Harrow-on-the-Hill is an interchange railway station in Harrow, served by suburban London Underground services on the Metropolitan line and commuter National Rail services on the London–Aylesbury line. It is down the line from . Harrow-on-the-Hill is the final Metropolitan line station from Central London before the line splits with the main branch towards Watford, Chesham or Amersham and the diverged Uxbridge branch towards Uxbridge. It is in London fare zone 5.
History
The station was opened as "Harrow" on 2 August 1880, when the Metropolitan Railway was extended from its previous terminus at Willesden Green. Its name was changed to "Harrow-on-the-Hill" on 1 June 1894. Like some other Underground stations, the name is an example of marketing rather than precision; in this case the town "proper" of the same name is at the top of Harrow Hill (i.e. Harrow-on-the-Hill), while the station is located at the foot of the hill to the north, which at the time of opening was a small hamlet called Greenhill and has since become the main town proper of Harrow.
Had the governors of Harrow School not made objections during the planning stage, it is possible that the Metropolitan Railway might have followed a different route taking it closer to the town centre on the hill. The station is at the heart of Metroland.
The National Rail service began as the Great Central Railway (GCR) on 15 March 1899. The GCR ran on the former Great Central Main Line, an intercity trunk route and provided services from Harrow to destinations such as Rugby, Leicester, Nottingham and Manchester. The passenger service north of Aylesbury ceased in 1966 due to the Beeching Axe. There was a goods yard, which closed on 3 April 1967.
Railway geography
The station is a major junction with numerous crossovers north and south of station enabling flexibility when routing trains.
South of the station there are four LU tracks paired by direction as "Fast" and "Local" lines to/from Baker Street and two "Main line" tracks to/from Marylebone.
Harrow-on-the-Hill gained step-free access from College Road as part of a tranche of access improvements scheduled for completion in 2020; that work, which also introduced lifts to the platforms served by Chiltern Railways, was completed in March 2022 but passengers approaching the station from the south (Lowlands Road) are still required to ascend flights of steps.
Bus station
There is a bus station located next to the station offering London Buses services right across North London.