line splits into the West Ruislip and Ealing Broadway branches. Approximately half the trains stopping at the station head to each destination. The support centre for Carphone Warehouse and numerous other companies have offices in the vicinity. There are approximately 600 new flats directly opposite the station, and there is a Holiday Inn Express hotel next door to the station with the Ramada Encore hotel another five minutes' walk away. A Tesco Express store is also open along with a Lebanese restaurant in the opposite block.

Development

There have been vague and uncosted suggestions over the years to move the station to the east to provide an interchange with the North London Line. This would, however, be in an area with no extra passenger generation, and merely to move the station for interchange purposes has never been sufficient reason. The idea was revived in February 2008, when the Greater London Authority stated in a 'Park Royal draft Opportunity Area Planning Framework' ^[17] that

There may be potential for an interchange between the Central line and North London Line at North Acton. This is purely aspirational at this stage, and would require investigation to determine cost, finance and feasibility.

In 2004, the multinational Diageo company agreed to build Central line platforms at Park Royal station to the west of North Acton, ^{[18] [19]} as part of its First Central business park, ^[20] built on the site of the now demolished Guinness brewery. By 2017 this had not yet happened. Such a new station might influence whether adjacent stations were ever moved (particularly Hanger Lane station not far to the west). The entrance to a 'North London Line' North Acton station could be just a few metres on the other side of Victoria Road from the current North Acton station eastern entrance. There is a footpath to the west immediately next to the railway, from nearby Chase Road to Park Royal Road.

Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Hanger Lane towards West Ruislip		Central line		East Acton towards Epping, Hainault or Woodford via  Newbury Park
West Acton towards Ealing Broadway
Service arrangement if Old Oak Common opens
Hanger Lane towards West Ruislip		Central line		Old Oak Common towards Epping, Hainault or Woodford via  Newbury Park
West Acton towards Ealing Broadway
Disused railways
Park Royal		Great Western Railway New North Main Line		Old Oak Lane Halt

Connections

London Buses routes 95, 218, 260, 266, 440, 487 and N266 serve the station.

Gallery

• 
  Looking west, with westbound (left) and eastbound trains in January 2006
• 
  Looking east, with the island platform on the left in May 2008
• 
  Looking west, with the island platform on the right in May 2008
• 
  Looking west, with the disused GWR station on the extreme right in May 2008
• 
  Roundel on westbound platform in May 2008
• 
  New North Acton Square in front of the main tube station entrance in June 2020

References

1. "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 14 January 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
2. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
3. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
4. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
5. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
6. Day, John R.; Reed, John (2008) [1963]. The Story of London's Underground (10th ed.). Harrow: Capital Transport. p. 90. ISBN   978-1-85414-316-7.
7. Day & Reed 2008 , p. 91
8. Transport for London : Central line facts
9. View of North Acton in the 1920s–1940s. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
10. "The Crookes Laboratories Ltd off Gorst Road and the surrounding industrial area, North Acton, 1947. This image was marked by Aerofilms Ltd for photo editing.". Britain from Above. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
11. "Industrial properties between Victoria Road and Wales Farm Road, North Acton, 1948. This image was marked by Aerofilms Ltd for photo editing.". Britain from Above. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
12. "The Ducon Condenser Works and the surrounding residential and industrial area, North Acton, 1938. This image has been produced from a damaged negative.". Britain from Above. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
13. London Transport Museum Historical photograph of North Acton station in 1933
14. Jones, Richard (17 April 2006). "37425 North Acton, 17/04/06". Flickr. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
15. Lang, Duncan (18 March 2013). "Untitled". Flickr. Retrieved 2014-09-03.
16. Heywood, Paul (18 August 2014). "London". Flickr. Retrieved 2014-08-29.
17. Greater London Authority ^{[ permanent dead link ]} Park Royal draft Opportunity Area Planning Framework
18. alwaystouchout Park Royal Central line platforms
19. London Borough of Brent: Central line agreement Audit trail for planning agreement not all on-line, but starts here
20. First Central business park Archived 16 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine Map of Park Royal Central line platforms