An all-day train service returned to a London suburban station just before Christmas 2004, for the first time in 40 years.

The trains return to Sudbury Hill Harrow, following a long campaign by the London Transport Users Committee.

LTUC member Graham Larkbey, pictured above playing Father Christmas to users of the station, said: "The last time Sudbury Hill Harrow station had an all-day service, British television consisted of two flickering black and white channels and nobody had heard of the Beatles.

"By the time the Fab Four and the Rolling Stones burst upon the scene, the station’s service had been reduced to Monday-Friday rush hours only, plus a few trains on Saturday mornings."

It subsequently lost its Saturday service altogether, and for many years only the odd train has called between the peaks, with long gaps of several hours in between.

Indeed, until now the first train to London on which off-peak fares were valid was not until early afternoon, bad enough in the depths of the countryside, let alone in bustling urban north-west London.

From 13 December 2004, however, the station has had an all-day Monday-Friday service once again, thanks to prolonged lobbying and negotiation with train operator Chiltern Railways by the London Transport Users Committee.

Apart from a couple of longer gaps due to limited track capacity, the station will have a roughly hourly service throughout the day, offering a journey time of less than 20 minutes to London Marylebone (much quicker than the Tube!), and direct trains to Gerrards Cross, the Chilterns and High Wycombe, with connections to Aylesbury, Bicester, Banbury & Birmingham.

That limited track capacity means that a more frequent service is ruled out for the time being, and the new service does not yet extend to evenings and weekends. Hopefully, further enhancements will come if enough people use the extra trains now being provided. Meanwhile Sudbury Hill Harrow now has its best service for over 40 years.

Sudbury Hill Harrow station is on Greenford Road, Sudbury Hill, a short distance north of Sudbury Hill Tube station with which it provides a useful interchange.

LTUC has been pressing for an improved service at all Chiltern Railways inner-suburban stations for a number of years.

It has published “There’s More to Chiltern than the Chilterns” to argue its case.

Unfortunately, track rationalisation by British Rail during the 1980s means that the line’s reduced capacity cannot accommodate the frequent all-stations Metro-type service that LTUC wants.

LTUC decided to concentrate on getting improvements at Sudbury Hill Harrow, following consultation with other local representatives, as its limited service is already quite well used, and it serves both residential and business areas as well as offering a useful interchange with the Underground and local buses.

Information from LTUC