Osterley tube station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location
Osterley
Place	Osterley
Local authority	London Borough of Hounslow
Operations
Managed by	London Underground
Platforms in use	2
Transport for London
Zone	4
Annual entry/exit	1.784 million †
History
1883 1933 1934 1964	Opened (MDR) Start (Piccadilly Line) Station Relocated End (District Line)
Transport for London List of London stations: Underground \| National Rail
† Data from Transport for London [1]
London Transport Portal

Osterley is a London Underground station in Osterley in west London. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly Line, between Boston Manor and Hounslow East tube station. The station is located on Great West Road (A4) close to the National Trust-owned Osterley Park. It is in Travelcard Zone 4.

1 History
- 1.1 Earlier history
2 Other information
3 External links

[edit] History

Osterley station was opened on 25 March 1934 adjacent to the Great West Road which had been opened in 1925. The station was designed by Charles Holden in the modern European style using brick, reinforced concrete and large areas of glass. The station features a brick tower topped with a concrete "obelisk". It was served from its outset by trains from the District and Piccadilly Lines, although District Line services were withdrawn on 9 October 1964.

Osterley station was a replacement for an earlier station, Osterley & Spring Grove located about 300m to the east which was closed when Osterley opened.

[edit] Earlier history

Osterley & Spring Grove station and the tracks through the current station were opened by the District Line's predecessor, the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR), on 1 May 1883 as a line to Hounslow Town (located on Hounslow High Street but now closed).

Map showing operational dates for lines and stations in Hounslow

On 21 July 1884 a branch was constructed from shortly north of Hounslow Town to Hounslow Barracks (now Hounslow West). The branch line was constructed as single track and initially had no intermediate stations between the terminus and Osterley & Spring Grove. Until 31 March 1886 passengers travelling west from Osterley & Spring Grove could go to either Hounslow Barracks or Hounslow Town. On that date Hounslow Town station closed and a new station, Heston & Hounslow (now Hounslow Central), opened to the west.

Electrification of the MDR's tracks took place between 1903 and 1905 with electric trains replacing steam trains on the Hounslow branch from 13 June 1905. When the branch was electrified, the track between Osterley & Spring Grove and Heston & Hounslow was closed and a new loop was opened from Hounslow Town back to Heston & Hounslow. Trains would run from Osterley & Spring Grove to Hounslow Town then reverse and run to Hounslow Barracks.

This method of operation was unsuccessful and short-lived. On 2 May 1909 the track between Heston & Hounslow and Osterley & Spring Grove was reopened with a new Hounslow Town station (now Hounslow East) located about 300m west of the loop to the old station. The old Hounslow Town station and its two loop tracks were closed for good.

Piccadilly Line services, which had been running as far as Northfields since January 1933 were extended to run to Hounslow West on 13 March 1933.

[edit] Other information

Osterley is one of the closest stations to British Sky Broadcasting's offices near Gillette Corner. Sky jointly runs a minibus with Harrods to the station every 15 minutes during extended office hours for visitors and staff. The bus may be labelled Sky or Harrods.