West Drayton railway station serves West Drayton and Yiewsley, western suburbs of London. It is served by local trains operated by Great Western Railway and the Elizabeth line. It is 13 miles 71 chains (22.3 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Hayes & Harlington to the east and Iver to the west. The station is managed by Transport for London (TfL).

West Drayton
West Drayton Location of West Drayton in Greater London
Location	Yiewsley
Local authority	London Borough of Hillingdon
Managed by	Transport for London
Station code	WDT
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	4
Fare zone	6
National Rail annual entry and exit
2016–17	2.066 million[1]
2017–18	2.046 million[1]
2018–19	2.197 million[1]
2019–20	2.380 million[1]
2020–21	0.712 million[1]
Key dates
4 June 1838	Original station opened as West Drayton
9 August 1884	Station re-sited
1895	Renamed West Drayton and Yiewsley
6 May 1974	Renamed West Drayton
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51.5099417°N 0.4722639°W / 51.5099417; -0.4722639
London transport portal

History

West Drayton station is on the original line of the Great Western Railway, and was opened on 4 June 1838 at the same time as the line.[2][3] However the original station was located slightly to the west of the current station, and was relocated to its current position from 9 August 1884 when the Staines and West Drayton Railway branch line to Staines was opened.[3][4] From 1 March 1883, the station was served by District Railway services running between Mansion House and Windsor. The service was discontinued as uneconomic after 30 September 1885.[5][6]

v t e Uxbridge (Vine Street) Branch Line
Legend
Uxbridge Vine Street 1856–1962 Cowley 1904–1962 Grand Junction Canal West Drayton Great Western Main Line Reading │ Paddington Staines & West Drayton Railway

West Drayton was the junction station for both the Staines branch, and an earlier branch to Uxbridge Vine Street that opened on 8 September 1856.[7] The Uxbridge branch line closed to passengers on 10 September 1962, but the line south of the Grand Union Canal was retained for freight traffic until 8 January 1979.[7] The Staines branch closed to passengers on 29 March 1965, but freight trains still run from West Drayton serving the aviation fuel terminal for Heathrow Airport at Colnbrook and aggregates depots at Thorney and Colnbrook.[7]

From 1895 the station was named West Drayton and Yiewsley; it reverted to the original name West Drayton on 6 May 1974.[3]

In preparation for the introduction of Elizabeth line services, the operation of the station was transferred from Great Western Railway to MTR Crossrail on behalf of Transport for London at the end of 2017.

Description

West Drayton station is situated on Station Approach in Yiewsley. It is north of the centre of West Drayton and immediately to the south of the Grand Union Canal, in the London Borough of Hillingdon.

The station has five platforms. Platform 1 down main line (away from London), platform 2 is the up main line (towards London), platform 3 is the down relief line, platform 4 is the up relief line. A fifth platform on the up goods line is not used for passenger services. This is used for freight services to access the branch line to Colnbrook and also to wait to continue on the up relief line. The platforms on the main lines see little use, other than when the relief lines are closed for maintenance. Access between the platforms is via steps and a pedestrian underpass.

Crossrail and the Elizabeth Line

The station received major improvements through the Crossrail construction project in preparation for Elizabeth Line services which commenced in May 2022. A new glass and steel extension was built together with a redeveloped main ticket office and new platform canopies. The platforms were extended to be greater than 200m long, accessed by a new over platform footbridge with four lifts.[8]

Services

Great Western Railway

• 2 tph to London Paddington
• 2 tph to Didcot Parkway

Elizabeth Line

• 2 tph to Reading
• 2 tph to London Paddington

Typical journey times are just over 20 minutes to Paddington, and just under 40 minutes to Reading.[9]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Slough		Great Western Railway Commuter services Great Western Main Line		Hayes & Harlington
Preceding station	Elizabeth line			Following station
Iver towards Reading		Elizabeth line Paddington – Reading		Hayes & Harlington towards Paddington
Historical services
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Langley towards Windsor		District line		Hayes & Harlington towards Mansion House
Disused railways
Colnbrook Estate Halt Line and station closed		Staines & West Drayton Railway Staines West branch		Terminus
Cowley Line and station closed		Great Western Railway Uxbridge branch		Hayes & Harlington Line and station open

Connections

London Buses routes 222, 350, 698, U1, U3 and U5 serve the station.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to West Drayton railway station.

• Train times and station information, from National Rail

To learn more about West Drayton check the community website at http://www.ub7.org.