Uxbridge tube station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Uxbridge
Location
Place	Uxbridge
Local authority	London Borough of Hillingdon

Operations
Station code	ZUX
Managed by	London Underground
Platforms in use	3
Live departures and station information from National Rail
Transport for London
Zone	6
2005 annual usage	5.409 million †
2007 annual usage	6.485 million †
History
1904 1910 1933 1938	Opened (Metropolitan) Start (District) End (District) Start (Piccadilly) Moved
Transport for London List of London stations: Underground \| National Rail
† Data from Transport for London [1]
London Transport Portal

Uxbridge is a London Underground station in Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, north-west London. The station is the terminus of the Uxbridge branches of both the Metropolitan Line and the Piccadilly Line, the next station towards London is Hillingdon. The station is situated 15.5 miles (25 km) west of Charing Cross and is in Travelcard Zone 6.

The Metropolitan Railway first opened a station in Uxbridge on 4 July 1904 on Belmont Road, a short distance to the north of the existing station. The station was situated on a different track alignment, now used as sidings. The original service from central London was provided by steam-drawn trains but electrification took place the following year.

The London United Tramways extension from Shepherds Bush was opened a few weeks before the underground station: the manager, as reported in a local newspaper at the time, commented on the high prices of the underground journey: the tram journey, though, took well over an hour to reach Shepherds Bush.

On 1 March 1910, an extension of the District Line from South Harrow to connect with the Metropolitan Railway at Rayners Lane was opened, enabling District Line trains to serve stations between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge. The original Belmont Road station had two platforms, and after the introduction of shared operation one platform was used by each line.

On 23 October 1933 District Line services to Uxbridge were replaced by Piccadilly Line trains.

On 4 December 1938 a new station was opened on a new alignment. The station designed by Charles Holden features a red brick facade with paired sculptures over the entrance representing stylised wheels with leaf springs. A tall concrete canopy arches over the tracks with a row of clerestory windows above the platforms. The canopy at Uxbridge is similar to the one at Cockfosters, the terminus at the other end of the Piccadilly Line.

The stained glass panels at the booking hall end of the platforms reflect the area's heraldic associations. The crown and three seaxes on a red background are the arms of the county of Middlesex and the chained swan on a black and red background is associated with Buckinghamshire. The centre shield is possibly the arms of the local Basset family (a downward pointing red triangle on a gold background was borrowed from the Bassett arms for use on the arms of Uxbridge Urban District Council in 1948).

The forecourt of the new station was originally laid out to provide a turning circle for trolleybuses, which replaced trams in 1936.