Brentford branch line

Brentford was chosen as the most suitable location, being the point where the Great Western Main Line (GWML) is nearest to the Thames, and also the terminus of the Grand Junction Canal.

However, it took three years to complete due to the need to build a three-level bridge at Windmill Lane, Southall, where the line passed underneath both the road and the Grand Junction Canal.

The branch originally had its own single-road engine shed with a 40ft turntable, situated to the east of Southall station near the junction with the main line, but this was closed and demolished in June 1884.

[12] When the passenger service commenced, trains ran between the dedicated platform at Southall and a station on what is now the A315 London Road in Brentford, with no intermediate stops.

[16][17] From 1906, competition from electric trams brought about a decline in passenger numbers, and as an obvious target for wartime economy measures, the service was suspended on 22 March 1915.

Around the start of June 1919, it was announced that the line would be closed permanently,[18] but local pressure resulted in the reinstatement of weekday trains on 12 April 1920, and they ran briefly on Sundays during the summer of 1923.

[19][20] However, Trumpers Crossing Halte closed permanently on 1 February 1926,[21] and in 1929 all passenger operations outside peak hours from Monday to Friday ceased, as did those after midday on Saturday.

[19] Passenger numbers continued to fall during the interwar period as road transport grew increasingly popular, and the service was withdrawn in perpetuity on 4 May 1942.

[13] However, passengers returned to the line briefly on 24 August 1980, when the Great Western Railway Preservation Group ran special trains for the day.

[23] Freight traffic on the line had risen during the 1930s due to the development of the Golden Mile and consequent opening, on 3 November 1930, of the Brentford Town Goods yard (enlarged in 1937[24]).

In 1977, a waste transfer station opened on the site of the yard, after the Greater London Council did a deal with British Rail to use the line for the transport of rubbish.