London's Quietest Railway Line

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[@Vanmanyo]

"When I think of London trains I don' t tend to think of two car diesel trains"... Chiltern might like a word with you 😅

[@thatuktrainguy]

Ha ha I didn’t think of this 😂

[@629__abb8]

You would think that the top link express engines are smaller than some of the stopping fleet (class 168is smaller than some class 165s)

[@alanfarquharhill]

To be a bore, the line is extra quiet thesedays for a few reasons. - Service used to run to/from Paddington. Now it doesn't even run to Broadway. - West Ealing entrance got moved towards Drayton Green which means it maybe isn't worth getting the shuttle 1 stop (it involves an extra zone, the latter is in 4) - Service doesn't get held if connecting Liz is late, nor vice versa - Hanwell (which is quite busy thesedays) is another alt option for many who might otherwise use CBP or DGN

[@Eurobrasil550]

Not boring at all quite interesting facts, at least to me!

[@alanfarquharhill]

@@Eurobrasil550 Yeah I forgot who I was talking to lol. Another point is that, back in the day, the train went to/from Platform 14 at PAD 99% of the time. From there, you used to be able to get to the H&C Line platforms with no barriers - just up one stairs, walk 15m and then down another. So that was pretty neat and enabled you to get to places pretty quick.

[@StarboundUK]

​@@alanfarquharhillI used to be a regular commuter for a year living in Ladbroke Grove commuting to Greenford for work at GSK using this very route but in reverse way back in the day. As you say very convenient

[@alanfarquharhill]

@@StarboundUK Ha, did you pay for Zone1 though (you don't need to answer that)

[@quintuscrinis8032]

How is Hanwell station near Castle Bar or Drayton Green? The Bunny Park sure but both of those stations are the other side if the main road (and over the hill for Castle Bar).

[@lululewlew]

Head to Marylebone and get a small little 2 car diesel train out of a London mainline terminus, that's even odder!

[@michaellewis1549]

When the Greenford Branch was Paddington-Greenford it was really busy. Less so now.

[@Drawyah]

I've used it several times to cross from the Lizzy Line out of Heathrow to the Central Line. Very handy for me!

[@mlies37]

Way back when in 2011 me and my friends were touristing in London visiting a friend who’d recently moved there. We went on a bit of a walk in the parkland around the river Brent, not having a particular route or destination in mind. At some point we reached that point where you start thinking about the way home. We saw a station nearby on the map and thought we’d head that way and navigate our way through the transport network back to base. That station was South Greenford. And the next train was in 46 minutes. We were baffled. We were in one of the biggest cities in the world with one of the best transport networks and we found ourselves within visual range of Wembley Stadium at a station with an hourly service?! We elected to wait. It was rather boring as you’d imagine. But the reward was neat. A DMU showed up and chugged along all the way to Paddington (where it terminated back then). It was great. We had the train to ourselves and for a large part of the route we were running alongside busy tube and mainline trains in our own silly little private shuttle. We’d inadvertently stumbled on one of the quirkiest and most endearing services in Greater London. I understand the reasons behind it but it’s a shame it doesn’t run all the way to Paddington anymore.

[@harveybrant3352]

When Greenford services started running into Paddington (previously they had terminated at Ealing Broadway) there was a big increase in passenger numbers using the branch. Sadly the service has been rendered next to useless now that it terminates at West Ealing, because not all Crossrail trains even stop there.

[@LouisOnAir]

I think the other shuttle lines to do in London are the Emerson Park line (which everyone knows), Stratford - Meridian Water (a lot of recently built stations there), and Bromley North (which I haven't seen anyone cover yet)

[@goodwood-rc4nx]

Bromley north has been covered if you look around as live not that far from it so know it well

[@MichaelCampin]

Upminster to Grays via South Ockendon

[@ianmcclavin]

​@@MichaelCampinThat one usually has through trains at both ends these days, to and from Fenchurch Street and Southend Central via Stanford-le-Hope and Pitsea.

[@MichaelCampin]

@@ianmcclavin so Upminster used to have 2 connecting lines, one to Romford via Emerson Park Halt, usually a 2 car DMU and the line to Grays via South Ockendon and Lakeside but an EMU. So are they now going to Grays via Upminster from Fenchurch Street as well as Grays via Dagenham Dock since HS1 was built

[@harper5128]

does the tattenham corner branch count as a shuttle, i wonder

[@ianmcclavin]

Until the Elizabeth Line adaptation started, the Greenford to West Ealing sevice used to exrend regularly to Ealing Broadway and Paddington; nowdays only the last journey of the day does so. In the 80's, Ealing Broadway used to be the terminus, with trains shunting into a siding which has since been removed, dovetailing in and out of Paddington connections. The West Ealing terminus is therefore a relatively recent "innovation."

[@katrinabryce]

If you are at Castle Bar Park, it is probably going to be quicker to get the E11 bus to Ealing Broadway than wait for the train to West Ealing. Or if you are not right next door to the station, there will be a different option that is even better than walking to that station. That branch line should be handed over to TFL, and they should either run a much more frequent Overground service, make it a branch of the Central Line, or make it a branch of the Elizabeth Line. If they made it a branch of the Elizabeth line, they should run some of the trains that currently terminate at Paddington down the branch.

[@mattevans4377]

A lot of Overground lines were like this before the Overground. If you build it, they will come

[@Someone36991]

Point to point ideas: Mill Hill (London) - Mill Hill (Blackburn) via Mills Hill (Greater Manchester) And Newcastle Metro at Monument, Newcastle, Heworth & Sunderland

[@Boxersteavee]

going anywhere on the T&W Metro is pretty simple though. All of that can be done on one train.

[@Boxersteavee]

You could cover the whole network on 3 trains. South Hylton - Airport. Airport to monument, walk for 10 minutes to st james (or get a train for 1 stop), train alllll the way around to south shields. It would only take a few hours.

[@Orforio]

Before clicking into this video I knew it would be about my dinky little local line! Glad you came to visit!

[@torspedia]

When I used that line, in the 90s, to get from my high school playing fields in South Greenford to Ealing Broadway, it was a 1 car train which we called... the push n pull. 🙂

[@thanostheclub]

It's so quiet that I think the trains themselves long for a run on it, hours of trundling up and down without having anyone ruin its interior. I can find no other explanation for why the train on the Windsor and Eton Central branch line this afternoon suddenly had an unaccountable daydream and announced to a trainload of bewildered tourists that it was going to Greenford. (Very Thomas the Tank Engine, I'm so sorry.)

[@daviszdirector]

This was very Thomas the Tank Engine and I love it. There something about locomotives that make them feel so alive.

[@mryield03]

I've been there! I looooved going to Drayton Green on my trip to london in early august. I walked most of the line, getting out at West Ealing and just visiting each station. It was so quiet! I loved it a lot.

[@customtransport2777]

I’m excited for whenever my old childhood stock arrives into service on this quiet railway line

[@andyml1]

Thanks for a great video - that route is so bonkers I had to try it myself. Interestingly Greenford station is one of the very few stations where pax can take an escalator UP to the platforms ! Even more bonkers perhaps! 😂

[@alastairwood1745]

Castle Bar Park is round the corner from Ealing Rugby too, so on match days there will be an uptick in passengers. Their attendances are not huge but I have seen it a bit busier on matchdays

[@davejoey]

Great video as usual Nick. They have 'Caa-stle' Bar down south, and we have New'castle' here up north

[@surreygoldprospector576]

I'll give you a "Ca-stle Bar Park" down here Nick, if you don't mind me doing a "New-car-stle" and "Car-stleford" when I'm up north! :o)

[@markherzog9484]

A very useful line, running north/south across the borough, and used to have much bigger numbers when it ran through to Paddington, also it joins up the two westbound branches of the Central line, it’s also being used to trial battery powered trains with fast charging plates at either end. No Sunday service should be mentioned, as that distorts the stats……

[@mrkeats5728]

Could say its also Londons Loudest Railway Line with the noise of the 165s

[@Ro99]

Chiltern mainline? The Class 68s that haul the 68+Mk3+DVT sets are notoriously loud aren’t they?

[@billyprice6520]

Should try the Northern City line between Moorgate and Drayton Park. Essex Road in particular can be very eerie, especially being underground

[@DaveH2]

Thanks for that, one of my local lines! It only survives because it's a goods and diversionary route, if it was passengers only it would have been closed and lifted years ago! I also strongly suspect that it's well subsidised by Ealing Council. 🙂

[@fussyboy2000]

You missed out on the heritage sign under the footbridge on platform 2 at Castle Bar Park. The line crosses the River Brent between Castle Bar Park and South Greenford so it might not be an easy walk between the two. The front carriage on the Romford - Upminster shuttle is very quiet as well (it's much busier in the Upminster - Romford direction). What happend to previous champion Birkbeck?

[@AlteranAnciote]

...and now the next one to tick off, the Bromley North branch line! Which is one of London's shortest/quickest branch lines with a total end-to-end journey time of 5 minutes. And with the Class 465s on that line, the whole thing will feel like a weird case of "Deja vu" from the Greenford branch you've just visited.

[@kazzle101]

Two Car Train. Pah!. Have you never been in The North? One Car, if you're lucky... AND a half hourly service!, this is a thing unheard of round here... >chunter

[@MrTryxxter]

Is there any other station with as many nouns in its name as Castle Bar Park? It's a castle, a bar, a park AND a station, which is all very impressive!

[@melodydunn1]

My grandson has to say that Drayton Green is a very nice station although it’s the least used station in Greater London 😊

[@michaelocyoung]

Castle Bar Park is also the closest station to Ealing Trailfiinders' rugby ground (best team outside the Premiership) so it gets a few visitors on home game days.

[@AFCManUk]

It was at Greenford Football Club about 8 or 9 years ago, where I first came across those now ubiquitous Green Ring-Neck Parakeets that have made London their home :)

[@grahamquinton9695]

I work in Greenford and use this train everyday. Castlebar Park and South Greenford both have low platforms. It's a high step up to get on the train.

[@quintuscrinis8032]

Westway Cross or GSK? Surely the E1 and E11 are easier for central Greenford?

[@pbpablete]

You shold consider visiting the exmoth line from exeter. I quite liked that route when I used to live there, since it was one of the last lines to have pacer services.

[@laurakitto70]

I grew up a few houses away from Drayton Green station, in the 70s & 80s when it was an ole slam-door single carriage service. It was always a relatively quiet station too back then. 🙂

[@shurley96]

Hearing Castle Bar park pronounced either way sounds weird to me, as I am much more familiar with the town of Castlebar in Ireland, pronounced much differently!

[@christiangraham1]

As a southerner (born in Hertfordshire) I would say “castle” like the locals

[@moneycash-wg7wp]

Quietest railway line with the noisiest trains 🤣

[@officialmcdeath]

Only one outbreak of 61016, that's how quiet it is \m/

[@stateofflux7453]

If you lived reeaally close to Drayton Green station, it would be logical to memorise the Greenford branch timetable so you can conveniently hop on it to travel anywhere, despite the service only being half-hourly. But I guess there’s also a proportion of people living near Drayton Green who literally *never* use the station. Btw at the start of the vid you mentioned that as consequence of the Elizabeth Line, Liverpool Street is now the UK’s busiest. But this made me wonder, how are the Elizabeth Line passengers who use Liverpool St from the Moorgate station end of the platforms counted? Is the entry/exit counting system really smart enough to know that I’ve tapped out at Moorgate but definitely have come from the Liv St Elizabeth Line platform?

[@KentTransportLewis]

another london quiet line would be Grove Park to Bromley North

[@VexSG]

I think it should be pronounced as castle!

[@Anonymoususer_8823]

Great Western Railway should get more Class 230s to run on the Greenford Branch Line. I have been to stations on the Greenford Branch Line.

[@kiles99]

Did it about 3 months ago and it was just as quiet. Did the walk in reverse (Castle Bar Park - Drayton Green)

[@teecefamilykent]

Brilliant video sir.

[@connortheandroidsentbycybe7740]

Castle comes from the Latin castrum which is pronounced with the short a, so "cah" rather than "car"

[@archies95]

Amazing video nick cant wait to see more vidoes!

[@matthillmedia]

On a non train related note. The way you ( people from the north ) say castle sounds nicer, even though I'm from London and would say it more like carstle 😊

[@thedanster2352]

Could you explore the Oxted line, my local?

[@macstyle2012]

Castle Bar sounds much better than Castle Bar

[@richardbutler4488]

Try Castlebar in Ireland 🇮🇪

[@JoshJames-yf7be]

It’s so funny as soon as you got off someone gets on

[@dailylifefactuk]

Hi Nick, Please do the Marlow or Henley lines (or both) they are lovely lines, seeing the 165 reminded me of when i worked on Thames Trains. Interestly one of my jobs was Station Manager at Ealing broadway, which the greenford staions (and Acton to west dryton) come under. I worked for them first on trains and then moved to station managent (Ealing B & then Oxford) from 1998 to 2002. great times, great TOC and amazing people.

[@itsthatsebguy93]

He could do them both in the same day.

[@DavidRobinson1978]

Beautiful countryside on those branch lines.

[@dailylifefactuk]

@@DavidRobinson1978 yea definitely

[@dailylifefactuk]

@@itsthatsebguy93 definitely could

[@OllieCairnsBCFC]

Hi Nick, will you be at the opening of the Ashley Down Station in Bristol on Saturday? It'd make for an interesting video I think!

[@Trainspotting_Mayhem]

You being at Waterloo reminds me i should tell you of a great idea for a pointless journey: Exeter St Davids - Exeter Central via London: -GWR from Exeter St Davids - London Paddington -tube to Waterloo -SWR from London Waterloo - Exeter Central

[@rockerjim8045]

definitely pointless and bloody expensive. Is this the steepest rail line in britain?

[@grassytramtracks]

​@@rockerjim8045 that's the Lickey Incline in Worcestershire

[@176MarkW]

Did they ever consider integrating the branch into the Elizabeth Line and creating a higher frequency, more direct route into central London? Might have been a better long term plan.

[@ahuman9143]

Greenford can't really have its platforms extended, The Elizabeth line already has poor service at some stops (Hanwell 4tph, Twyford and Reading 2tph) in the western section, compared to the eastern one, so it would probably make service worse. Really the line doesn't need more frequency, it needs an extension into London Paddington instead, at least during peak hours.

[@quintuscrinis8032]

As ahuman says, it's impractical and the branch doesn't really do anything useful either. Just get the bus to Ealing Broadway and get the Elizabeth line from there.

[@DadgeCity]

If this was Paris, this line would be the Central Line bis, and the passenger numbers would be higher.

[@jameswright7284]

I never thought the Elizabeth Line would help Liverpool Street take Waterloo's crown

[@grassytramtracks]

Well it does contribute to the stats and Liverpool Street was already 3rd or 4th

[@thatuktrainguy]

Very Nice nick this is my local station.

[@SiVlog1989]

While you're in the Greater London area, how about a pointless journey from either Catford to Catford Bridge or Epsom Downs to Tattenham Corner? If you go for the latter, I'd love to provide (relatively) local knowledge.

[@quintuscrinis8032]

Even as someone who used to have to connect between Ealing and Greenford for work this branch line is useless (even more sonnow it only goes to West Ealing). No connection to central London and the E1 is nuch nore effective as a shuttle for anyone going between the two town centres. (The E11 even runs directly above the track between Castle Bar and Drayton Green)

[@BensTransport]

6:59 London Marylebone to Aylesbury/Aylesbury Vale via Harrow is just like that as well as having two or three coach diesels on average

[@jordanbarker5521]

Try the twyford to Henley on Thames branch line

[@sambarton5963]

It's actually pronounced Casteley Bear Park

[@DavidRobinson1978]

It does get pretty busy at certain times of the day esp the mornings with people going to West Ealing for the Lizzy Line and mid to late afternoons when everybody is coming home from work and school. Anyhow welcome to my neck of the woods.

[@QALibrary]

It seems very strange becuse anywhere else they have a one-car train and a single track - but looking at your video, it seems like the track not that long ago has been replaced or had reballasting carried out.

[@ReubenAshwell]

Brilliant video Nick, I'll have to visit this line sometime. :)

[@miashasarikaya5806]

A Wrexham to Llandudno line 🥰

[@22alexc]

0:00 already a banger

[@samstratford8878]

Bromley North shuttle is less used.

[@wyllieperson]

i live near hanwell station, so i am relatively close to drayton green and the branch

[@HeroHarv]

Point to point - Brough to Broughty Ferry

[@lapiswake6583]

I wonder how this compares to the line between Battersea Park and Wandsworth Road. It sees i think 3 Overground trains per day, one outbound early morning, and one inbound and one outbound at about 11pm. But of course, both stations are served by other services, so it'd be hard to tell.

[@the1gip]

It really bothers me that this service is GWR because it's unconnected from the rest of their network now the Elizabeth Line is here. Should be an Overground line really in the same vein as Romford to Upminster.

[@blackcat_064]

Does anyone know why they don't run the battery trains here anymore? I wanted to go and see them, but I'm worried I've missed my chance

[@feralgrandad4429]

think a trip with my train loving grandson is in order.

[@pb4rton]

Shame that you didn't get a converted underground D stock to ride on that has been undergoing trials on that line!

[@nathanhughes248]

Are you coming on the Class 323 farewell tour?

[@Roblilley999]

Definitely Castle and Bath

[@TheSpotify95]

2:58 Why do the tannoy speakers face downwards, rather than at an angle firing along the platform? Downwards speakers will only cover a very small area.... Not that anyone is going to grumble when it's the least used station in London... at least it has a tannoy system, CCTV, and departure boards!

[@WildWildWeasel]

The bin bags were pretty full for not being used that much

[@EnviriTransport]

My local train line

[@jakewatson668]

In terms of pronunciation, we should all say it how the train announcers say it...

[@susansmith3568]

Did you not see the kids surfing on the trains ? Always used to happen a few years ago And a well known oxford driver who is no longer with us actually got shot at while driving the branch !

[@quintuscrinis8032]

Sorry to hear about the shooting. Hope you mean as in he left the GWR team rather than not with us at all but I know the Castle Bar estate used to be very rough back in the day.

[@susansmith3568]

Sorry to say phill is no longer with us But not as a result of being shot at

[@Thornaby37]

It may be possible to ride a class 230 on this line next year

[@Awws.]

First 20 views. Let's go! Great vid as always Nick! Love learning about these tiny lines I would otherwise never have known about!

[@class387productions3]

Can you go on the Hamton court branch

[@MikeyCondon-kv7cy]

hi, so how do you feel that 507016 has been withdrawn and scrapped

[@colinn_1984]

It’s most definitely castle not cass-le .. your in that there London now lol

[@Saint_Dan132]

next time your glasgow bound i will buy you a tea

[@caramelldansen2204]

Londoners would die if they saw a Sprinter.

[@Thornaby37]

It used to happen in the days that Silverlink ran the Barking to Gospel Oak line

[@caramelldansen2204]

@@Thornaby37 Were there any survivors? 😅

[@katrinabryce]

TBH the 165s aren't much better. They are my least favourite model of train the South East.

[@caramelldansen2204]

@@katrinabryce Anything that appears more than once an hour is better than what I'm stuck with in the north.

[@Synnystershy]

Waterloo has 159s if that counts.

[@JoeCryer-p5m]

Yay a new video Show me my From my My favourite youtube

[@RichardFelstead1949]

Greetings from Australia. Great video Nick. This is 100th comment. lol

[@theguyfrompoland4927]

Why is he green on my screen

[@mattpilgrim2607]

The Greenford Branch is a beautiful shuttle line between West Ealing and Greenford

[@quintuscrinis8032]

Bur completely useless as it doesn't even go to central Greenford (or Ealing any more). The E1 or E11 are much more useful for the area

[@matthewlewis9111]

Hi

[@TheSpotify95]

4:10 does that say 20/40?! If so, then that's quite a low speed... not like branch lines need high speed rail, but still...

[@ZaneLove-st8iy]

:P

[@Ukraineprogaming]

im watching this at 19:46