Site Records

SiteName: Wood Lane Station (Central Line)

Wood Lane (Junction with Ariel Way)
London, W12
OS Grid Ref: TQ234804

Sub Brit site visit February 1980 & February 1986

In 1938 the LPTB obtained consent to resite the station 350 yards to the north. Although the new station, to be named White City, should have been in service by 1940, its construction was delayed by the war and it finally opened on the 23rd November 1947. Wood Lane closed after the last train the previous day.

Trains continued to pass through the low level platforms until 1948. After that date a new westbound tunnel, was brought into use with the abandoned Platform 4 being retained, with a slightly truncated platform, on the line into the depot. Eastbound trains continue to run through Platform 3 and it is still possible to see the station tiling and until recently the LT roundels.

The track through Platforms 1 & 2 was lifted in the 1950's and the bridge over Wood Lane and the western part of the walkway crossing over the station was demolished. The track bed has now returned to nature with impenetrable undergrowth. The footbridge was demolished in the 1980's and the stairways down to the lower platforms were blocked.

Platforms 1 & 2 in the 1950's - Photo by Lens of Sutton

In 1994 it was announced that a shopping centre and bus station was to be built on the site and Heaps' street level building was due for demolition in the summer of 1996. Demolition started in 2004 and the surface platforms and station frontage have now been cleared away awaiting redevelopment. The underground platforms remain although now covered in graffiti. One section of the frontage including the mosaic LT roundel and the station name is to be dismantled and rebuilt at the LT museum.

Sources:

• London Railway Record Vol. 10 & 11. The London Railway Record is published quarterly and costs £10 for 4 issues. To subscribe please send a cheque to Connor & Butler Specialist Publishers, 69 Guildford Road, Colchester, Essex, CO1 2RZ.
• London Transport Museum (Old photographs unless stated)

Further pictures of Wood Lane Station click here

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