South Acton station was opened on 1 January 1880 by the North and South Junction Railway for North London Line trains on the London Broad Street - Richmond line. There was a connecting branch train at South Acton to Hammersmith, renamed Hammersmith and Chiswick from I July 1880 and closed from 1 January 1917. There was another branch in the opposite direction from 13 June 1905 to Acton Town, a District Railway service that was withdrawn from 2 March 1959.
Branch line from Acton Town
Construction
A short spur of the District Railway from station, 1,232 yards long, was authorised by the Metropolitan Railway Act of 1874. When first opened, the spur was used for goods trains from 15 May 1899 onwards. Passenger services were introduced on 13 June 1905 to provide an interchange with the North London Railway which ran services from north London to the DR's branch. It thus provided an easier interchange for Richmond for eastbound passengers than changing trains at further east.
Operations
The South Acton station on the District line of the London Underground was located adjacent to South Acton station on the North London Line on the north-west side of the tracks. Initially, the line had through passenger services to Hounslow Barracks. However, the line was relatively little used and in 1932 the line was reduced to a single track, operated by a one-car shuttle service between Acton Town and South Acton. In 1933 the railway became part of the London Passenger Transport Board, becoming a branch line of the District line. Just south of the station before the Bollo Lane level crossing was located a major creamery and milk bottling plant for Express Dairies, which was served by milk trains from both the Great Western Railway and the Southern Railway. In later years, the shuttle train was normally worked by a single car of London Underground G Stock, specially modified for one person operation and fitted with additional brakes. Given the driver-only operation, the branch line was equipped with a two wire emergency telephone system at window level, a feature normally found only in tunnels on the London Underground.
Closure
The South Acton shuttle last ran on Sat 28 February 1959. Nothing now remains of the spur, except for a few bridgeheads and sections of the old trackbed, which indicate the route. Currently the rest of station of the same name continues to be well used; this branch closed as from Mon 2 March 1959.
