Wembley Central station

Wembley Central is an interchange station in Wembley, North West London for London Underground and London Overground services on the Watford DC line; and National Rail services on the West Coast main line.

Wembley Central
Wembley Central Location of Wembley Central in Greater London
Location	Wembley
Local authority	London Borough of Brent
Managed by	London Underground[1]
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	WMB
DfT category	C2
Number of platforms	6 (4 in regular use)
Accessible	Yes[2]
Fare zone	4
London Underground annual entry and exit
2019	5.65 million[3]
2020	3.77 million[4]
2021	2.71 million[5]
2022	4.37 million[6]
2023	4.60 million[7]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	3.351 million[8]
– interchange	89,217[8]
2019–20	3.521 million[8]
– interchange	0.145 million[8]
2020–21	1.345 million[8]
– interchange	46,777[8]
2021–22	2.732 million[8]
– interchange	92,052[8]
2022–23	3.340 million[8]
– interchange	50,670[8]
Key dates
1842	Station opened as "Sudbury"
1 May 1882	Renamed "Sudbury & Wembley"
1 November 1910	renamed "Wembley for Sudbury"
16 April 1917	Bakerloo line
1948	Street level buildings reconstructed within shopping arcade
5 July 1948	renamed "Wembley Central"
24 September 1982	Bakerloo line service withdrawn
4 June 1984	Bakerloo line service re-instated
June 2008	Station building demolished for re-development
2009-2015	Major re-development of the station and the area.
Other information
External links	TfL station info page Departures Layout Facilities Buses
Coordinates	51.5526°N 0.2966°W / 51.5526; -0.2966
London transport portal

The station is served by suburban services operated by the Underground's Bakerloo line, the Overground's Watford DC line, and regional services operated by Southern.

It is on the east-west High Road and serves Wembley Stadium and the nearby Wembley Arena.

History

Location of Wembley Central station

On 20 July 1837, the London and Birmingham Railway line opened, and in 1842 this station opened as "Sudbury". It was later renamed to "Sudbury and Wembley" in 1882, and then again to "Wembley for Sudbury" in 1910, coinciding with the construction of the "LNWR New Line". New Line Bakerloo line services began on 16 April 1917.

In 1936 street level buildings were reconstructed with a shopping arcade, and in 1948, further work took place in preparation for the Olympic Games at Wembley Stadium. The station was renamed again on 5 July 1948, this time to "Wembley Central", the name that is still in use. Station Square was constructed by Ravenseft Properties Limited in 1965, taking the form of a 2+1⁄2 acres (1.0 ha) concrete raft over the station (see also Stratford Centre), providing most of the current station layout.^[9] Bakerloo line services were withdrawn on 24 September 1982, but later reinstated on 4 June 1984.

In November 2007, station management transferred from Silverlink to London Underground. The 1936 and 1948 surface buildings were being demolished in June 2008 in preparation for redevelopment. Southern services between Milton Keynes and East Croydon began here in February 2009, with an off-peak service pattern of one train per hour per direction on Monday to Saturday. London Midland services between London Euston and Tring were introduced in December 2014, also with an off-peak service pattern of one train per hour per direction on Monday to Saturday, but this was later withdrawn in December 2022 by London Northwestern Railway.

Accidents and incidents

• On 13 October 1940, an express passenger train was derailed after it collided with a platform barrow obstructing the line. Several people were killed and many more were injured.^[10]
• In 1984, a passenger train overran a signal and collided with a freight train, killing three people.^[11]

Services and operations

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 are to be introduced across the London rail network in autumn 2024

v t e West London Route
Legend
Watford Junction Greater London boundary Harrow & Wealdstone Wembley Central West Coast Main Line to Euston North London line to Stratford Grand Union Canal Shepherd's Bush Kensington (Olympia) West Brompton Imperial Wharf River Thames Brighton Main Line to Victoria Clapham Junction Wandsworth Common Balham Streatham Common Norbury Thornton Heath Selhurst East Croydon Brighton Main Line and Oxted line

Services at Wembley Central are operated by London Underground on the Bakerloo line, London Overground and Southern. The off-peak service at the station in trains per hour is:

London Underground (Bakerloo Line)

• 4 tph to Harrow & Wealdstone
• 4 tph to Elephant & Castle

London Overground

• 4 tph to London Euston
• 4 tph to Watford Junction

Southern

• 1 tph to East Croydon
• 1 tph to Watford Junction

Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
North Wembley towards Watford Junction		Watford DC line		Stonebridge Park towards Euston
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
North Wembley towards Harrow & Wealdstone		Bakerloo line		Stonebridge Park towards Elephant & Castle
Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Harrow & Wealdstone		Southern West London Line		Shepherd's Bush
Historical railways
Harrow & Wealdstone		London and North Western Railway West Coast Main Line		Willesden Junction

Wembley Central has the appearance of an underground station due to the elevated position of the High Road (where the main entrance was until recently behind a 1940s shopping arcade) and the enclosed nature of the platforms below the raft upon which Station Square is built; it is actually generally at or above the local ground level, having been reconstructed by British Rail in its current form during the 1960s electrification of the West Coast Main Line. It is the first station out of Euston to have platforms on all three pairs of tracks and the combination of the confined space and through trains passing at speed on platforms 3-6 (the main line platforms) create a wind tunnel effect which can be dangerous for passengers.^{[citation needed]}

The station was modernised in 2006 by Silverlink with additional safety features.^[12]

Station works

The passenger footbridge at the London end of the station, completed in late 2006 by civil engineers C Spencer Ltd, carries extra foot traffic to and from the platforms during event days at the nearby Wembley Stadium; the everyday access is at the "country" end of the platforms. In practice, this means the bridge is usually locked and out of use, only being opened when the stadium itself is in use.^[13]

Other recent works include the resurfacing of platforms 1 and 2 complete with the installation of curved steel cladding panels also completed by contractor, C Spencer Ltd. The station's staff received refurbished messing facilities and new public toilets have also been installed.

In 2011–12, the station was made step-free, in preparation for the Olympics. A step-free route was provided between the station entrance and platforms 1 and 2 for the first time, with the installation of two new lifts and a stair lift. The toilets were refurbished to make them fully accessible. Two platforms were extended as well. This improvement scheme cost £2.5m.^[14]

Redevelopment

Redevelopment seen in November 2009

In June 2008, the London Borough of Brent (Local council) planned that the station was going to be demolished for redevelopment, as part of the Wembley Central Square plan, by St. Modwen construction company (although the plan also included new apartments, shops and open space surface).

Connections

A map of Wembley Stadium in relation to Olympic Way, Wembley Central, Wembley Stadium and Wembley Park stations, and the A406 North Circular road (bottom right)

London Buses routes 18, 79, 83, 92, 182, 204, 223, 297, 483 and H17 and night routes N18 and N83 serve the station.

References

1. "Safety boost as London Underground to take control of 11 Silverlink stations". Transport for London. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
2. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. April 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2021.
3. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2019. Transport for London. 23 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
4. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
5. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
6. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
7. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2023. Transport for London. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
8. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
9. "One of the largest private development schemes of BR air rights in the London area is progressing at Wembley Central". Modern Railways: 351. June 1965.
10. Earnshaw, Alan (1990). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 6. Penryn: Atlantic Books. pp. 24–25. ISBN 0-906899-37-0.
11. Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. p. 132. ISBN 0-7110-1929-0.
12. "wembleyway newsletter" (PDF). London Borough of Brent. November 2005. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
13. "Wembley Central Station Plan". Network Rail. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
14. "Wembley Central station to be step-free in time for the Olympics". 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2013.

External links

• Train times and station information for Wembley Central station from National Rail