Ealing Broadway station
Ealing Broadway is a major single-level interchange station in Ealing in London, England. It is in the London Borough of Ealing, West London and is served by the London Underground and also National Rail on the Great Western Main Line. On the Underground, it is one of three western termini of the District line, the next station being, and it is also one of two western termini of the Central line, the next station being. On the National Rail network, it is a through-station on the Great Western Main Line, down the line from, between and.
The station is managed by TfL Rail and is served by Great Western Railway and TfL Rail services. The station is currently being upgraded and expanded as part of the Crossrail project, with a rebuilt ticket hall and the provision of step free access.
History
The Great Western Railway opened its pioneering broad gauge tracks through Ealing Broadway between and on 6 April 1838, although Ealing Broadway station did not open until 1 December of that year. As the only station in the area when it opened, it was initially named 'Ealing', but was renamed Ealing Broadway in 1875.District Railway services commenced on 1 July 1879, when the DR opened a branch from on its line. The DR built its own three-platform station to the north of the GWR one. However, following the installation of a connection between the two railways to the east of the stations, DR trains also served the GWR station from 1 March 1883 to 30 September 1885, on a short-lived service running to station, which quickly became unprofitable. It was also intended to use the connection for a service to station, but this was never introduced.
Following electrification of the main District line route through to 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 DR station was replaced with a stone-faced building in 1910.
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 would use the line by extending its tracks the short distance north from its terminus at Wood Lane, to meet the new GWR tracks. CLR services to two new platforms at Ealing Broadway, built between the GWR and DR stations, started on 3 August 1920, with, initially, just one intermediate stop at. The line also carried GWR steam freight trains until 1938, when the links at Ealing Broadway and west of were removed, and the line was fully transferred to London Underground.
Originally separate companies, by 1920 the DR and the CLR were both owned by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London. Despite this, the CLR services operated via the GWR station building, not the Underground one.
The GWR-built station was demolished in 1961 and replaced by a low concrete structure containing shops and a ticket hall, opened in 1965, with a high-rise office building above. The new station building serves all the lines, and the separate District Line station ticket hall was closed, although the building remains, and the original station facade is now the entrance for multiple shops.
On Platform 9 there are some roundels of a style dating from, three of which are replicas made in 1992.
In the mid 1990s, the Great Western main line through the station was electrified as part of the Heathrow Express project.
In the early 1990s, the Crossrail project was proposed to serve Ealing Broadway. After many years of planning, the project was approved in 2007. An interim TfL Rail service between suburban stations and London Paddington began in 2018, and full Elizabeth Line services underneath Central London are currently due to begin in 2021.
Accidents and incidents
- On 16 November 1937, a steam railcar overran signals and crashed into the signal box.
- On 20 December 1973, an express passenger train was derailed when an unsecured inspection door on the locomotive hauling it struck point rodding, causing a set of points to move under the train. Ten people were killed, 94 were injured.
- On 19 July 2000, a Real IRA bomb was planted near tracks in the station. It was discovered and destroyed by police under a controlled explosion.
The station today
- four National Rail. Trains do not stop at platforms 1 and 2, except during engineering works or other disruption. Platforms 1 and 3 are on lines leaving London, while 2 and 4 are on lines 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, which have a shared awning canopy.
- three District Line. District Line platforms 8 and 9 are partially covered by a short canopy, and retain one original example and a number of replicas of early solid-disc Underground signs, used before Edward Johnston designed the familiar roundel in 1919.
2010s station upgrade
As part of the Crossrail project, the station is being upgraded and expanded to meet increased passenger numbers, improve the interchange between various rail and local bus services and provide step free access.Initially, only minor station improvements were planned as part of the Crossrail project, such as platform lengthening. However, after local and regional campaigning, the station will be upgraded and step free access provided. After further criticism by local people of poor design, the station entrance was redesigned with a large glass frontage and a long curved canopy to the street.
Designed by Bennetts Associates, the station upgrade will demolish the existing cramped ticket hall and staircases, replacing them with:
- A new double height ticket hall, twice as large as the previous ticket hall.
- Improved and enlarged public realm outside the station with new paving, seating and street trees.
- Step free access from street to platform via new lifts, making the station fully accessible.
- Refurbishment and upgrade of existing platforms, including new signage, waiting rooms and customer information screens.
- Platform extensions to accommodate the longer Class 345 trains used by Crossrail.
- New footbridge at the eastern end of the station linking platforms 1–4.
Future proposals
In the early 2010s, the West London Business group backed a Surbiton-to-Brent Cross light metro tube line, called the West London Orbital underground railway, based on Copenhagen Metro technology, which would include a station underground at Ealing Broadway. The London Borough of Ealing does not support the proposal, saying "no consensus to progress this project to extremely high costs".In 2008, the London Group of the Campaign for Better Transport published a plan for an off-road orbital North and West London Light railway, sharing the Dudding Hill Line freight corridor, and using the middle two of the six track beds at North Acton. In April 2009 Ealing Council voted to call on Transport for London to look into the proposal.
The station would have been served by the West London Tram, however this proposal was cancelled in 2007 as it was opposed by the councils of all three London Boroughs that would have been served by the line.
Services
National Rail services are provided at the four Great Western Main Line platforms by Great Western Railway and TfL Rail. London Underground provide services to the three District line and the two Central line platforms.Frequency
The typical off-peak service frequency is:Great Western Railway
- 2tph to
- 2tph to
- 6tph to London Paddington
- 4tph to
- 2tph to
- 6tph on the District line to via
- 9tph on the Central line of which:
- * 3tph to via
- * 3tph to via Hainault
- * 3tph to Newbury Park via &
- Central line trains also operate a Night Tube service on Friday and Saturday nights, with 1-2 tph to each of Hainault and Loughton
Connections