West Drayton railway station

West Drayton railway station serves West Drayton and Yiewsley, western suburbs of London. It is served by local trains operated by Great Western Railway and TfL Rail. It is 13 miles 71 chains (22.3 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Hayes & Harlington to the east and Iver to the west.

West Drayton
West Drayton Location of West Drayton in Greater London
Location	West Drayton
Local authority	London Borough of Hillingdon
Managed by	TfL Rail[1]
Station code	WDT
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	6
National Rail annual entry and exit
2014–15	2.342 million[2]
2015–16	2.125 million[2]
2016–17	2.066 million[2]
2017–18	2.046 million[2]
2018–19	2.197 million[2]
Key dates
4 June 1838	Original station opened, as West Drayton
9 August 1884	Station re-sited
1895	Renamed West Drayton and Yiewsley
6 May 1974	Renamed West Drayton
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51.5099417°N 0.4722639°W / 51.5099417; -0.4722639
London transport portal

In preparation for the introduction of Elizabeth line services, the operation of the station was transferred to MTR Crossrail on behalf of Transport for London at the end of 2017.

History

West Drayton station is on the original line of the Great Western Railway, and was opened on 4 June 1838 at the same time as the line.[3][4] However the original station was located slightly to the west of the current station, and was relocated to its current position from 9 August 1884 when the branch to Staines was opened.[4][5] From 1 March 1883, the station was served by District Railway services running between Mansion House and Windsor. The service was discontinued as uneconomic after 30 September 1885.[6][7]

Uxbridge (Vine Street) Branch Line
Uxbridge Vine Street 1856–1962 Cowley 1904–1962 Grand Junction Canal West Drayton Great Western Main Line Reading │ Paddington Staines & West Drayton Railway

West Drayton was the junction station for both the Staines branch, and an earlier branch to Uxbridge Vine Street that opened in 1856. The Uxbridge branch closed to passengers in 1962, but part of the line was retained for freight traffic until 1979. The Staines branch closed to passengers in 1965, but the section of the line as far as Colnbrook remains open to freight traffic, latterly for the delivery of materials for the construction of Heathrow Airport's new terminal 5.[5]

From 1895 the station was named West Drayton and Yiewsley; it reverted to the original name West Drayton on 6 May 1974.[4]

Description

West Drayton station is situated on Station Approach in Yiewsley. It is north of the centre of West Drayton and immediately to the south of the Grand Union Canal, in the London Borough of Hillingdon.

The station has five platforms. platform 1 down main line (away from London), platform 2 is the up main line (towards London), platform 3 is the down relief line, platform 4 is the up relief line. A fifth platform on the up goods line is not used for passenger services, normally goods services wait to continue on the up relief line.

The platforms on the main lines see little use, other than when the relief lines are closed for maintenance. Access between the platforms is via steps and a pedestrian underpass. Stockley Park is a large business estate located between Hayes and West Drayton, and is shown on the platform signage.

Ticket facilities

As of October 2008, Oyster "pay as you go" can be used for journeys originating or ending at West Drayton.[8]

Services

West Drayton station is served by stopping services run by Great Western Railway and TfL Rail between Paddington and Reading as well as two trains per hour to Didcot Parkway. These services run six days a week with 4 trains hourly — two from Reading and two from Didcot Parkway. On Sundays a half-hourly service operates with one Reading and one Didcot Parkway service in each direction. Typical journey times are just over 20 minutes to Paddington, and just under 40 minutes to Reading.[9]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Slough		Great Western Railway Commuter services Great Western Main Line		Hayes & Harlington
Crossrail
Iver		TfL Rail Paddington - Reading		Hayes & Harlington
	Future Development
Preceding station		Crossrail		Following station
Iver towards Reading		Crossrail Elizabeth line		Hayes & Harlington towards Abbey Wood
	Historical services
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Langley towards Windsor		District line		Hayes & Harlington towards Mansion House
	Disused Railways
Colnbrook Estate Halt Line and station closed		Staines & West Drayton Railway Staines West branch		Terminus
Cowley Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Uxbridge branch		Hayes & Harlington Line and station open

Connections

London Buses routes 222, 350, 698, U1, U3 and U5 serve the station.

References

1. Station facilities for West Drayton
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. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 245. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
5. Aerofilms (2006). London's Railways from the Air. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-3144-4.
6. Rose, Douglas (December 2007) [1980]. The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (8th ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-315-0.
7. 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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
8. "Oyster PAYG on National Rail" (PDF). National Rail Enquiries. 20 October 2008.
9. "Train Times". First Great Western. Retrieved 12 April 2007.

External links

• Train times and station information, from National Rail

To learn more about West Drayton check the community website at http://www.ub7.org.