Acton Main Line

Acton Main Line is a National Rail station on the Great Western Main Line in Acton, west London. It is 4 miles 21 chains (6.9 km) down the line from London Paddington and the majority of trains are operated by TfL Rail.

Its three-letter station code is AML. It is in Travelcard Zone 3.[3]

History
Acton Main Line was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) on 1 February 1868.[4] Originally simply named Acton, it was operated by the Western Region of British Railways following nationalisation in 1948. On 1 November 1949 it was renamed Acton Main Line.[4] When sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Railways in 1994.

Together with the underground stations at West Acton and North Acton, Acton Main Line serves the GWR garden estate. This large area of family housing, bordered on three sides by the stations named and on the fourth side by the A40 road, was developed by GWR in the 1920s to accommodate its staff, particularly drivers from the Old Oak Common depot.[5]

By 1947 the station had four platforms, all partially covered along their length by wooden canopies, as well as a siding next to platform 1.[6][7] Both platform 1 and its siding were demolished in the late 1960s, whilst the imposing Victorian station building was pulled down and replaced with a small booking office in 1974.[8][9] As a result of this, the current three platforms no longer have canopies and are numbered 2, 3 and 4. The platform 1 permanent way is still intact, and is used as a fast through line for non-stopping trains; all Intercity Trains pass through on the Great Western Main Line.

The current station building was completed in early 1996; there was also extensive renovation of the adjacent bridge on Horn Lane throughout 1995 and 1996. In mid-2013 a gated barrier was built, dividing platforms 2 and 3 for their entire length. In May 2018, extensions to all three platforms were completed for the purpose of Crossrail.