West Ruislip station

West Ruislip station stands on Ickenham High Road where the London Borough of Hillingdon meets the western edge of Ruislip. It is an interchange served by London Underground’s Central line and National Rail’s Chiltern Railways. The Central line ends here, with Ruislip Gardens the next station east. Chiltern Railways runs hourly trains to Marylebone and every two hours to High Wycombe. The station building was finished in the 1960s for London Underground by British Railways. The station opened in 1906 as Ruislip & Ickenham on the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway. Plans in the 1930s to extend the Central line to Denham were cut back to West Ruislip because of the Metropolitan Green Belt. Central line services began in 1948, replacing the earlier name with the shorter West Ruislip. A stretch of trackbed built for the abandoned extension can still be seen west of the overbridge. The station transferred from British Rail’s Western Region to the London Midland Region in 1974. Visitors find a single ticket hall linking the Underground and National Rail platforms. London Buses routes 278, U1 and U10 stop outside. Beyond the tracks lies the former RAF West Ruislip site, once a US Navy facility and school, now redeveloped for homes. The area around the station is quiet, with Ruislip village and Ickenham close by.