Wembley Central station

Wembley Central is an interchange station in Wembley, North West London for London Underground and London Overground services on the Watford DC line; and National Rail services on the West London line.

The station is served by suburban services operated by the Underground's Bakerloo line, the Overground's Watford DC line, and regional services operated by Southern.

It is on the east-west High Road and serves Wembley Stadium and the nearby Wembley Arena.

History

 * 20 July 1837: London and Birmingham Railway line opened
 * 1842: Station opened as "Sudbury"
 * 1 May 1882: renamed "Sudbury & Wembley"
 * 1 November 1910: renamed "Wembley for Sudbury", coincident with construction of the "LNWR New Line"
 * 16 April 1917: Bakerloo line service commenced over New Line
 * 1936 Street level building reconstructed with shopping arcade
 * 1948 Further work in preparation for Olympic Games at Wembley Stadium
 * 5 July 1948: renamed "Wembley Central"
 * 1965 Station Square constructed on a 2+1/2 acre concrete raft over the station by Ravenseft Properties Limited (see also Stratford Centre), providing most of current layout
 * 24 September 1982: Bakerloo line service withdrawn
 * 4 June 1984: Bakerloo line service re-instated
 * November 2007: Station management transferred from Silverlink to London Underground
 * June 2008: 1936/1948 surface buildings in process of being demolished for redevelopment
 * February 2009: Southern services between Milton Keynes and East Croydon stop here (each hour Mon-Sat daytime).
 * December 2014: London Midland services between London Euston and Tring introduced (hourly Monday-Saturday daytime).
 * December 2022: London Northwestern Railway services between London Euston and Tring withdrawn

Accidents and incidents

 * On 13 October 1940, an express passenger train was derailed after it collided with a platform barrow obstructing the line. Several people were killed and many more were injured.
 * In 1984, a passenger train overran a signal and collided with a freight train, killing three people.

Services and operations
Services at Wembley Central are operated by London Underground on the Bakerloo line, London Overground and Southern. The off-peak service at the station in trains per hour is:

London Underground (Bakerloo Line)
 * 4 tph to Harrow & Wealdstone
 * 4 tph to Elephant & Castle

London Overground
 * 4 tph to London Euston
 * 4 tph to Watford Junction

Southern
 * 1 tph to East Croydon
 * 1 tph to Watford Junction

Wembley Central has the appearance of an underground station due to the elevated position of the High Road (where the main entrance was until recently behind a 1940s shopping arcade) and the enclosed nature of the platforms below the raft upon which Station Square is built; it is actually generally at or above the local ground level, having been reconstructed by British Rail in its current form during the 1960s electrification of the West Coast Main Line. It is the first station out of Euston to have platforms on all three pairs of tracks and the combination of the confined space and through trains passing at speed on platforms 3-6 (the main line platforms) create a wind tunnel effect which can be dangerous for passengers.

The station was modernised in 2006 by Silverlink with additional safety features.

Station works
The passenger footbridge at the London end of the station, completed in late 2006 by civil engineers C Spencer Ltd, carries extra foot traffic to and from the platforms during event days at the nearby Wembley Stadium; the everyday access is at the "country" end of the platforms. In practice, this means the bridge is usually locked and out of use, only being opened when the stadium itself is in use.

Other recent works include the resurfacing of platforms 1 and 2 complete with the installation of curved steel cladding panels also completed by contractor, C Spencer Ltd. The station's staff received refurbished messing facilities and new public toilets have also been installed.

In 2011–12, the station was made step-free, in preparation for the Olympics. A step-free route was provided between the station entrance and platforms 1 and 2 for the first time, with the installation of two new lifts and a stair lift. The toilets were refurbished to make them fully accessible. Two platforms were extended as well. This improvement scheme cost £2.5m.

Redevelopment
In June 2008, the London Borough of Brent (Local council) planned that the station was going to be demolished for redevelopment, as part of the Wembley Central Square plan, by St. Modwen construction company (although the plan also included new apartments, shops and open space surface).

Connections


London Buses routes 18, 79, 83, 92, 182, 204, 223, 297, 483 and H17 and night routes N18 and N83 serve the station.