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During the last few years of the nineteenth century, Uxbridge started to grow from a village into a small town; large enough to attract the attention of the major railway companies that passed close by, especially the Great Western, the Metropolitan and the Metropolitan & District Railway. The Great Western had already built a broad gauge branch line from West Drayton in 1856 and was converted to standard gauge in 1871. Only single track when built, the branch was doubled in 1881 to accommodate the increasing traffic as the town grew. Through trains were gradually introduced including, by the 1890s, services direct to the city via the Hammersmith & City line and the Metropolitan. However journey times were long and the layout at the GWR's Uxbridge station hindered any further expansion.
In 1899 Parliament sanctioned the building of two railway links for the town. One, for the Great Western, was to serve a new Uxbridge High Street station with a double track branch from a junction with the main Paddington to High Wycombe line just east of Denham. It was planned as part of a loop using their existing branch from West Drayton but by-passing the previous station at Vine Street, but this was never completed. The line opened in May 1907 but the service was poor as the service was provided by extending some Greenford trains to Denham where they reversed onto the branch, despite the fact that a curve to provide a direct route was available. Passenger services were withdrawn for a time at the end of World War 1 and did not restart until 1920 by which time the Metropolitan's line was offering a frequent and faster service. Passenger services were withdrawn completely in September 1939 although freight services continued until 1962 when the line was closed and the tracks lifted.
Services on the GWR's other Uxbridge branch (that from West Drayton to Vine Street) however continued, although Metropolitan services to the City ceased in 1939. Traffic however declined after the WW2 until, eventually, passenger services were withdrawn in 1962. When freight traffic ceased in 1964 the line was lifted.
The Metropolitan's line to Uxbridge was built from a junction just North of its Harrow-on-the-Hill station through West Harrow to Rayners Lane where a junction built in 1910 enabled District (now Piccadilly line) trains to share the journey to Uxbridge. From there the line threaded through Ruislip, Ickenham and Hillingdon to reach their Uxbridge Station (then in Belmont Road). The initial train was hauled by Metropolitan Railway No1 on 30th June 1904 and public services started a few days later. From the outset it had been planned as an electrified branch and electric trains started to operate from November 1904. However, electric services were suspended for a short while and steam took over until June 1905 when full electric services resumed. Unlike the GWR branches, services on the Met's Uxbridge branch gradually increased in patronage, supplemented between the terminus and Rayners Lane by the services via Acton Town. The original terminus was replaced in 1939 by the current Holden designed building which, quite rightly, has listed building status as one of the finest of its type.
June 2005 will see the Centenary of the branch and it is to be hoped that Transport for London will celebrate this notable date. Metropolitan No.1 is still in active service at the Buckinghamshire Railway Center (having recently undergone a major overhaul) and suitable carriages are available on the Bluebell railway. What a sight it would be to see a re-run of that inaugural train 100 years after it first ran!
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Piccadilly Line Train at Uxbridge in 1933
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Exterior of Uxbridge (Belmont Road)
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Uxbridge Station today
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Photos are from the authors collection of prints and postcards.
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