TFL want to sell the Acton Museum For Housing

The article by ianvisits at www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2020/07/22/london-transport-museums-acton-depot-may-need-to-be-rebuilt/ makes it clear that any development will be required to accommodate the needs of the museum depot, so while there might be a temporary closure while it is rebuilt it's not being got rid of.

For wider area detail of the whole proposal: TfL Plan for vast London Trackside mixed use scheme

I actually see this working; get private developers to fund an alternative facility in the suburbs and move the museum there before building homes. Theres plenty of space in the footprint to make it financially viable

Without wishing to hijack this thread this proposal does make me think again about the planned Croxley rail link.


If they build the Croxley link it would allow the beautiful former Watford Station to be turned into the new museum depot location.


Beyond the planned new link divergence, there is still masses of space along the approach to Watford where former sidings were lifted but could be reinstated to house masses of rolling stock.

Since the extensions to the Seltrac ATO (Automatic Train Operation) Signalling seems to have ground to a halt, there could still be the potential to operate the occasional historic unit as a shuttle to Chesham using the North Curve using the existing colour light signalling and trip cocks. Possibly for many years.

Keeping rolling stock active is a far better way of preserving the historic fleet, than sealing it up in an air-conditioned box and leaving it to decay out of sight and away from any public access.

The splendid frontage at Watford Station building would make a superb entrance for the museum especially if the Acton developers were also required to fund roofing over the platforms to create a fabulous display and events location. Just like the former Oxford-Rewley Road station that was relocated to become the indoor centre-piece of the Buckingham Railway Centre, I guess moving the depot to Watford might even get some lottery funding for such a prestige project.

Recycling the Watford station as a museum would probably also increase use of the Met and Croxley Link - provided TFL can be persuaded to arrange an occasional connecting services.

The importance of direct services is demonstrated on the few weekends when Chiltern are persuaded to operate a special through service from Aylesbury, when there is usually a marked increase in visitor numbers at the Quainton Road.

One wouldn’t have thought that an odd-shaped site bordered by a multi-track railway on one side and an operational railway depot on the other would be that ripe for developing, but evidently it is.

Having said that, the Depot has to some extent outgrown the Acton site, hence why we’ve seen things like the 86 stock car up for sale and no space to preserve an A stock unit.

If a way could be found of forging a new location with more space then I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed, perhaps if (now I’m really into wishful thinking) the deal incorporated developer funded restoration and upkeep of a few niceties like the Aldwych 72 stock unit, the CHT 62 stock, and perhaps a few other bits when the time comes!

Finding such a site within the London area would not be easy.

Those of us who live near tube stations with a shoebox-sized bit of vacant land will by now probably have seen the plans for TfL's various housing schemes. At the rate these things are being proposed it won't be long before these stations are buried within plans for wholly inappropriate huge blocks of flats.

In an ideal world a potential replacement museum will be near to a tube line, but if funds are required, who says we can't sacrifice and build it near a NR station?

Rail vehicles are regularly moved between disconnected heritage railways by road, and while this would increase the cost and complexity (possibly significantly) of future special runs it does not rule them out as long as the new site has space to load and unload rail vehicles from road vehicles (which it will absolutely have to for exhibits to be delivered in the first place) and there is a similar space available somewhere on the SSR network (which TfL will require for core business needs anyway).

However, as has been made perfectly clear any redevelopment must meet the needs of the museum, and special runs are a very significant source of income for the museum so there is no danger of this development (if it happens) being responsible for ending them.

Given that neither TfL nor the museum are exactly flushed with cash at present, it would seem realistic to say this is several decades away, if it happens at all.

We had a similar problem with a well-liked sports centre and theatre. Bogus and exaggerated reports began to circulate about the 'ageing' building needing vast sums of money for 'urgent structural repairs'. Suddenly a developer appeared, offering to build a 'new, up-to-date' facility in a local public park, in exchange for the old site.
The 'new' facility turned out to be a token offering, simply to free-up the old town-centre site for a supermarket. The supermarket had originally been planned to take the place of the public park, which plan had thankfully fallen foul of covenants protecting the site.
Beware of planners; they speak with forked tongue!

Do the site plans show a significantly reduced location within the development?

South Harrow is an essential site for the Picc line upgrade, starting with expansion to provide alternative stabling to allow a start on Northfields depot reconstruction anytime soon!

Given that the Depot is already over capacity and that there is a legal duty on TfL to preserve heritage items a larger space is required and this may be one way of getting it.