Willesden Green tube station

Willesden Green is a London Underground station on Walm Lane in Willesden. It is served by the Jubilee line and is between Dollis Hill and Kilburn. Metropolitan line trains also pass through the station, but do not usually stop. The station is on the boundary of Travelcard Zone 2 and Zone 3.

Willesden Green
Main building viewed from the south-east
Willesden Green Location of Willesden Green in Greater London
Location	Willesden
Local authority	London Borough of Brent
Grid reference	TQ233849
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	2 and 3
London Underground annual entry and exit
2014	8.82 million[1]
2015	8.96 million[1]
2016	8.97 million[1]
2017	8.80 million[1]
2018	8.16 million[2]
Railway companies
Original company	Metropolitan Railway
Key dates
24 November 1879 (1879-11-24)	Opened as Willesden Green[3][4]
1 June 1894	Renamed Willesden Green and Cricklewood[3][5]
1938	Renamed Willesden Green[3][4]
20 November 1939	Bakerloo line service introduced[4]
7 December 1940	Metropolitan line service withdrawn[4]
3 January 1966	Goods yard closed[6]
1 May 1979	Bakerloo line service replaced by Jubilee line[4]
Listed status
Listing grade	II
Entry number	1391808[7]
Added to list	7 November 2006 (2006-11-07)
Other information
External links	TfL station info page
WGS84	51.54917°N 0.22167°W / 51.54917; -0.22167
London transport portal

History

The station opened on 24 November 1879 on the Metropolitan Railway (later the Metropolitan line). From 1894 to 1938 it was known as Willesden Green and Cricklewood. From 20 November 1939 it also served the Stanmore branch of the Bakerloo line, with Met services being withdrawn the following year. It transferred to the Jubilee line in 1979. A connecting tunnel at Embankment tube station mistakenly shows Willesden Green as part of the Bakerloo line as a result of a typo which instead should say Willesden Junction. This can be found on a printed map on the wall of Embankment station.[8]

The main station buildings, which date from the reconstruction of 1925, are fine examples of the work of Charles Walter Clark, the Metropolitan Railway's architect, who used this style of marble white faience for several 'central' area stations. The diamond-shaped clock is also a trademark of his style. The ticket hall interior, which retains much of the original green tesserae mosaic tiling, is a rare survival and was one of the reasons that led to the station being made a Grade II Listed Building in December 2006.

Willesden Green is one of the few stations on the southern section of the former Metropolitan Main line to still have its original platform buildings intact and its architecture is typical for a station serving a medium-sized town. Baker Street and Neasden are the other stations to have their platform buildings intact. The line between Finchley Road and Harrow-on-the-Hill was quadrupled between 1914–1916, and many intermediate stations had to be rebuilt to enable the fast lines to be built.

A goods yard, which was in use until 1966, was located to the north of the station. From 1933, when the London Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) took over service, trains from the north would be run by the LNER to Neasden Depot where they would be then hauled by LPTB steam locos to Willesden.

Services

There are frequent Jubilee line trains at Willesden Green. Jubilee line trains heading southbound terminate at North Greenwich or Stratford. It previously served Charing Cross until 1999, when the Jubilee line extension isolated the station from the rest of the line. Those heading northbound either terminate here, at Wembley Park or Stanmore. Willesden Green is also served as part of the Night Tube, which is run overnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

The station still has side platforms for the Metropolitan line, but these are not in regular use and are only used when the Jubilee line is not serving the station due to planned engineering works or severe service disruption.[9]

Connections

London Buses routes 260, 266 and 460 serve the station.

Gallery

• 
  Northbound Jubilee line platform looking south
• 
  Southbound Jubilee line platform looking north
• 
  Roundel on platform
• 
  Main building viewed from the north
• 
  Willesden Green. Metropolitan Railway Clock.
• 
  Platform

References

1. "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures (2007-2017)" (XLSX). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. January 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
2. "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
3. Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 251. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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. Spencer, Adam (1996). Willesden – Britain in Old Photographs. p. 88. ISBN 0750911719.
6. Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be – freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News. London Underground Railway Society (591): 175–183. ISSN 0306-8617.
7. Historic England. "Willesden Green Underground Station (1391808)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
8. Marshall, Geoff (presenter) (1 October 2015). Bonus Secrets of the Underground. Londonist Ltd. Event occurs at 4:44. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
9. "Mayor answers to London: Willesden Green". The London Assembly. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2014. During Jubilee line closures, starting in 2009, the Metropolitan line stopped at Willesden Green for a total of 37 days. Over this two-year period 323,088 passengers used the station an average of 8,732 on each day, compared with a typical Saturday and Sunday usage by Jubilee line customers at the station of 14,131 and 10,804 respectively.

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Dollis Hill towards Stanmore		Jubilee line		Kilburn towards Stratford
	Former services
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Dollis Hill towards Stanmore		Bakerloo line Stanmore branch (1939–1979)		Kilburn towards Elephant & Castle
Dollis Hill towards Aylesbury, Chesham, Uxbridge or Watford		Metropolitan line		Kilburn towards Baker Street or Aldgate