Osterley tube station

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Osterley
London Underground
Osterley station building2.JPG
Osterley is located in Greater London
Osterley

Location of Osterley in Greater London
Location Osterley
Local authority London Borough of Hounslow
Managed by London Underground
Number of platforms 2
Fare zone 4
London Underground annual entry and exit
2008 Increase 2.060 million[1]
2009 Increase 2.064 million[2]
2010 Decrease 2.030 million[3]
Original company Metropolitan District Railway
1 May 1883 Opened as Osterley & Spring Grove
13 March 1933 Piccadilly Line service introduced
25 March 1934 Relocated and renamed Osterley
9 October 1964 District Line service ceased
Lists of stations

Portal icon London Transport portalCoordinates: 51°28′53″N 0°21′08″W / 51.4814°N 0.3522°W / 51.4814; -0.3522

Osterley is a London Underground station in Osterley in west London. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly Line, between Boston Manor and Hounslow East. The station is located on Great West Road (A4) close to the National Trust-owned Osterley Park. It is in Travelcard Zone 4. The daily parking fee is £4.50.

Contents

History [edit]

The current Osterley station was opened on 25 March 1934 adjacent to the Great West Road which had been opened in 1925. The station was designed by Stanley Heaps in the modern European style used elsewhere on the Piccadilly line by Charles Holden.[4] The design uses brick, reinforced concrete and large areas of glass and features a brick tower topped with a concrete "obelisk". It was served from its outset by trains from the District and Piccadilly Lines, although District Line services were withdrawn on 9 October 1964.

Osterley station was a replacement for an earlier station, Osterley & Spring Grove, located about 300m to the east on Thornbury Road, which was closed when Osterley opened. The old station is now Osterley Bookshop. The archway to the platforms is still visible inside the bookshop, but is now bricked off. The platforms are still in place, and the entire station may be viewed from a passing train.

Earlier history [edit]

Osterley & Spring Grove station and the tracks through the current station were opened by the District Line's predecessor, the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR), on 1 May 1883 as a line to Hounslow Town (located on Hounslow High Street but now closed).

Map showing operational dates for lines and stations in Hounslow

On 21 July 1884 a branch was constructed from shortly north of Hounslow Town to Hounslow Barracks (now Hounslow West). The branch line was constructed as single track and initially had no intermediate stations between the terminus and Osterley & Spring Grove. Until 31 March 1886 passengers travelling west from Osterley & Spring Grove could go to either Hounslow Barracks or Hounslow Town. On that date Hounslow Town station closed and a new station, Heston & Hounslow (now Hounslow Central), opened to the west.

Electrification of the MDR's tracks took place between 1903 and 1905 with electric trains replacing steam trains on the Hounslow branch from 13 June 1905. When the branch was electrified, the track between Osterley & Spring Grove and Heston & Hounslow was closed and a new loop was opened from Hounslow Town back to Heston & Hounslow. Trains would run from Osterley & Spring Grove to Hounslow Town then reverse and run to Hounslow Barracks.

This method of operation was unsuccessful and short-lived. On 2 May 1909 the track between Heston & Hounslow and Osterley & Spring Grove was reopened with a new Hounslow Town station (now Hounslow East) located about 300m west of the loop to the old station. The old Hounslow Town station and its two loop tracks were closed for good.

Piccadilly Line services, which had been running as far as Northfields since January 1933 were extended to run to Hounslow West on 13 March 1933.

Step-free access [edit]

In 2009, because of financial constraints, TfL decided to stop work on a project to provide step-free access at Osterley on the grounds that it was a relatively quiet station and within one or two stops of an existing step-free station,[5] Hounslow East where step-free access has been available since 2005.[6]

Connections [edit]

Osterley station is served by the H91 bus route, which runs east to Hammersmith through Chiswick and west to Hounslow West.

Osterley is one of the closest stations to British Sky Broadcasting's offices near Gillette Corner. Sky jointly runs a minibus with Harrods to the station every 15 minutes during extended office hours for visitors and staff. The bus may be labelled Sky or Harrods.

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Customer metrics: entries and exits: 2008". London Underground performance update. Transport for London. Retrieved 26 December 2012. 
  2. ^ "Customer metrics: entries and exits: 2009". London Underground performance update. Transport for London. Retrieved 26 December 2012. 
  3. ^ "Customer metrics: entries and exits: 2010". London Underground performance update. Transport for London. Retrieved 26 December 2012. 
  4. ^ Day, John R.; Reed, John (2008) [1963]. "The LPTB Takes Over". The Story of London's Underground. Capital Transport. p. 114. ISBN 978-1-85414-316-7. 
  5. ^ "Disability and Deaf Equality Scheme (DES) 2009-2012". TfL. Retrieved 1 December 2010. 
  6. ^ "Hounslow East wins top rail station award". TfL. Retrieved 1 December 2010. 

External links [edit]

Gallery [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Osterley tube station

  • Looking west

  • Looking east

  • Looking east towards the former station, visible ahead

  • Platform roundel

Preceding station   Underground no-text.svg London Underground   Following station
Piccadilly line
towards Cockfosters
Disused railways
Preceding station   Underground no-text.svg London Underground   Following station
towards Hounslow West
 District line
Hounslow West branch (1884-1964)
towards Upminster
Terminus
 District line
Hounslow Town branch (1883-1909)
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