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South Harrow
Southern entrance
South HarrowLocation of South Harrow in Greater London
Location	South Harrow
Local authority	London Borough of Harrow
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	5
London Underground annual entry and exit
2019	2.17 million
2020	1.58 million
2021	1.01 million
2022	1.67 million
2023	2.04 million
Key dates
28 June 1903	Opened as terminus (DR)
1 March 1910	Becomes through station
4 July 1932	Start (Piccadilly line, terminus)
23 October 1933	End (District line, eastbound)
23 October 1933	Start (Piccadilly line to Uxbridge)
5 July 1935	Station rebuilt
1954	Goods yard closed
Other information
External links	TfL station info page
Coordinates	51°33′53″N 0°21′08″W / 51.56472°N 0.35222°W / 51.56472; -0.35222
London transport portal

South Harrow is a London Underground station in South Harrow, north-west London. It is on the Uxbridge branch of the Piccadilly line between Rayners Lane and Sudbury Hill stations. It is located on Northolt Road (A312). The station is in Travelcard Zone 5. There are several bus stands outside the station as well as overnight train stabling sidings.

History

South Harrow station was opened on 28 June 1903 by the District Railway (DR, now the District line) as the terminus of its new extension from Park Royal & Twyford Abbey.

This new extension was, together with the existing tracks back to Acton Town, the first section of the Underground's surface lines to be electrified and operate electric instead of steam trains. The Deep level tube lines open at that time (City & South London Railway, Waterloo & City Railway and Central London Railway) had been electrically powered from the start.

On 1 March 1910, the DR was extended north to meet the Metropolitan Railway (MR, now the Metropolitan line) tracks at Rayners Lane and services commenced over the MR's tracks to Uxbridge. North of the station the line crosses the Roxeth Marsh; the viaduct over it between South Harrow and Rayners Lane was an engineering feat of the time.

On 4 July 1932, the Piccadilly line was extended to run west of its original terminus at Hammersmith sharing the route with the District line to Ealing Common. From Ealing Common to South Harrow, the District line was replaced by the Piccadilly line. From South Harrow north, an isolated District line service continued to operate to Uxbridge until 22 October 1933 when the Piccadilly line took over the service to Uxbridge.

The original station building is located approximately 170m south of the existing station and can be accessed from South Hill Avenue. It is similar to the building still in use at North Ealing and remains, adjacent to the eastbound platform, in the car park on the north side of the tracks. Today it is used by London Underground as office space for drivers before and after stabling trains in the sidings and driver shift changes. On 5 July 1935, a new station was opened accessed from Northolt Road. The new station building was designed by Charles Holden as a graduated structure stepping up on each side to the platforms of the high level tracks. The brick walls and bands of horizontal glazing are capped with a series of flat concrete slab roofs.

Stabling Sidings

The 5 west facing dead ended sidings are located to the east of South Harrow and are accessed from both platforms via a pair of crossovers. They are mainly used to stable stock at the close of service as well as engineering trains subject to requirement.

Until the summer of 2015, nine cars of ex-Jubilee Line 1983 Stock were stored there following withdrawal in 1998 in preparation for the Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) and the introduction of the 1996 Stock. The units, which had been out of service for seventeen years, were in a heavily vandalised condition, having spent longer in storage than their fourteen years in operational service on the Jubilee line. All nine carriages were removed for scrapping on the weekend of 27/28 June 2015, which involved being craned onto low loaders during a weekend closure. The stabling capacity was required to facilitate the introduction of the Night Tube on certain parts of the Piccadilly line.

Also stabled in the sidings between 1999 and 2004 was a 1972 (Mark I) tube stock train. This train was unit 3227 and was painted in an experimental livery of blue doors and red cab ends. Like the 1983 tube stocks, it suffered vandalism. This unit was withdrawn from the Northern line after failing at Edgware and it was removed in 2004 and sent to MOD Shoeburyness for storage and scrapping. Another 1972 Mark I unit (3205) in the original condition was stored at the sidings, but this has also been scrapped. A third unit of 1972 stock was stored but that one was immediately stored at the disused Aldwych branch for filming purposes.

Services

The off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:

• 6tph to Cockfosters (Eastbound)
• 3tph to Rayners Lane (Westbound)
• 3tph to Uxbridge via Rayners Lane (Westbound)

The peak time service in trains per hour (tph) is:

• 12tph to Cockfosters (Eastbound)
• 6tph to Rayners Lane (Westbound)
• 6tph to Uxbridge via Rayners Lane (Westbound)

Connections

London Buses routes 114, 140, 258, 395, 398, 487, H9, H10, H12, N140 and SL9 serve the station.

References

1. "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.
2. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2020. Transport for London. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
3. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
4. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
5. "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2023. Transport for London. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
6. Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be – freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News (591). London Underground Railway Society: 175–183. ISSN 0306-8617.
7. ^ Rose, Douglas (1999). The London Underground, A Diagrammatic History. Douglas Rose/Capital Transport. ISBN 1-85414-219-4.
8. "District Line, Dates". Clive's Underground Line Guides. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014.
9. "Abandoned and Disused 1983 Tube Stock going for Scrap". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
10. "SQUAREWHEELS.org.uk – 1972 MkI tube stock".
11. ^ "Working timetable 56" (PDF). 15 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.

External links

• "South Harrow station, 1913". Harrow Borough Council. Archived from the original on 27 March 2005.
• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • South Harrow station, 1926. A children's outing is arriving at the station.
  • Booking hall, 1928
  • View along platforms, 1932
  • New station, 1935
  • Booking hall, 1935
  • Booking hall, 1958. Looking towards entrance

Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Rayners Lanetowards Uxbridge or Rayners Lane		Piccadilly lineUxbridge branch		Sudbury Hilltowards Cockfosters or Arnos Grove
Former services
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Terminus		District line(1903-1910)		Sudbury Hilltowards Upminster
Rayners Lanetowards Uxbridge		District line(1910-1932)
		District line(1932-1933)		Terminus
Terminus		Piccadilly line(1932-1933)		Sudbury Hilltowards Arnos Grove or Oakwood

• Rail transport stations in London fare zone 5
• Tube stations in the London Borough of Harrow
• Former Metropolitan District Railway stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1903
• Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1935
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1935
• Piccadilly line stations
• Charles Holden railway stations