Good morning
It is very early
It's dark, it's about 5:35
It's Wednesday the 7th of December, 2022.
Good morning and welcome to
London's newest least used station
So I'm on platform seven at Paddington
Over there you can see the Heathrow Express
Immediately, I've had a problem this morning
because as I tried to touch in
on the gate line over there
it went 'Not accepted' with my Oyster card
even though my Oyster card is in date and valid
cause it assumes that you're getting
the Heathrow Express train
Instead, what I'm on is to go to Drayton Green
The train is normally now a shuttle
between Greenford and West Ealing, just goes back and forth
But they have to get the train into service
so I believe this unit has come
out of a depot in Oxford this morning
Comes into service at maybe like Redding
comes into Paddington
One a day now at 5:40
is the only time that you can get a train
direct from Paddington to Greenford
without changing at West Ealing
Do not try to board or leave the train
when the doors are closing
That is definitely not the main platform
And we will now go round
a short, small section of curved track
Drayton Green
To get to Drayton Green
This is a great western railway service
to Greenford
I'll put the camera against the window
but it's gonna be dark and you ain't gonna see much
It's 5:53 in the morning, it's still dark
Welcome to Drayton Green
(footsteps crunching)
Welcome to Platform 1
Over there is Platform 2
(birds chirping)
Birds are waking up, morning
They've sprinkled the grit on the platforms
cause it's chilly and icy
And there ain't a lot going on
But there is actually another special reason
why I've come here today on Wednesday the seventh
There is a particular reason to be coming on this day
which is an extra twist to the video
But right now
I'm thinking rather than film in the dark
let's go grab some coffee and come back when it's daylight
(footsteps crunching)
So here's the map showing the Greenford branch
where one train shuttles back and forth
between West Ealing and Greenford all day
Up until the end of 2016
services used to go all the way to Paddington
but then it was cut back
to a new Bay platform at West Ealing
to allow paths to be used for cross route trains instead
When that happened, and there were no more through trains
passenger numbers on the branch halved
and South Greenford and Drayton Green
are almost always in the top 10
of London's least used stations.
We'll find out how many Drayton Green gets in a moment
The sun has risen
There is some daylight, I've had coffee
And now we're on the very cold
and chilly platforms of Drayton Green
I do have my hat
and my rather fetching Elizabeth Line scarf in my bag
which I might wear in a bit
Until then, we have to discuss what's at Drayton Green
(footsteps crunching)
Definitely not a step-free station
with the steps up and down on that side
and more slippery icy steps up and down
on this side as well.
(footsteps crunching)
I teased you with all the passenger stats,
except for the ones for this year, or the last period
that the Office of Rail and Road have just published
which is why this is London's newest least used station
Two years ago I was here doing South Greenford
just up there
which does actually mean
that after doing that video and this video
I've just gotta do Castle Bar Park for a video
just for the heck of it
and I'll have ticked off in video form
all three stations on this line
But, in terms of numbers
apart from the fact we should acknowledge that
the true London's least used station
in the last the accounted period
was really Heathrow Terminal 4 Rail Station
But that's cause it was closed completely
cause there were no flights
Thanks, lockdown Covid
So, actually zero was how many passengers
went to Heathrow T4 Rail Station
But in terms of actual open rail stations
after a dip down into the seven thousand's
during lockdown period
Drayton Green here recovered
slightly up to be 10,846 passengers in a year
which is 29-30 a day
I have seen no one here so far
and we'll have a quick look round
and do the very sparse facilities
There is a Help Point
There are Oyster validators
There is a map and timetable board
which we'll get to in a second
Two platforms with the shutter
Oh, it's got a yellow salt bin which explains all of this
But there ain't no ticket machine
There are dot matrix indicators
and two rather short platforms,
slightly uneven as well, I note.
And just the one train that just shuttles up and down.
If you've never been, it's kind of fun
just to come and have a day out in zone four.
You could do it on your Oyster card,
just travel up and down the line.
Oh, and there's a bin.
The reason why the bin's full
is because they haven't used the yellow bin at all.
Someone's been along with bags of magic ice melt.
There we go.
And put the empty wrappers in the bin.
That's why the bin is full.
Yeah, this stuff is known as magic ice melt
and yes, it's really cold lying on the platform
at Drayton Green.
Don't do this.
It's like snow.
Happy Christmas.
Hang on, look.
No need for snow after effects, just sprinkle this.
Okay.
So no Sunday service at this station,
just Monday to Saturday,
which I know cause there's a proper, yay,
I love a proper timetable board
which does show you, you can work it out,
that it is just the one train that shuttles up and down
from West Ealing to Greenford.
It only takes 12 minutes,
sits there for a couple minutes,
seven minutes I think, in fact, and then comes back again.
So it spends like seven minutes sitting at Greenford
and just two minutes sitting at West Ealing.
Although, down there the sign does say,
for trains to Paddington you have to change at West Ealing.
Except for what I'm going to do tonight.
And that is ... Where is it?
It should be here.
Can you see here?
The last one of the evening is the 21:51
and it does in fact go all the way through
Ealing Broadway 22:05 and then Paddington 22:16,
where in fact I think then it becomes
like a Banbury or Oxford train or something.
We'll find out tonight.
But having got the 5:40 this morning,
having about to do the special thing,
which we're gonna do in a minute,
I will then come back,
I will then go home after the special thing,
and then come back tonight
to get the last through train of the day.
Just so I can say I've done Paddington into Drayton Green
and then Drayton Green into Paddington
on the only two trains that it's possible to do that on.
Exciting news.
I've come to the bridge for a shot down
and a passenger has turned up.
(train rumbling)
In exciting passenger-related news,
in the end, three people got on,
and, they're just walking past me now,
four people actually got off.
So that's seven in one go
and there's one down there
waiting for the next northbound train.
What's amusing about that passenger is that
it's a cold day.
They could have got on that southbound train
gone one stop to West Ealing
and then come back towards Greenford
because it's the same train.
I wonder where the northbound passenger's going.
Anyway, eight people, plus me.
That's eight out of 30.
That's very exciting.
To kill some time before the special train arrived
at 11 o'clock,
I took a ride on the shuttle, also to stay warm,
up to Greenford.
So the GWR shuttle in on the centre platform at Greenford.
Note how the doors only open on that side, not this side.
It's about to get the 8:37 out.
I'm gonna go and sit in a cafe here,
which I think is just down there.
Get myself a breakfast, warm up.
But I'm gonna go back to Drayton Green later
at around 11 o'clock.
There is a special thing happening today.
There is a Parliamentary train that is no more.
It's the train that used to run
from Paddington to High Wycombe, which I made a video about.
I think I was in London, this video, years ago.
More recently, when it got curtailed
to West Ealing just up to West Ruislip,
I made a video about that here.
Go and watch that.
Then during Covid lockdown,
it just got reduced down to being from an everyday train
to a once a week train on a Wednesday.
And as of next week, with the timetable change,
the train is going completely
and is going to become a replacement bus service.
But I'm expecting a lot of people to come out and ride
the last ever Parliamentary from West Ealing
up to West Ruislip.
One breakfast and several teas and coffees
in a cafe in Greenford later,
the sun came out
and I made my way back down to Drayton Green.
Loads of people had indeed gathered
on the platforms at West Ealing
to get the last ever Parliamentary 11:17 Chiltern train.
And a few minutes later, at 11:20,
it ran through the platforms.
(train rumbling)
And then something amusing happened.
It got delayed because of a trespasser
further up the tracks.
I was unable to go up to Greenford on the train,
jump on the tube, and get to West Ruislip
before the train arrived,
and so saw it coming as well
where several people got off onto the platform.
And that is the Parliamentary train,
which means the only thing left for me to do
is to get the nighttime evening service
back from Drayton Green to Paddington.
And about 16 hours later,
it's just coming up to 10 o'clock.
And the 21:59, on time it says,
is a direct train to London, Paddington.
Here it is.
(train rumbling)
So I've caught the one-a-day direct train
at West from Paddington,
and now I'm on the one-a-day return direct train
back to Paddington.
So this won't go into the Bay Platform at West Ealing.
It just remains to be seen
what train this turns into when it gets to Paddington.
And we've come in on Platform 10 at Paddington,
so all I'm gonna do is check to see
where this train is going next.
And we're done.
Is there anything more magnificent
than the train shed roof lit up at night at Paddington?
I don't think so.
I just spoke to the driver, thank you.
She kindly told me that that train
now sits there on Platform 10
for two hours, just over two hours at 20 past 10,
and it forms an Oxford service later tonight.
It just sits there.
So, it seems that the Greenford train
comes from Oxford in the morning
and then goes back there in the evening.
That is it, I'm going home now.
It's been a really long day
packed in a Chiltern train.
Done London's newest, least used Drayton Green,
and got the one-a-day service in and out
that doesn't stop at the Bay Platform at West Ealing.
That's quite a long day,
and quite a lot to pack into one video.
Thanks for watching.
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See you soon.
Cheers, bye.