Willesden Junction station

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Willesden Junction station is both a London Underground station and and main-line station. It is near Willesden and is on the Bakerloo Line, between Kensal Green and Harlesden, in zone 3. Many Bakerloo Line trains terminate here rather than continuing to Harrow & Wealdstone. Willesden TMD, a locomotive depot for the West Coast Main Line, is situated to the immediate south-east of the station.

London and Birmingham Railway from Euston (now the West Coast Main Line) ran through the site from 1837. The station was opened by the London & North Western Railway on 1 September 1866, and Bakerloo line services began on 10 May, 1915. Inter-city trains to and from Euston do not stop here.

The station's platforms are on two levels. At the higher level are platforms 4 and 5, serving the North London Line: the stops on either side being Acton Central to the west and Kensal Rise to the east. Trains via the West London Line through Kensington Olympia and West Brompton to Clapham Junction also depart from the High Level station.

At the lower level (and roughly perpendicular to the High Level platforms) are platforms 1-3. These consist of an island platform (the outer faces of which are platforms 1 & 3) containing two south-facing bay platforms. One of these bay platforms is numbered platform 2; the other is disused, has no track, no platform number, has a railing along the platform edge, and has a signal for platform 2 occupying the trackbed. Platforms 1 & 3 are served by London Underground Bakerloo Line trains and Silverlink Watford DC Line trains; platform 2 is used only occasionally by passenger trains, by Silverlink North London Line services at the start and end of the day.It is more commonly used for empty stock transfers between the depot and the NLL and the Gospel Oak to Barking line, all of which use the link from the Low Level station to Kensal Rise. The northern part of the island narrows considerably, with the outer platform faces curving inwards.

Willesden Junction looking north. The fast tracks of the West Coast Main Line are on the left, the slow lines to the right, with the Watford DC Line at the far right.

Although the station is served by London Underground trains, it is operated by Silverlink (a National Rail Train Operating Company) and thus has a different feel to most LU stations. All of the station signage bears Silverlink branding.

External links

[London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive]
*[Bakerloo Line train at Willesden Junction station, 1917]
*[Willesden Junction station entrance, 1928]
[Train times] and [station information] for Willesden Junction railway station from National Rail (Station code: WIJ)

* Satellite image from [WikiMapia] or [Google Local]
* Street map from [Multimap] or [GlobalGuide]
* Aerial image from [TerraServer]

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0.5em auto; text-align: center; clear: both;" |- ! Preceding station ! colspan="3" | Underground Lines ! Following station

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