Acton–Northolt line
The Acton–Northolt line, otherwise known as the New North Main Line, is a railway line in Greater London, England. Built between 1903 and 1906, it runs from the Great Western Main Line at Old Oak Common TMD to the Chiltern Main Line at South Ruislip, alongside the West Ruislip branch of the London Underground Central line, for a distance of around.
History
Historically known as the New North Main Line, it opened in 1903 as part of a joint project by the Great Central Railway and the Great Western Railway to improve access to their termini from London to the Midlands and North of England, especially relative to the London and North Western Railway. It begins at Old Oak Junction on the Great Western Main Line from Paddington and runs via Greenford to join what is now the Chiltern Main Line at Northolt Junction, southeast of South Ruislip.The line joined the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway between West Ruislip and Denham station in 1906. Its original name was "Denham – Junction for Uxbridge" as it was planned to be a stop on the shuttle service between Gerrards Cross and Uxbridge High Street. The latter was closed in 1964 and later demolished.
Since 1948 the West Ruislip branch of the London Underground Central line has run alongside it.
In the past, it carried many trains to the northwest, and it was heavily used in the 1960s when electrification work restricted capacity on the West Coast Main Line ; but when that project was completed, express services from London to Birmingham on the GWR/GCR route were discontinued as part of the Beeching cuts. All local trains on the route were diverted to Marylebone via Sudbury in 1963, and Greenford station on the New North Main Line was closed.
In the early 1990s the New North route was reduced to a single-track layout between Old Oak Common and Park Royal and between Greenford and South Ruislip. No improvement work has been carried out on the line since then.
Plans at this date to close Greenford East signal box and its semaphore signals, with upgraded signalling controlled by Slough and Marylebone signalling centres, were postponed indefinitely as decline of rail traffic controlled by Greenford East did not justify the cost.
In 2018 the section between Park Royal Sidings and Old Oak Common was closed for construction of HS2 and the connection with the GWML at Old Oak Common was severed.
Modern use
As described, the Central line has largely replaced its business.Until December 2018 it was used for goods trains carrying refuse from London and was a diversionary route when the normal lines to Marylebone or Paddington were closed. Chiltern Railways operated a token service to and from Paddington on weekdays; the 10:57 from South Ruislip and 11:35 return which continued forward from South Ruislip, terminating at High Wycombe. It was replaced by service to West Ealing via the Greenford line. The line from Greenford to Park Royal is still used for goods trains carrying refuse from London.
For operational reasons such as balancing wheel wear, trains including those of Heathrow Express which were affected by tight track at Heathrow Junction have been turned using the London end of the NNML, its triangular junction with the Greenford Branch Line and the GWML through Ealing. At weekends between 2008 and 2011 when major engineering works were taking place on the West Coast Main Line, it was also used by Virgin Trains' London Euston to Birmingham International Blockade Buster service, which ran via Willesden, Acton Main Line, Ealing Broadway, Greenford, High Wycombe, Banbury and Coventry using Super Voyager sets up to 15 carriages long. At other times it was used by Chiltern Main Line services when the route to Marylebone was blocked; or by GWML services if the line through is blocked.
The route is also used for testing out new trains and for the training of new drivers.
The line is now officially known as the Acton to Northolt Line, and carries the Engineer's Line Reference code of ANL.
Ruislip Waste Transfer
A siding was built in 1980 to serve the then-new waste transfer station at Victoria Road, South Ruislip.Future developments
is proposed for the combined part of the route with the GWML, for connections to and from the Elizabeth line. Additional tunnelling under the New North Main Line will keep the line free for other potential passenger services, as in the April 2013 published decision by High Speed 2 and the Department for Transport to recommend further bore tunnelling under the of the 'Northolt Corridor' within the London Borough of Ealing.The tunnel will minimise traffic and noise blight which a surface route would otherwise have caused. The further bore tunnelling will link up the tunnels already planned beneath South Ruislip and Ruislip Gardens and Old Oak Common to North Acton. HS2 Ltd found in a study it had undertaken that bore tunnelling this stretch of the HS2 route would take 15 months less than constructing a surface HS2 route through this area and be at least cost-neutral. Cost neutrality flows from avoiding 20 bridge replacements, particularly years to replace road over rail bridges at the Hanger Lane Gyratory System, amenity disruption, the construction of intermediate tunnel portals and the likelihood of substantial compensation payments. The tunnelling will mean the New North Main Line is severed twice and has been lifted at its entrance to Old Oak Common. It has not been decided whether the line will be restored once construction is complete. However, as of mid-2024, the line is still in situ as a complete route from north of Old Oak Common to South Ruislip, however it is not used as such.
There is a proposal that it could see a new Chiltern Railways, HS2 or Elizabeth Line station built next to the LUL station or an expansion of the North Acton tube station, which has already been upgraded and saw work on step free access as of 2018, but it was not fully implemented by 2023 and is ongoing, as is other upgrading work.
A think tank with lobby group support has suggested that the line be used as part of services linking High Speed 1 to Heathrow Airport.
The London Mayor has responded to a proposal that the line becomes an additional branch of Crossrail.
In a summary report by Network Rail which was released in 2017 proposed that by 2043 that there should be a new terminal at Old Oak Common. This would mean an upgrade of the line to allow regular trains to once again run to the GWML replacing the current parliamentary service which runs from High Wycombe to West Ealing. Up to 4 trains per hour could run to Old Oak Common by 2043. The proposed upgrade would see redoubling of the line to a two-track railway with the possibility of line-speed improvements into the one or more platforms that could be provided at 'Old Oak Common' for the Chiltern Main Line. The number of platforms would depend on the number of services.
The line's former stations and sidings
Ruislip Gardens tube station
The tracks through the station were laid by the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway with services starting on 2 April 1906, although there was no station at Ruislip Gardens at that time. The station opened on 9 July 1934.As part of the 1935–40 New Works Programme, Central line services were projected westwards from a new junction, west of North Acton on the line to Ealing Broadway. The original intention was to extend the service as far as Denham, but work was delayed by World War II and the terminus of the extension was cut back to West Ruislip, with services starting on 21 November 1948.
Mainline services calling at Ruislip Gardens ceased in 1958 and the mainline station closed, the Central line station remaining open. Until recently the entrance to a passenger stairwell was visible on the London-bound side of the Network Rail tracks.
Northolt facilities
Northolt goods yard and carriage sidings
These served several local businesses and were also used to store spare British Rail and London Underground stock on occasion. They were abandoned in the early 1990s.Northolt Halt and station
Northolt Halt, located on the opposite side of the road bridge from the current Northolt tube station, was opened by the GWR in 1907. It was later renamed "Northolt Halt", before gaining station status under its original shorter name. It was closed in 1948 following the extension of the Central line to West Ruislip, the current tube station opening on 21 November 1948.Greenford facilities
British Bath Company siding
This siding served the British Bath Company factory beside the Paddington Branch of the Grand Union Canal. It was lifted when the factory closed in the late 1970s, and the area is now occupied by Fairway Industrial Estate.Kelvin Construction siding
This siding served the Kelvin Construction factory, next to that of the British Bath Company. The area is now occupied by Kelvin Industrial Estate.Aladdin Industries siding
This siding served the Aladdin lamp factory, a short distance south of the British Bath Company and Kelvin factories. It was lifted when the factory closed in the early 1980s, and the area is now occupied by a business park.A Rugby Cement Terminal was immediately to the west of the former Greenford station up platform. This closed in about 1990.
Greenford station
The original Greenford station was opened by the Great Western Railway on 1 October 1904.The present station, adjacent to the original, was built as part of the Central line extension of the 1935–40 New Works Programme of the London Passenger Transport Board. It opened on 30 June 1947 after delay due to World War II. Service at the original station was gradually reduced and it was closed in 1963.