Acton town platforms 1 and 4

[A60stock]

At Acton Town, what is the reason the District line only uses the outer platforms but the Piccadilly is able to use all 4?

Are/Were District line trains ever able to use the middle platforms, 2 and 3 and has this ever been done in practice recently (i.e. at least as far back at the D78 stock era)?

[PiccNT]

Since the removal of points on both the WB and EB at Hammersmith, there is no access to the fast line on the WB and no escape from the EB. The only reason you may see a District train on the EB fast is for access to Acton East sidings. Piccadilly trains occasionally ran up and down the local prior to the removal of the points.

[A60stock]

What I am trying to work out is (assuming it is, or was possible to allow movement to and from the middle platforms at Acton Town, to/from the locals) is the following:

1. A District line service to Upminster/HSK using platform 3 (I think I have my numbering correct) AND also being able to call at all local stations there onwards OR
2. A District line service to Ealing BDWY using platform 2, having come from the locals i.e. last stop was Chiswick Park.

If I recall correctly, the signage at Acton Town has ALWAYS (at least in the last 20 years) referred to District Line trains only serving the outer platforms 1 and 4 only (even where the above two scenarios were possible). I was wondering why the middle platforms 2 and 3 were always (as far as I can remember) Piccadilly ONLY*** and the District is/was only allowed (even where possible) to only use the outer two platforms, rather than allow both lines to use all four**?

**appreciate the scenarios detailed above may now may be physically impossible, but I am pretty sure there were possible until recently.
***yet the Piccadilly line is allowed to use all 4 platforms

[tut]

The main site has signalling diagrams for Acton Town which for all I know are still current (FRWL36 went years ago).

www.districtdave.co.uk/html/acton_town.html

You can get to platform 3 from the eastbound from Ealing Common, of course you can, or the Piccadilly line trains wouldn't be able to get there from Ealing Common either. It used to be possible for District line trains to then run down the Eastbound Fast to Hammersmith and then back onto the District at Hammersmith, but I understand that is no longer possible. Obviously this would not allow the District Line to serve Chiswick Park or Stamford Brook (no platforms) and calling at Turnham Green and Ravenscourt Park would potentially delay Piccadilly line services booked to run through non-stop so it would never have been done regularly enough for the signage to show platform 3 as a District line platform. There is no way to get back onto the Eastbound Local from platform 3.

There is no route from the Westbound Local to platform 2. The only way you would get a District line train in platform 2 is if it had come from the reversing sidings or if it had come along the Westbound Fast from Hammersmith (also no longer possible it seems?) Again that would be rarely done as it would not be possible to serve Chiswick Park at all (although you could call at Stamford Brook on the Westbound) and serving the District line's intermediate stations on the Fast lines could be disruptive. I'm sure it must have happened occasionally when it was possible, but not enough to justify signage implying it was a regular or semi-regular occurrence.

Edit: This slightly older photograph of Earl's Court Control Room from Tony Cook's fantastic Flickr page shows the old layout at Hammersmith

www.flickr.com/photos/cookie68/52283021405/

[Dstock7080]

Jan 4, 2024 15:12:45 GMT tut said:

The main site has signalling diagrams for Acton Town which for all I know are still current (FRWL36 went years ago).

www.districtdave.co.uk/html/acton_town.html

Unfortunately, that is now out of date for a few reasons:
WL14 shunt signal removed
No. 41A/B points removed

[tut]

Jan 4, 2024 16:28:57 GMT Dstock7080 said:

Jan 4, 2024 15:12:45 GMT tut said:

The main site has signalling diagrams for Acton Town which for all I know are still current (FRWL36 went years ago).

www.districtdave.co.uk/html/acton_town.html

Unfortunately, that is now out of date for a few reasons:
WL14 shunt signal removed
No. 41A/B points removed

Oh yes, I forgot about the changes re Acton Works, thanks for reminding me.

Fortunately, it doesn't change the answer to this particular question.

[metman]

I’ve always considered the middle platforms at Acton Town to be mostly used for the Heathrow service. That has the highest frequency. The District and Uxbridge branches seem to be lumped together and as they have a lower frequency they share the outer platforms from experience. It’s not an area I travel through regularly but I just feel it is a capacity issue.

[A60stock]

Jan 25, 2024 22:52:36 GMT metman said:

I’ve always considered the middle platforms at Acton Town to be mostly used for the Heathrow service. That has the highest frequency. The District and Uxbridge branches seem to be lumped together and as they have a lower frequency they share the outer platforms from experience. It’s not an area I travel through regularly but I just feel it is a capacity issue.

Agreed. Although the Uxbridge service does tend to use the middle platforms too, especially if a District line train is due at the same time (at least coming back from central london as its not possible for a District and a train FROM Uxbridge to arrive at the same time, coming from Ealing Common). I have also noticed the Northfields trains, to and from, also use the outer platforms due to the track layout.

District line trains cannot use the middle platforms if running a full and through service.

[Dstock7080]

Off-peak westbound Northfields trains are scheduled to use pfm.1, eastbound Piccadilly trains are mostly scheduled to use pfm.3.
However, still being traditionally controlled, although now from South Kensington, signal operators regularly alter platform allocation at a moments notice.

[A60stock]

When you say traditionally controlled, does this mean that when the Piccadilly is no longer under "Traditional" control, that the flexibility to alter platform allocation as a moments notice will no longer be possible?

[brigham]

One wonders why that flexibility hasn't been 'rationalised-out' already.

[scheduler]

We try to put Northfields reversers through the local westbound platform at Acton Town, and keep it on the locals to Northfields, where it can detrain without impeding Heathrow services, and then shunt via the depot without crossing in front of the Heathrow services. This can be tricky to maintain late at night, when there's more than the usual every 10 minutes of District Line services through the locals at Acton Town, so there might be an occasional Northfields reverser/terminator through the fast lines at Acton Town. The eastbound local line between Northfields and Acton Town is almost never used in regular service, except for a rusty rail move in the timetable. The eastbound local is often used as a test track for various special trains that require testing.