Train Services
On Mondays to Saturdays London Overground runs four trains per hour on the line: a half-hourly service between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction, alternating with a half-hourly through service on the North London Line to and from Stratford. On Sundays, only the Clapham Junction-Willesden Junction service operates. From December 2012, the West London Line will become the western section of the Overground's new orbital rail route when the East London Line is connected to Clapham Junction via the Inner South London Line.
The West London Line also forms part of a cross-London regional rail service which connects services on the West Coast Mainline in the north to the Brighton Main Line in the south. Southern currently runs hourly trains between East Croydon and Milton Keynes. Additional peak services run between Shepherd's Bush and East Croydon. Southern services follow the same route as London Overground, but pass through Willesden Junction without stopping as the mainline platforms were removed shortly after services to them ceased in 1962.
Along with the Thameslink route and the Crossrail route planned to open in 2018, the West London Line provides one of the few long-distance National Rail routes to run right across London instead of terminating in the city. This regional service previously ran from Brighton to Watford Junction. It was originally conceived as a Brighton-Birmingham service, and until December 2008, a twice-daily CrossCountry service ran from Brighton via Reading and Kensington (Olympia) station to Birmingham New Street. The service was curtailed due to the difficulty in securing free train paths in the congested West Midlands area, and operated only as far as Rugby. With engineering works on the upgrade of the West Coast Mainline, the service only ran as far as Rugby before being discontinued. The service was revived as a shorter regional route as part of the South Central franchise in 2008. Due to congestion on the West Coast mainline, it is unlikely that this route will be expanded beyond the current destinations or hourly frequency.
Until the High Speed 1 railway line from St Pancras opened in November 2007, Eurostar trains from Waterloo International used the West London Line to access their North Pole depot.
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Map of cross-London rail routes present and planned
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The orbital lines of the London Overground network (as of 9 December 2012)
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Line map of the West London Line, showing connections and travelcard zones
Read more about this topic: West London Line
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