Uxbridge tube station

Uxbridge station stands at the western edge of London in the London Borough of Hillingdon. It is the last stop on two Underground branches, the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines, fifteen and a half miles from central London. The next station towards the city is Hillingdon, while nearby West Ruislip and West Drayton link to other rail services. The original station opened in 1904 on Belmont Road, a short distance north of today’s building. Steam trains ran from central London until electrification arrived the following year. Trams reached Uxbridge a few weeks before the Underground, though the manager criticised their high fares and long journey times. The present station opened in December 1938 on a new alignment and was designed by Charles Holden with L H Bucknell. A red-brick front rises above the cutting, topped by paired sculptures of winged wheels with leaf springs by Joseph Armitage. A tall concrete canopy arches over the tracks, its clerestory windows letting in daylight. Inside, stained glass panels by Erwin Bossanyi show heraldic shields linked to Middlesex, Buckinghamshire and the local Basset family. The forecourt was laid out for trolleybuses that replaced trams in 1936, and ticket barriers now control access. Visitors step from the street down into the booking hall and onto two platforms below ground level. The Metropolitan line runs express trains eastbound in weekday mornings, while both lines serve Uxbridge every few minutes at peak times. Off-peak, Piccadilly line trains run to Cockfosters every twenty minutes and Metropolitan line trains to Aldgate every seven and a half minutes. Buses outside connect to Heathrow Airport, Acton, Slough and many towns across west London.