The Greenford branch line is a

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

suburban railway line in west

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. It runs northerly from a

triangular junction In railroad structures and rail terminology, a wye (like the'' 'Y' ''glyph) or triangular junction (often shortened to just triangle) is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch (set of points) at each corner ...

with the

Great Western Main Line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs between London Paddington and . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. The GWML is presently a part of t ...

west of

West Ealing West Ealing is a district in the London Borough of Ealing, in West London. The district is about west of Ealing, Ealing Broadway. Although there is a long history of settlement in the area, West Ealing in its present form is less than one hundre ...

to a central bay platform at

Greenford station Greenford is a London Underground and National Rail station in Greenford, Greater London, and is owned and managed by London Underground. It is the terminus of the National Rail Greenford branch line, down the line from and measured from . O ...

, where it has cross-platform interchanges to the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

's Central line. A triangular junction near Greenford connects to the

Acton–Northolt line The Acton–Northolt line (ANL), otherwise known as the New North Main Line (NNML), is a railway line in West London (sub-region), West London, England. Built between 1903 and 1906, it runs from the Great Western Main Line at Old Oak Common TMD ...

(formerly the New North Main Line). The line serves mainly the suburbs of

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

and

Greenford Greenford () is a large town in the London Borough of Ealing in West London, Greater London, London, England, lying west from Charing Cross. It has a population of 46,787 inhabitants. Greenford is served by Greenford station, Greenford Stati ...

History

The opening of the line in 1903 coincided with the opening of a station at

Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, divided between the London Borough of Ealing and the London Borough of Brent. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, the area is, togethe ...

on the Acton–Northolt line to serve the

Royal Agricultural Show The Royal Show, also known as the Royal Agricultural Show, was an annual agricultural show held by the Royal Agricultural Society of England every year from 1839 to 2009. The event encompassed all aspects of farming, food and rural life - from ...

held in the grounds of part of the Twyford Abbey Estate. 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 West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

the line was used by

Virgin Trains Virgin Trains (VT) (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West C ...

' 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 Wrexham & Shropshire (legally ''Wrexham, Shropshire & Marylebone Railway Company Limited'') was an open access operator that provided passenger rail services in the United Kingdom. Services between Wrexham General railway station, Wrexham Gen ...

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 The GWR autocoach (or auto-trailer) is a type of coach that was used by the Great Western Railway for push-pull trains powered by a steam locomotive. The distinguishing design feature of an autocoach is the driving cab at one end, allowing t ...

). 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 'Bubble Car' two-carriage diesel railcar, although this was later reduced to a single carriage. As , and have short platforms the maximum length of train that can be used is two cars. In preparation for

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

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

Current service

The passenger service is provided by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

. Trains on the branch run between Greenford and

, except for one service from

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

at the start of the day, and to Paddington at the end of the day. There was a

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

service operated by

Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways (legal name The Chiltern Railway Company Limited) is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Rail ...

from 10 December 2018 that, on weekdays, started from

South Ruislip South Ruislip is an area of North West London in the London Borough of Hillingdon. A 2017 estimation put the population of South Ruislip ward as 13,150 residents. Education Schools in South Ruislip include Bourne Primary, Deanesfield, Field E ...

and ran non-stop along the line to West Ealing, before returning to West Ruislip. It previously operated to

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

, 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 Metroline is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. It is a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro and operates bus services for London Buses under contract to Transport for Lon ...

in 2022. All services are operated with two-car Class 165 Turbo diesel trains. There is no Sunday service.

Future

Introduction of battery-powered rolling stock

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 battery-electric multiple unit trains produced by

Vivarail Vivarail was a British rolling stock manufacturer, founded in 2012 and based in Southam, Warwickshire. Vivarail's main project was the conversion of retired London Underground D78 Stock into two new classes for National Rail services. It was l ...

, 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 A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery that uses the reversible intercalation of Li+ ions into electronically conducting solids to store energy. Li-ion batteries are characterized by higher specific energy, energy ...

on the train, a process that would take about ten minutes. 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, which charge continuously at a lower current, removing the need for expensive upgrades to the local supply network. 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 The Marlow branch line is a single track railway line in England, between Maidenhead station in Berkshire and Bourne End and Marlow stations in Buckinghamshire. It is in length. Passenger services are operated by Great Western Railway using ...

and the Henley branch line.

Passenger volume

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 starting April 2023.

Connections

* At

: London Underground Central line. * At :

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...

to Paddington,

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

, and .