Alperton tube station

Alperton station stands on the Uxbridge branch of the Piccadilly line in north-west London. It sits beside Ealing Road near the junction with Bridgewater Road, close to the Paddington branch of the Grand Union Canal. The station is in fare zone 4, between Sudbury Town and Park Royal. In 1903 it opened as Perivale Alperton on the District Railway’s new electrified line from Park Royal & Twyford Abbey to South Harrow. The name changed to Alperton in 1910 after the original timber building was replaced. The station is worth a brief stop for its modernist design by Charles Holden. Built in 1931 for the Piccadilly line takeover, it features a tall brick ticket hall with clerestory windows and a flat concrete roof. A single up escalator, originally used at the Festival of Britain, was installed in 1955 but closed in 1988. The station was bombed in 1944, cutting services to Uxbridge for five days. It was refurbished in 2006 and will soon gain two lifts. Visitors find a clean, functional ticket hall with station offices and shops below. The eastbound platform retains the redundant escalator machinery behind a wall. Trains run every few minutes to Cockfosters, Rayners Lane and Uxbridge. Above ground, Ealing Road offers local shops and bus routes, while the canal towpath provides a quiet walk nearby. The station’s modernist style and wartime history give it a quiet interest worth a short visit.