Neasden tube station

Neasden

Neasden Location of Neasden in Greater London
Location	Neasden
Local authority	Brent
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	3
London Underground annual entry and exit
2008	2.990 million[1]
2009	2.854 million[1]
2010	2.660 million[1]
1880	Opened
April 1958	Goods yard closed[2]
List of stations	Underground · National Rail
London Transport portal

Coordinates: 51°33′15″N 0°15′01″W / 51.5542°N 0.2503°W / 51.5542; -0.2503

Up London Transport Metropolitan Line electric train in 1959

Neasden Underground station is a London Underground station in Neasden. It is on the Jubilee Line, between Wembley Park and Dollis Hill. Metropolitan Line trains pass through the station but do not stop, except on rare occasions. The Chiltern Main Line/London to Aylesbury Line runs to the west of the station.

Overview

Kingsbury & Neasden in the 1890s

The station opened on 2 August 1880 as part of the ongoing extensions to the Metropolitan Railway (this time to Harrow), with the name Kingsbury and Neasden. The name was changed to Neasden and Kingsbury in 1910, and then changed again to its current name Neasden in 1932, the same year Kingsbury station opened. After the nationalisation of the Met in 1933, train services to Stanmore were transferred to the new eastern branch of the Bakerloo Line in 1939 and Metropolitan Line trains ceased to stop at the station the following year. In 1979, the main service was transferred to the Jubilee Line.

The station's surface building is located in Neasden Lane. As well as the ticket office there are 3 ticket collection barriers and a single luggage gate (these were installed in the late 1990s; prior to this there were no barriers and just a gate), and the station also has a shop. The stairs from the surface building lead to 4 platforms. Platforms 1 and 4 are on the Metropolitan Line, served on a few days a year for local events and when necessary due to disruptions to normal services. Platforms 2 and 3 were the Northbound and Southbound platforms for the Bakerloo Line and since 1979 are now used by the Jubilee Line. The platforms are constructed to "transition height" to allow regular use by tube trains of the Jubilee Line and occasional (early morning, late night and during work on the line) use by the larger Metropolitan Line trains.

Platforms 1, 2 and 3 were built originally in 1880. Neasden had 3 platforms, which was unusual for a small station. The reason for 3 platforms was that Neasden was a terminus for many local Metropolitan trains from London and which would be stabled in the nearby depot. Platforms 4 and 5 were built in 1914 as a result of the quadrupling of the Metropolitan between Finchley Road and Harrow-on-the-Hill. Platform 5 was used as a bay platform for trains terminating at Neasden from stations north on the Met such as Stanmore. This platform was removed later on and the track is now used as a relief siding for the depot.

Neasden is one of the few stations on the southern section of the former Metropolitan Mainline to still have its original platform buildings intact and its architecture is typical for a station serving a medium sized village. Baker Street and Willesden Green 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. Jubilee Line trains sometimes terminate at Neasden.

Nearby attractions

• Neasden Temple
• Wembley Stadium

Other transport links

One London bus route serves Neasden tube station: 297. The 297 bus is a 24hr service which runs between Willesden Bus Garage and Ealing Broadway. The bus also stops outside of Wembley Park tube station, a short distance away from Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena. In 2008 it was proposed that the North and West London Light Railway could serve the station.^[3]

Gallery

• 

  Platform 1 looking east from a northbound Jubilee Line train

• 

  Platform 4 looking west from a northbound Jubilee Line train

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Customer metrics: entries and exits". London Underground performance update. Transport for London. 2003-2010. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/corporate/modesoftransport/tube/performance/default.asp?onload=entryexit. Retrieved 8 May 2011. 
2. ^ 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. 
3. ^ "Reducing Car Use: Proposals for a Brent Cross Railway". London Campaign for Better Transport. 2008. http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/system/files/Brent_Cross_rail_proposal.pdf. Retrieved 16 December 2009. 

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Wembley Park towards Stanmore		Jubilee line		Dollis Hill towards Stratford
Wembley Park towards Amersham, Chesham, Uxbridge or Watford		Metropolitan line No regular service Regular service (1880-1939)		Willesden Green towards Baker Street or Aldgate
		Former services
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Wembley Park towards Stanmore		Bakerloo line Stanmore branch (1939-1979)		Dollis Hill towards Elephant & Castle