Every year, Acton Town station serves over six million customers. Serving both the Piccadilly and District Lines, it is also a key interchange point, where the Piccadilly Line diverges in two, with one branch taking passangers to Uxbridge, and the other to Heathrow Airport. Regular users will know that there are four platforms: two going Westbound (one for each line) and two Eastbound. But far less know about the secret fifth platform, hidden in plain sight at a station which next year will be celebrating its 140th birthday. To learn more, it is necessary to delve into the station's past.
Acton Town has a storied history. In 1879, it was opened as Mill Hill Park as part of the District Railway's new Ealing Broadway extension to Turnham Green and Hammersmith, which is now the western terminus of the District Line. In 1883 the Hounslow branch was opened which later extended into Heathrow, and in 1903 the Harrow branch opened, which is now the Uxbridge branch.
In the early 20th century, these lines would be expanded and modernised (replacing steam trains with the electric trains we know today). As part of the modernisation, a new service was opened, a service from Hounslow and Uxbridge to South Acton, which called at Mill Hill Park. In 1910 Mill Hill Park would be reconstructed and renamed as Acton Town, with its five platforms that remain today, four of which are still in constant use.
The fifth platform was for that new South Acton branch. In 1932 the District Railway was split into the new Underground District and Piccadilly lines under London Transport (now TfL). This meant that the South Acton branch was reduced to a back and forth shuttle between Acton Town and South Acton, and in 1959 it was removed entirely. But the platform never was, and still can be seen today.
The old platform 5 is now partially visible above advertisments on Platform 4.
Although it is hidden behind advertisements, the short Platform 5 is still visible from certain points of the station. Amazingly, the platform has been lying disused for sixty years with the majority of passengers none-the-wiser to the small piece of history obscured by time lying just metres away. Next time you visit Acton Town, see if you can spot Acton's abandoned platform, hiding behind the ads.
Patrick Green, Cardinal Wiseman Sixth Form
