Park Royal tube station

Park Royal
Park Royal Location of Park Royal in Greater London
Location	Park Royal
Local authority	London Borough of Ealing
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	3
OSI	Hanger Lane
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011	1.58 million
2012	1.58 million
2013	1.64 million
2014	1.98 million
Railway companies
Original company	District Railway
Key dates
6 July 1931	Station opened as Park Royal
4 July 1932	District line service replaced by Piccadilly line
1 March 1936	Renamed Park Royal (Hanger Hill)
1947	Renamed Park Royal
Listed status
Listing grade	II
Entry number	1079328
Added to list	15 October 1987
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
London Transport portal

Park Royal is a station on the Piccadilly line of the London Underground. It is between North Ealing and Alperton and is in Travelcard Zone 3. It is situated on the south side of the east-west Western Avenue (A40), surrounded by residential Ealing and industrial Park Royal. There is a pedestrian subway under the A40 road near the station.

The station's platforms have a continuous significant gradient (sloping up from south to north).

History

The District Railway (DR, now the District line) opened the line through Park Royal on its new extension to South Harrow on 23 June 1903. A station, Park Royal & Twyford Abbey, was opened at that time a short distance to the north of the current station to serve the Royal Agricultural Society's recently opened Park Royal show grounds.

The current station was built for the extension of Piccadilly line services over the District line tracks to South Harrow. 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/Streamline Moderne style influenced by the Underground's principal architect Charles Holden. 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 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 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.

Possible development

The Mayor's plans for the area include improvements to the station access.

The developers of the First Central business park at Park Royal were planning a new station between North Acton and Hanger Lane on the Central line. This would have served the business park and provide a walking distance interchange with Park Royal station. This is not being actively pursued. London Underground has said that the transport benefits of a Park Royal station on the Central line are not sufficiently high to justify the costs of construction.

Connections

London Buses routes 95 and 487 serve the station.

Gallery

• 

  Looking north from the eastbound platform (in the westbound direction)

• 

  Looking south from the eastbound platform (in the eastbound direction)

• 

  Platform shelter on the westbound platform - note slope of platform from south to north

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Temporary station, 1934
  • Ticket Hall in 1939
  • Station and attached shops, 1948
  • Park Royal Station, looking underneath the A40 road bridge from the eastbound platform, 2000. A new footpath would have passed under the road on the right, to reach the proposed Central line platforms (which are unlikely to be built)
  • External view of station, showing ticket hall and tower, 2001
• First Central Business Park
• More photographs of this station

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Alperton towards Rayners Lane or Uxbridge		Piccadilly line		North Ealing towards Cockfosters
	Former services
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Alperton towards South Harrow or Uxbridge		District line (1931-1932)		North Ealing towards Upminster