Acton Central railway station

This article is about the National Rail station on the London Overground. For other stations in Acton, see Acton station (disambiguation).

Acton Central is a station on the Mildmay line of the London Overground, situated between South Acton and Willesden Junction stations in Travelcard Zone 3.

Acton Central
Acton Central Location of Acton Central in Greater London
Location	Acton
Local authority	London Borough of Ealing
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	ACC
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	3
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	1.887 million[2]
2019–20	1.754 million[2]
2020–21	0.727 million[2]
2021–22	1.333 million[2]
2022–23	1.499 million[2]
Key dates
1 August 1853	Station opens as Acton
1 November 1925	Station renamed Acton Central
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.5087°N 0.2630°W / 51.5087; -0.2630
London transport portal

The station is located at the point where Mildmay line trains switch their power supply from overhead line equipment (25 kV AC) to third rail shoes (750 V DC), or vice versa, depending on direction of travel (overhead line is used to Stratford, while third rail is used to Richmond).

History

The Victorian Super Outer Circle route. Acton Central station is on the lower left, to the north of South Acton station

v t e London Overground
Cheshunt Theobalds Grove Enfield Town Turkey Street Romford Bush Hill Park Southbury Emerson Park Upminster Edmonton Green Silver Street Chingford White Hart Lane Highams Park Watford Junction Bruce Grove Wood Street Watford Seven Sisters Walthamstow Central High Street Harringay Blackhorse Road Walthamstow Queen's Road Bushey Green Lanes Carpenders Park Crouch Hill South Tottenham St. James Leyton Midland Road Hatch End Upper () Stamford Hill Street Leytonstone Headstone Lane Holloway Stoke Newington Clapton High Road Harrow & Kentish Town West Rectory Road Wanstead Park () Wealdstone Gospel Oak Camden Road () Hackney Woodgrange Park () Kenton () Caledonian Road Canonbury Downs Barking South Kenton & Barnsbury Barking Riverside () North Highbury & Islington Dalston Kingsland Hackney Central Wembley Hampstead Heath Dalston Wembley Finchley Road & Frognal () Junction London Fields Central West Hampstead ( ) Haggerston Cambridge Homerton Stonebridge Brondesbury Hoxton Heath Hackney Wick Park Brondesbury Park Shoreditch High Street Bethnal Green Stratford Harlesden Kensal Rise Kensal Green Liverpool Whitechapel Willesden Queen's Park Street Shadwell () Junction Kilburn High Road Wapping South Hampstead Rotherhithe Shepherd's Bush () Euston () Canada Water Kensington (Olympia) Surrey Quays West Brompton Battersea Park Imperial Wharf () (limited service) New Cross Clapham Queens Road Peckham New Cross Gate Junction Peckham Rye Brockley Acton Central Wandsworth Road Denmark Hill Honor Oak Park South Acton () Clapham Forest Hill Gunnersbury High Street Sydenham Kew Gardens Richmond Crystal Palace Penge West Anerley Norwood Junction West Croydon ()
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

The station was opened as Acton on 1 August 1853^{[3][page needed]} by the North and South Western Junction Railway (N&SWJR), but was renamed Acton Central on 1 November 1925.^[4] The N&SWJR was leased jointly to the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), the Midland Railway (MR) and the North London Railway (NLR) from 1871, but only the NLR operated passenger trains on the N&SWJR until operation of the NLR (and thus of the N&SWJR also) was taken over by the LNWR in 1909.^[5] Under the terms of the Railways Act 1921, the LNWR and MR amalgamated (together with some others) at the start of 1923 to form the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, which then absorbed both the NLR and the N&SWJR. The line then passed on to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

When sectorisation was introduced, the station was served by Network SouthEast until the privatisation of British Railways.

Between 1875 and 1902 it was connected with St Pancras via the Dudding Hill line, which branches off the North London line between Acton Central and Willesden Junction. Harlesden (Midland) railway station was the next stop on the line north. The Dudding Hill line is still open today, but only carries freight.

Acton Central station was named for closure by the 1963 Beeching Report,^[6] also known as the Beeching Axe.

Acton Central was in Zone 2 until 2 January 2008.

In 2011, the platforms were lengthened to allow longer trains.

Passenger volume

Passenger Volume at Acton Central^[7]

	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Entries and exits	1,753,806	727,052	1,332,790	1,499,036

Services

All services at Acton Central are operated as the Mildmay line of the London Overground using Class 378 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[8][9]

• Four trains per hour to Stratford via Willesden Junction
• Four trains per hour to Richmond

During the peak hours, the service is increased up to 5 tph in each direction.

Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
South Acton towards Richmond		Mildmay line North London line		Willesden Junction towards Stratford
Disused Railways
South Acton		Midland Railway Dudding Hill Line		Harlesden (Midland)

Connections

London Buses routes 70, 207 and 218 and SL8, and night routes N7, N207 and N266 serve the station.^[10]

References

1. "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 March 2009.
2. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
3. Bolton, Diane K.; Croot, Patricia E.C.; Hicks, M.A. (1982). Baker, T.F.T.; Elrington, C.R. (eds.). A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden.
4. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 13. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
5. Casserley, H.C. (April 1968). Britain's Joint Lines. Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 106. ISBN 0-7110-0024-7. 469 CEX 468.
6. Beeching, Richard (27 March 1963). The Reshaping of British Railways Part 1: Report (Report). London: HMSO. p. 109. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
7. "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
8. Table 59 National Rail timetable, December 2023
9. "London Overground Timetable: Richmond and Clapham Junction to Stratford" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
10. "Buses from Acton Central" (PDF). TfL. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

External links

• Train times and station information for Acton Central railway station from National Rail
• Excel file displaying National Rail station usage information for 2005/06 Archived 22 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• BBC News article
• Map from BBC article
• grid reference TQ206802