South Acton railway station

South Acton
South Acton Location of South Acton in Greater London
Location	South Acton
Local authority	London Borough of Ealing
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	SAT
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2009–10	0.270 million[2]
2010–11	0.384 million[2]
2011–12	0.524 million[2]
2012–13	0.661 million[2]
2013–14	0.832 million[2]
Key dates
1880	Opened
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°29′58″N 0°16′15″W / 51.4994°N 0.2707°WCoordinates: 51°29′58″N 0°16′15″W / 51.4994°N 0.2707°W
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

South Acton railway station is in the London Borough of Ealing in South Acton, west London. It is on the North London Line, and the station and all trains serving it are operated by London Overground. It is in Travelcard Zone 3. Until 1959 it was also served by the District line of the London Underground.

History

Between 1880 and 1917 the station served as an interchange station between the North London Line and the Hammersmith & Chiswick branch.

Branch line from Acton Town

Construction

A short spur of the District Railway (DR) from Acton Town station, 1,232 yards (1,126 metres) long, was authorised by the Metropolitan Railway Act of 1874.^[3] When first opened, the spur was used for goods trains from 15 May 1899 onwards. Passenger services were introduced on 13 June 1905 to provide an interchange with the North London Railway which ran services from north London to the DR's Richmond branch. It thus provided an easier interchange for Richmond for eastbound passengers than changing trains at Turnham Green further east.

Operations

The South Acton station on the District line of the London Underground was located adjacent to South Acton station on the North London Line on the north-west side of the tracks.

Initially, the line had through passenger services to Hounslow Barracks (now Hounslow West). However, the line was relatively little used and in 1932 the line was reduced to a single track, operated by a one-car shuttle service between Acton Town and South Acton.

In 1933 the railway became part of the London Passenger Transport Board, becoming a branch line of the District line.

Just south of the station before the Bollo Lane level crossing was located a major creamery and milk bottling plant for Express Dairies, which was served by milk trains from both the Great Western Railway and the Southern Railway.^[4]

In later years, the shuttle train was normally worked by a single car of London Underground G Stock, specially modified for one person operation and fitted with additional brakes. Given the (then highly unusual) driver-only operation, the branch line was equipped with a two wire emergency telephone system at window level, a feature normally found only in tunnels on the London Underground.

Closure

The South Acton shuttle was withdrawn on 28 February 1959. Nothing now remains of the spur, except for a few bridgeheads and sections of the old trackbed, which indicate the route. Currently the rest of station of the same name continues to be well used.

Branch line to Kew Bridge and Brentford

A 2 km long branch exists to Old Kew Junction near Brentford station on the South West Trains line from Waterloo which does not carry passenger services. There is also another spur from Kew East Jn to Kew Bridge railway station on the line towards Brentford. This comprised part of the North and South Western Junction Railway.

Services

South Acton currently has the following London Overground (North London Line) services, which is operated by Class 378 trainsets:^[5]

Off-peak (Mon-Sat):

• 4tph to Stratford
• 4tph to Richmond

Connections

London Buses route 440 serve the station.

References

1. TFL: Standard Tube Map
2. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. "Railway Magazine", December 1958
4. "Abandoned Stations - South Acton"
5. Table 59 National Rail timetable, May 2016

External links

• Train times and station information for South Acton railway station from National Rail
• Excel file displaying National Rail station usage information for 2005/06
• www.sarag.org Local residents association with historical information about South Acton
• London's Abandoned Tube Stations - South Acton