Park Royal tube station
Encyclopedia
Park Royal is a station on the Piccadilly Line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...

 of the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

. It is between and and is in Travelcard
Travelcard
The Travelcard is an inter-modal travel ticket for unlimited use on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway, Tramlink, London Buses and National Rail services in the Greater London area. Travelcards can be purchased for a period of time varying from one day to a year,...

 Zone 3
Zone 3
Zone 3 may refer to:*Travelcard Zone 3, of the Transport for London zonal system*Hardiness zone 3, a geographically defined zone in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing...

. It is situated on the south side of the east-west Western Avenue (A40)
A40 road
The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales and officially called The London to Fishguard Trunk Road in all legal documents and Acts...

, surrounded by residential Ealing
Ealing
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...

 and industrial Park Royal
Park Royal
Park Royal is an area in northwest London, UK. It is the largest industrial and business park in London, occupying about , and is promoted commercially by the Park Royal Partnership...

. There is a pedestrian subway under the A40 road near the station.

History

The Metropolitan District Railway
Metropolitan District Railway
The Metropolitan District Railway was the predecessor of the District line of the London Underground. Set up on 29 July 1864, at first to complete the "Inner Circle" railway around central London, it was gradually extended into the suburbs...

 (MDR, now the District Line
District Line
The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...

) opened the line through Park Royal on its new extension to on 23 June 1903. A station, Park Royal & Twyford Abbey
Park Royal & Twyford Abbey tube station
Park Royal & Twyford Abbey is a closed station on the route of the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground. It was located near Twyford Abbey Road a short distance north of the current Park Royal station which replaced it on 6 July 1931....

, was opened at that time a short distance to the north of the current station to serve the Royal Agricultural Society
Royal Agricultural Society
The Royal Agricultural Society of England was established in the United Kingdom in 1838 with the motto "Practice with Science". The RASE aim is to promote the scientific development of agriculture. The society received its Royal Charter from Queen Victoria in 1840.From its early days the society...

's recently opened Park Royal
Park Royal
Park Royal is an area in northwest London, UK. It is the largest industrial and business park in London, occupying about , and is promoted commercially by the Park Royal Partnership...

 show grounds.

The current station was built for the extension of Piccadilly Line services over the District Line
District Line
The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...

 tracks to . It opened on 6 July 1931 and replaced the earlier station which closed on the previous day.

First opened as a temporary timber structure, the current station building was designed by Welch & Lander in an Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

/Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne
Streamline Moderne, sometimes referred to by either name alone or as Art Moderne, was a late type of the Art Deco design style which emerged during the 1930s...

 style influenced by the Underground's principal architect Charles Holden
Charles Holden
Charles Henry Holden, Litt. D., FRIBA, MRTPI, RDI was a Bolton-born English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s, for Bristol Central Library, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadway and for the...

. The station buildings are formed from a series of simple interconnecting geometric shapes. Plain red brick masses are accented with strong horizontal and vertical glazed elements. A large circular ticket hall with high level windows gives access to the platform stairs. The enclosures for these form cascades of glazed steps down to the platforms. The most prominent feature of the station building is the tall square tower adjacent to the ticket hall. This is adorned with the Underground roundel; and represents a visible locator for the station from some distance. The permanent structure was opened in 1936. Attached to the station building and across the small open space of Hanger Green are two curved three-storey retail and office buildings built in the same style as the station.

On 4 July 1932, the Piccadilly Line was extended to run west of its original terminus at sharing the route with the District Line to . From Ealing Common to South Harrow, the District Line was replaced by the Piccadilly Line.

From 1 March 1936 until 1947 the station name was modified to Park Royal (Hanger Hill). The suffix was then dropped and the station returned to the unmodified version. Hanger Hill referred to a residential estate adjacent to the station.

Central line

Just to the north of the station, the Piccadilly Line crosses over the Central Line
Central Line
The Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and, at , has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...

 tracks heading west towards nearby . In 2004, the multinational Diageo
Diageo
Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....

 company agreed to build new Central Line platforms for Park Royal station there, as part of its First Central business park, built on the site of the (now demolished) Guinness
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...

 brewery. this had not yet happened. There would be a new footpath between the Central and Piccadilly line platforms, inside the station barriers, and separate from the existing footpath leading north from the A40 subway. It has been reported that the Piccadilly line platforms could not be moved closer to the new platforms, since the Piccadilly line is on a gradient, and on a curve, between the A40 road bridge and the Central line tracks.

West London Orbital

The proposed West London Orbital will call at this station. The underground railway
Underground railway
Underground railway may refer to:*The Underground Railroad, a network of clandestine routes by which African slaves in the 19th century United States attempted to escape*Rapid transit, urban railways that sometimes use tunnels...

 will run between Brent Cross
Brent Cross
Brent Cross is an area of north London, in the London Borough of Barnet. It is located near the A41 Brent Cross Flyover over the A406 North Circular Road. Brent Cross is best known for its shopping centre and the proposed Brent Cross Cricklewood development....

 and Surbiton
Surbiton
Surbiton, a suburban area of London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, is situated next to the River Thames, with a mixture of Art-Deco courts, more recent residential blocks and grand, spacious 19th century townhouses blending into a sea of semi-detached 20th century housing estates...

. The railway is still on the proposal stage and is not approved or funded at present.

North & West London Light Railway

The North and West London Light Railway (NWLLR) is a proposed potential railway (possibly a light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...

service) that will call at this station. There are no plans at present.

External links


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} A new footpath would pass under the road on the right, to reach the proposed Central line platforms
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