Good morning in Episode 2 of this series
at Epping, i spoke abuot
travelling to the other end of the Central Line
the longest journey you can take
to take you to the end - the western end of the Central line
at West Ruislip, that's exactly what i'm doing here
in Episode 4
of End of the Line
the Central Line at the end of the line in Ruislip is in Zone 6
it was buit out ot here in 1948
and including the two already on the Met
it gave Ruislip five stations with that name in them
Central line trains actually pass over the Met here
on the approach to West Ruislip
there's no handy interchange, but there might be a secret connection
which we'll get to in a moment
* THE NEXT STATION IS WEST RUISLIP * * WHERE THIS TRAIN TERMINATES *
the station itself isn't the impressive to look at
but there are worse on the network
and it'd oddly located halfway inbetween Ruislip itself
and Ickenham which is just down the road and i'll take a walk there shortly
on the approach
look out on the left for the large Rusilip depot
you can sometimes spot the old 1962 stock Central line train here
that's being used as a Sandite train
and West Ruislip, is just a simple island platform
two track, for two trains, either side
and the line goes no further ...
... or does it?
So on platform 2 here you can see the
there is a light, and the tracks run out
but go over to platform 1 the track here they carry on, they keep on going
and for a better fiew of how they keep on going we'll exit the station
and have a look from the road bridge
yup, cross the road and look north
and you'll see where the track goes a little further
and could have kept on going running alongside the Chiltern mainlines
and that's because the Central line should to this day
have two more stations, one called Harefield Road
and another, at Denham
which is where the extension was planned to run to
but work on the extension as postponed during the second world war
a bit like the Northern Heights was cancelled on the northern line
and afterwards, green belt legislation
stopped it from happening, altogether
there is also a lot of HS2 works taking place just here
which wasn't here, the last time i came through
i'll go and have a quick look at that in a second
i think one of the portals - tunnel in / tunnel out, pops up here
at West Ruislip, there's a lof of HS2 working taking place
right next, to the station
now West Ruislip is the end of the line
but only if you're an Underground train
did you know, it's also ... a National Rail station
so West Ruislip has two platforms, 1 and 2 for the central line trains, but often overlooked
and frequently forgot is the fact that West Ruislip, through these windows here, is also
a National Rail station and there are Platforms 3 and 4
where Chiltern trains call, as well
yes Chiltern Railways run regular services heading south
into London Marylebone
and north, to various destinations, however
the greatest way to get here on a Chiltern train
it by using the once-a-week, yes it's a Wednedays only
11:17 service, from West Ealing
and it goes just one stop, to West Ruislip
if you're going to come and visit this station
why not arrive ...
... on the weekly parliamentary Ghost Train
and then depart on the London Underground
it really does feel like the abandoned forgotten part of West Ruislip
the lesser served National Rail platforms, to the side
of the tube platforms, great view from here by the way
of the Tube trains leaving
if you come to West Ruislip, make sure you check out the National Rail platforms
oh, and back out the front to the side of the station
there are some steps that take you down this side entrance
down, to the Chiltern side of the station
and oh look,when you get there
there's ... a Car Park!
and i mention this, because is anyone else starting to feel like the phrase "Car Park"
is going to be THE key phrase in this series
a bit like 'Allotments' was, last time
alright, time to go for a walk ...
I'm currently on the slightly windy walk
between West Ruislip down here
to Ickenahm which is less than a Kilometre away
and this route is familar to me
'cause this is a Tube Challenge route
if you're trying to get round the whole network in one day
the connection between Ickenham to West Ruislip
is definetely one that you would do on foot
what we'd often used to look out for though
is the U1 bus and there's four of those every hour
strangely, there's another bus - the U10
there's only like eight of those a day
that's not even hourly, that's like every 90 minutes
but i note here today because this is the first time i've come to West Ruislip in a while
there's a brand new bus route!
coming through here that connects between the two stations
and that's the 278, so if you're doing the tube challenge nowadays
look out for the 278 bus!
but, Ickenham ... approaches
and when you get here to Ickenhma High Road
by this roundabout, there's a row of shops
there's this lovely church
St. Giles, i've been to a wedding there, see my friends get married
and over there
there's an old water pump, from the 1860's
i'm fairly sure, this might be the only end of the line tube station
where you can come out, go for a quick walk
and find, a beautiful old water pump
almost time for me to leave
but not before i've mentioned the fact that in the nearby depot
there is also a piece of track in place
which does look like it connects up the central line
through to the Metropolitan line
it has been suggested in the past, that maybe
the central line could be diverted this way one day
to go to Uxbridge instead
don't expect that anytime soon though
and that is it, i am on my way back in town
i'm leaving Zone 6, the End of the Line here
at West Ruislip, i hope this series, this video
inspires you to take your own trip
to some of the extremeties, on the tube map
to the ends of the line
there's a whole playlist coming up
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if you like this sort of thing, thanks for watching ... bye!