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Greenford branch line

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The Greenford branch line is a 2 miles 40 chains (4.0 km) Network Rail suburban railway line in west London, England. It runs northerly from a triangular junction with the Great Western Main Line west of West Ealing to a central bay platform at Greenford station, where it has cross-platform interchanges to the London Underground's Central line. A triangular junction near Greenford connects to the Acton–Northolt line (formerly the New North Main Line). The line serves mainly the suburbs of Ealing and Greenford.

Greenford branch line
A GWR Class 165 for West Ealing at Greenford.
Overview
StatusOperational
OwnerNetwork Rail
LocaleGreater London
Termini
Stations5
Service
TypeSuburban rail
SystemNational Rail
Services1
Operator(s)Great Western Railway
Chiltern Railways
Depot(s)Reading TMD
Rolling stockClass 165 "Turbo"
History
Opened1903
Technical
Track length2 miles 40 chains (4.0 km)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map

(Click to expand)

History

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A Class 121 diesel multiple unit in BR Network SouthEast livery at London Paddington station for the Greenford service (1988).

The opening of the line in 1903 coincided with the opening of a station at Park Royal on the Acton–Northolt line to serve the Royal Agricultural Show held in the grounds of part of the Twyford Abbey Estate.[1] The Show ran from 15 June 1903 to 4 July 1903 during which period trains operated a circular service to and from Paddington via Park Royal and Ealing. Normal services started on 2 May 1904 and the links to Greenford station were put in on 1 October 1904.

The loop formed by the GWML, the branch and the ANL is sometimes used for turning trains for operational reasons such as balancing wheel wear. On weekends in 2008 during engineering works on the West Coast Main Line the line was used by Virgin Trains' Euston-Birmingham International "Blockade Buster" service which ran to Euston via Willesden, Acton Main Line, Ealing Broadway, Greenford, High Wycombe, Banbury and Coventry using pairs of 5-car Voyager sets. On two Sundays in February 2010, Chiltern and Wrexham & Shropshire trains were diverted to Paddington via the line while engineering work blocked the route to Marylebone.

Locally the service is called the 'Push-and-pull', a term which dates from the days of steam, when the engine could not change ends at Greenford and so the locomotive pulled the carriages one way and pushed them on the return run (see GWR Autocoach).[citation needed] In the 1950s the service frequently ran with two auto-trailers, one either side of the engine.

During the 1960s and 1970s the service was normally operated by a Class 121 'Bubble Car' two-carriage diesel railcar, although this was later reduced to a single carriage.

As Drayton Green, Castle Bar Park and South Greenford have short platforms the maximum length of train that can be used is two cars.[2]

In preparation for Crossrail, a new platform 5 was constructed at West Ealing, and most services now terminate there.

Current service

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The passenger service is provided by Great Western Railway. Trains on the branch run between Greenford and West Ealing, except for one service from Paddington at the start of the day, and to Paddington at the end of the day. [3]

There was a parliamentary service operated by Chiltern Railways from 10 December 2018 that, on weekdays, started from South Ruislip and ran non-stop along the line to West Ealing, before returning to West Ruislip. It previously operated to High Wycombe, but was later curtailed. It then became unidirectional from West Ealing to West Ruislip, running once a week on Wednesday mornings. It was then replaced by a bus service operated by Metroline in 2022.[4]

All services are operated with two-car Class 165 Turbo diesel trains. There is no Sunday service.

Future

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Introduction of battery-powered rolling stock

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Main article: British Rail Class 230

In February 2022, GWR announced plans to test fast-charge battery technology on the route. As electrification on the route was low-priority, the only realistic alternative option to replace diesel-powered rolling stock was with battery power. The test will see the existing Class 165 units replaced by Class 230 battery-electric multiple unit trains produced by Vivarail, with the company's fast-charge equipment installed in the bay platform at West Ealing. This will entail the installation of a conductor rail that becomes live only when a train is above it. This is then used to charge the lithium-ion batteries on the train, a process that would take about ten minutes.[5][6]

In March 2024, following delivery of unit 230001 to GWR, trial running began of the new battery-powered train and fast-charge technology on the line. The trials demonstrated a charging time of 3½ minutes at West Ealing, using a bank of batteries installed adjacent to the platform to prevent power surging. GWR aim to build mileage on the technology to consider its introduction on other branch lines, such as the Windsor branch line, the Marlow branch line and the Henley branch line.[7][8]

Passenger volume

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These are statistics of passenger usage on the National Rail network along the Greenford branch line from the year beginning April 2002 to the year beginning April 2022.

Station usage
Station name 2002–03 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23
Greenford No data No data No data 85,234 90,343 74,196 105,452 152,542 173,868 190,658 195,998 232,160 260,132 229,870 150,800 152,698 170,436 58,534 100,278 126,052
South Greenford 7,018 5,804 6,106 14,207 16,059 14,524 16,480 31,888 31,292 38,360 41,338 47,324 62,184 53,110 26,502 28,084 28,382 8,810 13,462 20,706
Castle Bar Park 40,678 13,522 19,893 97,363 100,705 92,768 84,868 124,492 124,364 144,182 158,806 180,504 188,120 151,942 80,386 79,866 81,088 26,778 41,128 66,670
Drayton Green 6,039 6,597 5,254 75,414 80,235 66,908 67,552 104,732 106,874 123,038 137,600 152,710 153,146 102,372 33,578 29,228 31,610 7,146 10,846 16,082
West Ealing 646,608 384,890 371,096 1,078,954 1,264,480 895,372 759,796 1,069,164 1,109,636 1,170,790 1,302,320 1,347,024 989,068 923,710 1,034,658 1,077,698 1,182,062 340,254 774,424 1,261,474
The annual passenger usage is based on sales of tickets in stated financial years from Office of Rail and Road estimates of station usage. The statistics are for passengers arriving and departing from each station and cover twelve-month periods that start in April. Methodology may vary year on year. Usage from the periods 2019-20 and especially 2020-21 onwards have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic

Connections

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References

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  1. ^ "Twyford and Park Royal, Brent, London". www.brent-heritage.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 July 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Quail Track Diagrams by TRACKmaps – Railway Track | Book 3 Western". www.trackmaps.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  3. ^ Table 116 National Rail timetable, December 2022
  4. ^ "Chiltern Railways' 'ghost bus': Is this Britain's most bizarre route?". BBC News. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  5. ^ "Battery train and fast charger to be tested in London". Railway Gazette. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  6. ^ "GWR and Vivarail to trial battery train". International Railway Journal. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  7. ^ "GWR starts west London trials of a battery-powered train to replace diesels". ianVisits. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Battery train begins trial in West London". RailAdvent. 19 March 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2024.

Further reading

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