South Acton railway station (England)

For other uses, see Acton station (disambiguation).

South Acton
South Acton Location of South Acton in Greater London
Location	South Acton
Local authority	London Borough of Ealing
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	SAT
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	0.794 million[2]
2020–21	0.263 million[2]
2021–22	0.519 million[2]
2022–23	0.615 million[2]
2023–24	0.705 million[2]
Key dates
1880	Opened
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.4994°N 0.2707°W / 51.4994; -0.2707
London transport portal

South Acton is a station on the Mildmay line of the London Overground, situated in South Acton in the London Borough of Ealing. It is in Travelcard Zone 3. Until 1959 it was also served by the District line of the London Underground.

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Legend
Station National Rail Liberty line Accessible station Thameslink Lioness line Interchange station Elizabeth line Mildmay line Accessible interchange Docklands Light Railway Suffragette line Internal interchange London Underground Weaver line Out-of-station interchange London Trams Windrush line (   ) Nearby interchange London River Services The new London Overground line names and colours were introduced across the London rail network in November 2024

History

South Acton station was opened on 1 January 1880 by the North & South Western Junction Railway for North London line trains on the London Broad Street – Richmond line. There was a connecting branch line at South Acton to Hammersmith, renamed Hammersmith and Chiswick from 1 July 1880 and closed from 1 January 1917. There was another branch in the opposite direction from 13 June 1905 to Acton Town, a District Railway service that was withdrawn from 2 March 1959.

Branch line from Acton Town

Construction

A short spur of the District Railway from Acton Town, 1,232 yards (1,126 metres) long, was authorised by the Metropolitan Railway Act of 1874.^[3] When first opened, the spur was used for goods trains from 15 May 1899 onwards. Passenger services were introduced on 13 June 1905 to provide an interchange with the North London Railway which ran services from north London to the District Railway's Richmond branch. It thus provided an easier interchange for Richmond for eastbound passengers than changing trains at Turnham Green further east.

Operations

The South Acton station on the District line of the London Underground was located adjacent to present South Acton station on the North London line on the north-west side of the tracks.

Initially, the line had through passenger services to Hounslow Barracks (now Hounslow West). However, the line was relatively little used and in 1932 the line was reduced to a single track, operated by a one-car shuttle service between Acton Town and South Acton.

In 1933 the railway became part of the London Passenger Transport Board, becoming a branch line of the District line.

Just south of the station before the Bollo Lane level crossing was located a major creamery and milk bottling plant for Express Dairies, which was served by milk trains from both the Great Western Railway and the Southern Railway.^[4]

In later years, the shuttle train was normally worked by a single car of London Underground G Stock, specially modified for one person operation and fitted with additional brakes. Given the (then highly unusual) driver-only operation, the branch line was equipped with a two wire emergency telephone system at window level, a feature normally found only in tunnels on the London Underground.

Closure

The South Acton to Acton Town shuttle last ran on 28 February 1959 and the spur closed as from 2 March 1959.^[5] Nothing now remains of the spur, except for a few bridgeheads and sections of the old trackbed, which indicate the route. Currently the rest of station of the same name continues to be well used.

Branch line to Kew Bridge and Brentford

A two km-long branch exists to Old Kew Junction near Brentford station on the South Western Railway line from Waterloo which does not carry passenger services. There is also another spur from Kew East Jn to Kew Bridge on the line towards Brentford. This comprised part of the North & South Western Junction Railway.

• 
  The Acton Town branch line appears on this 1926 Tube map
• 
  The Acton Town and Kew branch lines shown in detail
• 
  South Acton on the present-day Mildmay line

Services

South Acton currently has the following London Overground (Mildmay line) services, which are operated by Class 378 trains:^[6]

Off-peak (daily):

• Four trains per hour to Stratford
• Four trains per hour to Richmond

References

1. TFL: Standard Tube Map
2. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. The Railway Magazine December 1958
4. "Abandoned Stations – South Acton"
5. South Acton Branch Service Withdrawn The Railway Magazine issue 695 March 1959 page 212
6. Table 59 National Rail timetable, May 2016

External links

• Train times and station information for South Acton railway station (England) from National Rail
• Excel file displaying National Rail station usage information for 2005/06
• www.sarag.org Local residents association with historical information about South Acton
• London's Abandoned Tube Stations – South Acton

Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Gunnersbury towards Richmond		Mildmay line North London line		Acton Central towards Stratford
Disused Railways
Turnham Green Line closed, station open		Midland Railway North London Line		Acton Central Line and station open
Terminus		N&SWJ Railway Hammersmith branch		Rugby Road Line and station closed
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Acton Town Line closed, station open		District line South Acton branch (1905-59)		Terminus