[9][10] In October 1942, a Wellington bomber flying to the nearby airfield at RAF Northolt crashed near the station, killing all the crew and six civilians.

The trackwork at this station has been upgraded and now permits higher speed running up to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).

As part of Chiltern Railways' Evergreen 3 route improvements works, Northolt Junction was remodelled and included provision to the north of the waste transfer depot of a new down main line alongside the existing up main to allow services to be accelerated.

[15] The existing down main was remodelled to become the down loop line, used by trains stopping at South Ruislip station.

The bridge outside which carries the lines over Station Approach is lower than others locally at 11 feet 9 inches (3.58 m) and is often hit by high vehicles.

Either side of it, false deck beams have been installed so the danger of any impacts causing damage to the bridge itself has been lessened.

The station's weekday off-peak service pattern is unusual in that it's served by trains at different frequencies in each direction.