Ealing Broadway station

Ealing Broadway

Ealing Broadway Location of Ealing Broadway in Greater London
Location	Ealing
Local authority	London Borough of Ealing
Managed by	First Great Western
Station code	EAL
Number of platforms	9
Fare zone	3
London Underground annual entry and exit
2008	17.860 million
2009	16.621 million
2010	16.510 million
National Rail annual entry and exit
2007–08	3.697 million
2008–09	3.227 million
2009–10	3.221 million
Original company	Great Western Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
1838	Opened (GWR)
1879	Opened (MDR)
1920	Start (CLR)
Lists of stations	DLR · Underground · National Rail · Tramlink
External links	Departures • Layout
	Facilities • Buses

Ealing Broadway is an east-west National Rail and London Underground station in Ealing in west London. The station is located in Haven Green (B455), at the termination of The Broadway, and is in Travelcard Zone 3.

Services

National Rail services are provided at the four Great Western Main Line platforms by First Great Western and Heathrow Connect. London Underground provide services to the three District and the two Central Line platforms.

For National Rail services, the next station to the east is Acton Main Line, but most trains run non-stop to Paddington. To the west, the next three local stations are West Ealing, Hanwell and Southall.

Ealing Broadway is the western terminus for both of the London Underground lines; on the District line, the next station to the east is Ealing Common, and on the Central Line, West Acton.

History

The Great Western Railway (GWR) opened its pioneering broad gauge tracks through Ealing Broadway between Paddington and Taplow on 6 April 1838, although Ealing Broadway station did not open until the following 1 December. As the only station in the area when it opened, it was initially named 'Ealing', and changed its name later.

Metropolitan District Railway (MDR, now the District Line) services commenced on 1 July 1879, when the MDR opened a new branch from Turnham Green on its Richmond line. The MDR built its own three-platform station to the north of the GWR one, although following the installation of a connection between the two railways to the east of the stations, MDR trains also served the GWR station from 1 March 1883, on a short-lived service running to Windsor and Eton Central station, which was withdrawn as unremunerative on 30 September 1885. It was also intended to use the connection for a service to Uxbridge Vine Street station (via West Drayton), which was never introduced.

Following electrification of the main District line route through Ealing Common to South Harrow in 1903, the section to Ealing Broadway was electrified in 1905, and the first electric trains ran to Ealing Broadway on 1 July 1905. The original brick-built MDR station was replaced with a stone-faced building sometime between 1907 and 1916.

Prior to World War I, plans were made by the GWR to construct a new, mainly-freight line between Ealing and Shepherd's Bush, to connect west-to-south with the West London Railway. The Central London Railway (CLR, now the Central Line) would use the line by extending its tracks the short distance north from its terminus at Wood Lane (now closed), to meet the new GWR tracks. CLR services to two new platforms at Ealing Broadway, built between the GWR and MDR stations, started on 3 August 1920, with, initially, just one intermediate stop at East Acton. The line also carried GWR steam freight trains until 1938, when the links at Ealing Broadway and west of North Acton were removed, and the line was fully transferred to London Underground.

Originally separate companies, by 1920 the MDR (by now known as the District Railway) and the CLR were both owned by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (LER). Despite this, the CLR services operated via the GWR station building, not the Underground one.

The GWR-built station was demolished in the 1970s and replaced by a low concrete structure containing shops and a ticket hall, with a high-rise office building above. The new station building served all the lines, and the separate District Line station ticket hall was closed, although the building remains, and the original station entrance is now a shop.

On 8 June 2006, a 14-year old boy was killed whilst trespassing on the District line railway track at Platform 9.

The station today

Ealing Broadway
Legend to West Ealing Ealing Broadway fast lines First Great Western to Acton Main Line District line to Ealing Common Central line to West Acton

The combined station has nine platforms:

• four National Rail (platforms 1 to 4). Platforms 1 and 2 are for non-stop trains, except during engineering work and disruption. Platforms 1 and 3 serve trains leaving London, while 2 and 4 are into London. Most of the National Rail platforms are open to the elements, although there are some waiting rooms on each platform.
• two Central line (5 and 6), which have a shared awning canopy.
• three District Line (7 to 9). District Line platforms 8 and 9 are partially covered by a short canopy, and retain a number of examples of early solid-disc Underground signs, used before Edward Johnston designed the familiar roundel in 1919.

All platforms are accessed through ticket barriers.

Timetable

The typical off-peak service frequency is:

First Great Western

• 6tph (trains per hour) to Paddington (First Great Western)
  • 4tph run non-stop
  • 2tph call at Acton Main Line
• 2tph to Greenford
• 2tph to Reading
• 2tph to Oxford, with some continuing to Banbury

Heathrow Connect

• 2tph to Paddington (does not call at Acton Main Line)
• 2tph to Heathrow Terminal 4 (Heathrow Connect)

London Underground

• 6tph on the District Line to Tower Hill via Earl's Court
• 9tph on the Central Line of which:
  • 6tph to Hainault via Newbury Park (Central Line)
  • 3tph to Woodford via Hainault (Central Line)

Transport links

London bus routes 65, 83, 112, 207, 297, 427, 607, E1, E2, E7, E8, E9, E10, E11 and night routes N7, N11 and N207.

Proposals

There are plans for Crossrail trains to call at Ealing Broadway. Services are expected to commence in 2018, after the station has been rebuilt with a spacious glass structure.

The West London Business group backs a Surbiton-to-Brent Cross light rail, called the West London Orbital underground railway, based on Copenhagen Metro technology, which would include a station underground at Ealing Broadway.

The London Group of the Campaign for Better Transport has published a plan in 2008 for an off-road orbital North and West London Light railway (NWLLR), sharing the Dudding Hill Line freight corridor, and using the middle two of the six track beds at North Acton tube station. In April 2009, Ealing Council voted to call on Transport for London fund a feasibility study into the light-rail proposal.

External links

• London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • District Railway station, 1907
  • District Railway station, 1916
  • Great Western Railway & Central Line station, 1933
  • District Line ticket hall, 1955
  • British Railways & Central Line station, 1955
  • Out of use District Line station building, 1982
• www.londonstation.com - Platforms 8 and 9 with early roundel signs visible
• Train times and station information for Ealing Broadway station from National Rail

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Terminus		Central line Ealing Broadway branch		West Acton towards Epping, Hainault or Woodford (via Hainault)
		District line Ealing Broadway branch		Ealing Common towards Upminster or High Street Kensington
National Rail
Acton Main Line Paddington on Sundays		First Great Western Great Western Main Line		West Ealing or Southall
Terminus or Acton Main Line		First Great Western Greenford Branch Line		West Ealing
Paddington		Heathrow Connect Paddington - Heathrow		West Ealing Southall on Sundays
		Former services
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
West Ealing towards Windsor		District line		Ealing Common towards Mansion House
		Future development
Preceding station		Crossrail		Following station
West Ealing towards Maidenhead or Heathrow Airport		Crossrail Line 1		Acton Main Line towards Abbey Wood or Shenfield