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West London Line trains at Kensington (Olympia)

The West London Line is a short railway linking Clapham Junction in the south to Willesden Junction in the north. It was built to enable trains to cross London.

The West Cross Route, one side of the Ringway 1 inner ring road, would have paralleled the West London Line.

Local trains run every half hour and are operated by Silverlink, and hourly Southern trains run from Brighton or Gatwick Airport to Watford Junction, not stopping at Willesden Junction. The line also carries considerable freight and is used by Eurostar trains between Waterloo International and the depot at North Pole Junction.

Recent timetable changes have meant that some Silverlink peak hour trains now continue onto the North London Line. From November 2007, most Silverlink services on the line will run through to the North London line, as part of the London Overground franchise.

The railway was originally built as an atmospheric railway running between Wormwood Scrubs and Shepherds Bush opening in 1840. Later converted to an orthodox railway it came to prominence as an avoiding line facilitating through-running on the west side of London, especially for freight:

• The West London Joint Railway (WLJR) owned by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR)
• The West London Extension Joint Railway: GWR/L&NWR/London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR)/London and South Western Railway (L&SWR)

According to the official "History of the Great Western Railway", the West London Railway was originally called the Birmingham, Bristol & Thames Junction Railway, authorised in 1836 to run from the London and Birmingham Railway across the proposed route of the Great Western, to the Kensington Canal Basin. An Act of 1845 authorised the Great Western and the London and Birmingham to take out a joint lease of the West London line.

The line is electrified at 750V DC (third rail) from the south to the North Pole depot, where the electrification changes to 25kV AC (overhead). The work was carried out as part of Channel Tunnel infastructure improvements in 1993^[1]. The northern section of the line, from Willesden Junction to Earls Court (via Kensington Olympia), was electrifed by LNWR in 1915, but passenger service was discontinued due to bomb damage in World War Two^[2].

Line map of the West London Line, including stations under construction, showing connections and travelcard zones

This description of the Line, from north to south, giving former and present-day details, and details the links with all the constituent railways:

• Willesden Junction
  West London Line trains use the high level station here, which is part of the North London Line. There is also interchange with the Bakerloo Line and Euston-Watford DC Line.
• West London Junction
  The line separates from the North London Line.
• North Pole Junction
  End-on junction; connection to Eurostar North Pole depot which runs parallel with the GWR main line, the WLJR proper starts here; also the connection with the GWR main line (not electrified). A limited Virgin Trains service uses this line between Reading and Brighton.
• St. Quintin Park and Wormwood Scrubs (closed)
• Shepherds Bush (under construction)
  New station on the site of the former Uxbridge Road station; scheduled to open in July 2007. Interchange with Central Line
• Kensington (Olympia) (formerly Addison Road station)
  Interchange with the District Line
• West London Extension Junction
  End-on junction connecting the two parts of the Line; here also were extensive goods yards owned by the LNWR/GWR
• West Brompton
  Interchange with District Line
• Chelsea & Fulham (closed)
  Here was a goods line to Chelsea Basin
• Imperial Wharf (under construction)
  New station scheduled to open in 2007 although, as of January 2007, construction has yet to commence
• Battersea Railway Bridge Proper name - Cremorne Bridge.
  Here the Line crosses the River Thames
• Battersea High Street (closed)
• Latchmere Junctions
  With connections to the L&SWR and LB&SCR
• Clapham Junction station
  Interchange with national rail network and proposed western extension to the East London Line

• Nisbet, A F. (2006 Page=117 to 121), "Punch's Railway and the Winkle Railway", BackTrack 20(2 Feb)).

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West London Line