The West Coast Main Line Willesden Junction station was opened by the London & North Western Railway on 1 September 1866 to replace the London and Birmingham Railway’s Willesden station of 1841 which was half a mile to the north west. Passenger services ended in 1962 when the platforms were removed during electrification to allow the curvature of the tracks to be eased.
The High-Level Willesden Junction station was opened by the North London Railway in 1869. By 1897 199 passenger and 47 goods trains passed through the High Level station each day. The Willesden New Station (’Low-Level station’) on the Watford DC Line was opened in 1910 to the north of the main line.
In 1896 staff totalled 271, including 79 porters, 58 signalmen (in 14 signal boxes) and 58 shunters and yard foremen. Many of them were housed in what is now the Old Oak Lane Conservation Area, built by the LNWR in 1889 and which included an Institute, reading room and church.
