West Drayton station is on the original line of the Great Western Railway, and was opened on 4 June 1838 at the same time as the line. However the original station was located slightly to the west of the current station, and was relocated to its current position from 9 August 1884 when the branch to Staines was opened. From 1 March 1883, the station was served by District Railway services running between and Windsor. The service was discontinued as uneconomic after 30 September 1885. West Drayton was the junction station for both the Staines branch, and an earlier branch to that opened in 1856. The Uxbridge branch closed to passengers in 1962, but part of the line was retained for freight traffic until 1979. The Staines branch closed to passengers in 1965, but the section of the line as far as Colnbrook remains open to freight traffic, latterly for the delivery of materials for the construction of Heathrow Airport's new terminal 5. From 1895 the station was named West Drayton and Yiewsley; it reverted to the original name West Drayton on 6 May 1974.
Description
West Drayton station is situated on Station Approach in Yiewsley. It is north of the centre of West Drayton and immediately to the south of the Grand Union Canal, in the London Borough of Hillingdon. The station has five platforms. platform 1 down main line, platform 2 is the up main line, platform 3 is the down relief line, platform 4 is the up relief line. A fifth platform on the up goods line is not used for passenger services, normally goods services wait to continue on the up relief line. The platforms on the main lines see little use, other than when the relief lines are closed for maintenance. Access between the platforms is via steps and a pedestrian underpass. Stockley Park is a large business estate located between Hayes and West Drayton, and is shown on the platform signage.
Ticket facilities
As of October 2008, Oyster "pay as you go" can be used for journeys originating or ending at West Drayton.
Services
West Drayton station is served by stopping services run by Great Western Railway and TfL Rail between and as well as two trains per hour to Didcot Parkway. These services run six days a week with 4 trains hourly — two from Reading and two from Didcot Parkway. On Sundays a half-hourly service operates with one Reading and one Didcot Parkway service in each direction. Typical journey times are just over 20 minutes to Paddington, and just under 40 minutes to Reading.
