Alperton tube station

Alperton
Station building
Alperton Location of Alperton in Greater London
Location	Alperton
Local authority	London Borough of Brent
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	4
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011	2.95 million
2012	2.89 million
2013	2.96 million
2014	3.17 million
Railway companies
Original company	District Railway
Key dates
28 June 1903	Opened as Perivale-Alperton
7 October 1910	Renamed Alperton
4 July 1932	District line service replaced by Piccadilly line
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
London Transport portal

Alperton is a London Underground station on the Uxbridge branch of the Piccadilly line. The station is between Sudbury Town and Park Royal, in Travelcard Zone 4. It is located on Ealing Road (A4089 road) a short distance from the junction with Bridgewater Road (A4005) and is close to Alperton Bus Garage and the Paddington branch of the Grand Union Canal. The station was refurbished in 2006.

History

Perivale Alperton was opened on 28 June 1903 by the District Railway (DR, now the District line) on its new extension to South Harrow on electrified tracks from Park Royal & Twyford Abbey. Park Royal & Twyford Abbey had itself opened five days earlier. This new extension was, together with the existing tracks back to Acton Town, the first section of the Underground's surface lines to be electrified and operate electric instead of steam trains. The deep-level tube lines open at that time (City & South London Railway, Waterloo & City Railway and Central London Railway) had been electrically powered from the start.

The station was subsequently renamed Alperton on 7 October 1910.

On 4 July 1932, the Piccadilly line was extended to run west of its original terminus at Hammersmith sharing the route with the District line to Ealing Common. From Ealing Common to South Harrow, the District line service was replaced by the Piccadilly line.

Incidents and accidents

On 2 March 1944 during the Second World War, bomb damage prevented through services to and from Uxbridge for five days.

Design

The original station building was a modest timber framed structure built in 1910. In 1930 and 1931, this was demolished and replaced by a new station in preparation for the handover of the branch from the District line to the Piccadilly line. The new station was designed by Charles Holden in a modern European style using brick, reinforced concrete and glass. Like other stations such as Sudbury Town and Sudbury Hill to the north and others that Holden designed elsewhere, and also for the east and west Piccadilly line extensions such as Acton Town and Oakwood, Alperton station features a tall block-like ticket hall rising above a low horizontal structure that contains station offices and shops. The brick walls of the ticket hall are punctuated with panels of clerestory windows and the structure is capped with a flat concrete slab roof.

Alperton formerly shared with Greenford (on the Central line) the distinction of being one of the only two stations to have an escalator going up to the platforms. The escalator served the eastbound platform and had originally been used at the South Bank exhibition of the Festival of Britain. Now out of use, the escalator remains in place behind a wall.

Services and connections

Services

Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but generally operate every 9-13 minutes between 05:58 and midnight in both directions.

During disruption on the District Line, Piccadilly Line trains have sometimes been used to provide a service to Ealing Broadway, either by diverting some trains bound for Rayners Lane and Uxbridge, or as a shuttle from Acton Town. Trains may also run along the District Line tracks from Hammersmith to Acton Town in order to serve those stations with no platforms on the Piccadilly Line.

Connections

London Bus routes 79, 83, 224, 245, 297 and 487 serve the station. Additionally, bus routes 83 and 297 provide a 24-hour bus service.

External links

• • Alperton station, 1916
  • Ticket office, 1927
  • New station, 1933
  • Ticket hall, 1933. Showing structure of reinforced concrete roof
  • View of platforms and shelter, 1958
  • Alperton Station, 2001. With appearance marred by rooftop safety barriers

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Sudbury Town towards Rayners Lane or Uxbridge		Piccadilly line		Park Royal towards Cockfosters
	Former services
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Sudbury Town towards South Harrow or Uxbridge		District line (1903-1931)		Park Royal & Twyford Abbey towards Upminster
		District line (1931-1932)		Park Royal towards Upminster