South Ealing tube station

South Ealing is a London Underground station in west London. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly Line, between Acton Town and Northfields stations. It is located on South Ealing Road (B455) and is in Travelcard Zone 3.

History
South Ealing station was opened by the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR, now the District Line), on 1 May 1883 on a line to Hounslow Town (located on Hounslow High Street but now closed).

Electrification of the MDR's tracks took place between 1903 and 1905 with electric trains replacing steam trains on the Hounslow branch from 13 June 1905. Piccadilly Line services, which had been running non-stop through the station since January 1933, began serving South Ealing from 29 April 1935. From this date, the branch was operated jointly by both lines until District Line services were withdrawn on 10 October 1964.

In 2006, the station was refurbished at platform level, providing new signage, passenger shelters, security equipment and public address system.

Trivia
The centres of the platforms at South Ealing and Northfields are only 0.25 miles apart and are therefore the closest pair of open-air stations on the LU network.

The station is sometimes served by District line trains, usually when a District line train operator accepts an incorrect signal lowered between Acton Town and Ealing Common. This would result in the train being diverted to Northfields Depot via South Ealing. This can also happen at times of disruption/signal problems in Ealing Common depot or in the Ealing Common area.

It is one of two stations on the London Underground to have all five regular vowels in the station name, the other being Mansion House.

Transport links
London bus route 65.