::''Stonebridge Park Depot was also the historic name for part of Wembley Intercity Depot'' Stonebridge Park Depot is a stabling and maintenance depot for trains on the

Bakerloo line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs par ...

of 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 ...

in England. It opened in 1979, as part of the restructuring that resulted in the Bakerloo line's Stanmore branch becoming part of the

Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in suburban north-west London and in east London, via the West End of London, West End, South Bank and London Docklands, Docklands. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the ...

. It is the main depot on the Bakerloo line, and has been used for stabling stock dating from 1938, 1959 and 1972. In addition, trains of 1972 Stock from the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

have been transferred to the depot temporarily for overhaul.

History

The

opened from

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder James Baker. The area was originally high class residential, but now is mainly occupied by commercial premises. The street is ...

to Lambeth North in 1906, and trains were stabled and maintained at London Road Depot. This had been built on the site of a school for the Indigent Blind, and was accessed by a branch, leaving the running tunnels between Waterloo and Lambeth North stations. The line was extended to

Elephant and Castle Elephant and Castle is an area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground station of the same name. The n ...

at the southern end, while at the northern end, it reached Queen's Park on 11 February 1915. A branch from Baker Street to

Finchley Road Finchley Road is a designated arterial road in north-west London, England. The Finchley Road starts in St John's Wood near central London as part of the A41 road, A41; its southern half is a major dual carriageway with high traffic levels oft ...

was opened on 20 November 1939, and services were extended along the

Metropolitan line The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in London Borough of Hillingdon, Hillingdon. Printed in mage ...

tracks to terminate at

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in Greater London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the List of highest points in London, highest point ...

. Neasden Depot became the centre for maintenance of the trains, and London Road was downgraded to becoming stabling sidings. When plans were made to split the two northern branches of the Bakerloo, with the Stanmore branch becoming part of the

, it became necessary to provide new stabling and maintenance facilities for the truncated Bakerloo line, and a new depot was built at Stonebridge Park, which opened in 1979. This is located just to the north-west of Stonebridge Park station, and has two main sheds. Tracks 31 to 38 are furthest west, and are equipped with pits between the rails. The second building covers tracks 39 to 44, and is further east. There are three open air sidings, numbered 45 to 47, two of which were added around 1989. In 2002, 12 trains were normally stabled at the depot.

Operation

Unusually, the trains are turned to run on the Bakerloo, with the 'A' end facing south and the 'D' end facing north. This allows shunting within the depot to be carried out from a middle driving motor car of a four-car unit, rather than from the shunting cabinet on an uncoupling non-driving motor car of a three-car unit.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{London Underground rolling stock London Underground depots Transport in the London Borough of Brent