Ealing Broadway is one of West London's major transport hubs, providing an interchange between the local services out of Paddington on the Great Western main line, and the terminus of the District and Central lines. The station (main line and underground) handles over 20 million passengers a year.
History
The first line to reach Ealing was on the original stretch of the Great Western Railway (GWR) from London to Maidenhead, in April 1838. The station itself was not ready and opened in December of that year. Known then simply as 'Ealing', it was in a relatively rural location and provided with handsome brick and stone buildings on the London-bound platform.
The Metropolitan District Railway (MDR - today's District Line) came next, opening with a branch from that company's line to Richmond, in 1879. The MDR built a separate station to the north of the main line platforms, originally in brick, and rebuilt before World War I in the 'Banker's Classical' style. Around this time the GWR station was also rebuilt with a long façade in red brick with French-style chateau mansard roofs.
Last came the Central Line, extended from Wood Green in 1920 as the Central London Railway. The line was built by the GWR and the trains terminated in platforms built between the GWR and MDR stations.
The former GWR station was rebuilt in its present rather hideous form in the 1970s, with the ticket office and shops beneath a very grey concrete office block. At the same time, the separate District Line ticket office was closed, although its handsome classical façade in survives immediately to the north of the main station, occupied by shops.
Facilities
The station now has 9 platforms, with 1-4 serving the main lines to Paddington, 5-6 the central Line and 7-9 the District Line, which still feels like a separate station (and, with its overall roof, much the most attractive part).
The station has a ticket office and ticket machines, cafe, newsagent, cash-point and toilets but no cycle storage and, because of a number of flights of steps, very poor wheelchair access.
Services
The main line services generally call at platforms 3 and 4, and include the Heathrow Connect stopping services to Heathrow T4; local services to Slough, Reading, Oxford, Greenford. The Greenford and Heathrow Connect services are half-hourly off-peak, and with 4 trains an hour to Reading, this provides 8 services an hour in each direction.
District Line trains operate every 10 minutes and Central Line trains every 6-7 minutes off peak. read more