South Harrow Underground station

Image: © Marathon Taken: 9 Dec 2015

The District Railway opened its new extension from north of Ealing Common to Park Royal & Twyford Abbey on 23rd June 1903. The line was opened fully to South Harrow on 28th June 1903. A well-built station house was built at the same time next to the up platform. This can be seen here in the distance - a closer view can be seen at http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4761822 ‘South Harrow’ was a railway renaming of Roxeth, the community on the southern slopes of Harrow Hill. Few passengers were attracted at the start, the fact that trains terminated at South Harrow not helping. District line trains started to run beyond South Harrow on 1st March 1910 to Rayners Lane and Uxbridge, but they were only hourly for much of the day, increasing to a 20 minute service the following year. A few streets of small houses appeared close to South Harrow station between 1910 and 1914 so that by 1913 South Harrow was generating a little commuter traffic. As a result, in 1915 a morning business express named ‘The Harrovian’ left South Harrow for the City missing out some intermediate stations. This new extension was, together with the existing tracks between Ealing Common and Acton Town, the first section of the Underground's surface lines to be electrified and operate electric instead of steam trains. In the early 1930s, Government money was on offer to combat unemployment and using some of this the Piccadilly line was extended to run west of its original terminus at Hammersmith sharing the route with the District line to Ealing Common. This change took place from 4th July 1932. From Ealing Common to South Harrow, the District line was replaced by the Piccadilly line on the same date. Starting in the 1920s but really taking off in the 1930s the surrounding area was covered with housing estates. A new station was opened on 5th July 1935 with its entrance on the main road.

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