West London Line

West London Line trains at Kensington (Olympia)

The West London Line is a short railway linking Clapham Junction in the south to Willesden Junction in the north. It was built to enable trains to cross London.

The West Cross Route, one side of the Ringway 1 inner ring road, would have paralleled the West London Line.

Train services

Local trains run every half hour and are operated by Silverlink, and hourly Southern trains run from Brighton or Gatwick Airport to Watford Junction, not stopping at Willesden Junction. The line also carries considerable freight and is used by Eurostar trains between Waterloo International and the depot at North Pole Junction.

Recent timetable changes have meant that some Silverlink peak hour trains now continue onto the North London Line. From November 2007 this will mean most of the Silverlink services will as part of the North London Railway franchise, not just peak hour trains and vice versa.

History of the Line

The railway was originally built as an atmospheric railway running between Wormwood Scrubs and Shepherds Bush opening in 1840. Later converted to an orthodox railway it came to prominence as an avoiding line facilitating through running on the west side of London, especially for freight:
* The West London Joint Railway (WLJR) owned by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR)
* The West London Extension Joint Railway: GWR/L&NWR/London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR)/London and South Western Railway (L&SWR)

NB The above company information about the WLJR and WLEJR already entered onto this page requires clarification as it conflicts with other published data on the company names (No Joint) and therefore it may have other errors - July 2006

According to the official "History of the Great Western Railway", the West London Railway was originally called the Birmingham, Bristol & Thames Junction Railway, authorised in 1836 to run from the London and Birmingham Railway across the proposed route of the Great Western, to the Kensington Canal Basin. An Act of 1845 authorised the Great Western and the London and Birmingham to take out a joint lease of the West London line. - July 2006

Any one seeking a definitive history of the line should see Alistair Nisbet's article published in BackTrak Feb 2006.

The line is electrified at 750v DC (third rail) from the south to the North Pole depot, where the electrification changes to 25K v AC (overhead).

The route

West London line route map

This description of the Line, from north to south, giving former and present-day details, and details the links with all the constituent railways:
* Willesden Junction
West London Line trains use the high level station here, which is part of the North London Line. There is also interchange with the Bakerloo Line and Euston-Watford DC Line.
* West London Junction
The line separates from the North London Line.
* North Pole Junction
End-on junction; connection to Eurostar North Pole depot which runs parallel with the GWR main line, the WLJR proper starts here; also the connection with the GWR main line (not electrified). A limited Virgin Trains service uses this line between Reading and Brighton.
* St. Quintin Park and Wormwood Scrubs (closed)
* Shepherds Bush (under construction)
New station on the site of the former Uxbridge Road station; scheduled to open in 2006. Interchange with Central Line
* Kensington (Olympia) (formerly Addison Road station)
Interchange with the District Line
* West London Extension Junction
End-on junction connecting the two parts of the Line; here also were extensive goods yards owned by the LNWR/GWR
* West Brompton
Interchange with District Line
* Chelsea & Fulham (closed)
Here was a goods line to Chelsea Basin
* Imperial Wharf (under construction)
New station scheduled to open in 2006
* Battersea Railway Bridge Proper name - Cremorne Bridge.
Here the Line crosses the River Thames
* Battersea High Street (closed)
* Latchmere Junctions
With connections to the L&SWR and LB&SCR
* Clapham Junction station
Interchange with national rail network and proposed western extension to the East London Line

References

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