West Drayton

West Drayton railway station serves West Drayton and Yiewsley, western suburbs of London. It is served by local trains operated by Great Western Railway. It is 13 miles 71 chains (22.3 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Hayes & Harlington to the east and Iver to the west.

In preparation for the introduction of Elizabeth line services, the operation of the station was transferred to MTR Crossrail on behalf of Transport for London at the end of 2017.

History
West Drayton station is on the original line of the Great Western Railway, and was opened on 4 June 1838 at the same time as the line.[3][4] However the original station was located slightly to the west of the current station, and was relocated to its current position from 9 August 1884 when the branch to Staines was opened.[4][5] From 1 March 1883, the station was served by District Railway services running between Mansion House and Windsor. The service was discontinued as uneconomic after 30 September 1885.

West Drayton was the junction station for both the Staines branch, and an earlier branch to Uxbridge Vine Street that opened in 1856. The Uxbridge branch closed to passengers in 1962, but part of the line was retained for freight traffic until 1979. The Staines branch closed to passengers in 1965, but the section of the line as far as Colnbrook remains open to freight traffic, latterly for the delivery of materials for the construction of Heathrow Airport's new terminal 5.[5]

From 1895 the station was named West Drayton and Yiewsley; it reverted to the original name West Drayton on 6 May 1974.