Why Bakerloo line trains occasionally call at Kilburn High Road station

It’s very rare, but on odd occasions, a Bakerloo line train can be seen at Kilburn High Road, a station it doesn’t usually call at.

To explain the situation, it helps to understand the layout of the Bakerloo line in the Queen’s Park area.

Track layout diagram (c) TfL

The tracks heading north emerge from the tube tunnels between Kilburn Park and Queen’s Park stations. Just past Queen’s Park station, there’s a large depot shed that the trains pass through to head north. The shed is also used overnight to store trains, which is significant as it means the shed is full, and that blocks the Bakerloo line tracks at night time.

On either side of Queen’s Park station is a second railway used by the London Overground, and here, the Overground tracks are also fitted with London Underground’s fourth rail power supply. That addition allows Bakerloo line trains to swap over to the Overground lines when needed.

Bakerloo line train using the Overground tracks 26th Aug 2023 (c) ianVisits

That is needed for a number of reasons.

The main one is that when the weather is cold, the London Underground runs a “sleet train” on the above-ground section of the Bakerloo line overnight to keep the tracks clear.

It’s possible to run a Bakerloo line train from Harrow and Wealdstone to Queen’s Park, but when it reverses northwards, it can’t crossover to the northbound track until just outside Willesden Junction – leaving the northbound railway between Queen’s Park and Willesden Junction untouched by the sleet train.

But there’s a solution – run the train southbound past Queen’s Park onto the Overground tracks to Kilburn High Road station, where it can then reverse onto the northbound tracks again.

So, Kilburn High Road station, which generally only sees London Overground (Lioness line) trains, can occasionally see a Bakerloo line train pulling into the platform.

Kilburn High Road station (c) ianVisits

They don’t carry passengers, partly as they are engineering moves and usually also usually only take place when the line is shut. However, the platform at Kilburn High Road is, aptly for its name, too high for passengers to get in/out of a Bakerloo line train.

These sleet trains only run overnight when needed.

However, almost as rare these days, there is a very slight chance that you could see a Bakerloo line train at Kilburn High Road during the daytime, as they occasionally run a “rusty rail” service to keep the extra power rail clear for the Bakerloo line trains, and also for staff training.

A slot exists in the timetable for a Bakerloo line train to call at Kilburn High Road station at either 6:44am or 8:44pm — but only if needed, and that’s also very rare.

If you want to see the Bakerloo line train at Kilburn High Road, the problem is that sleet and training trains are very difficult to predict in advance.

However — there’s one time when you might be able to risk a visit to Kilburn High Road — and that’s when there are disruptions on the Bakerloo line, and they need to reverse trains during the disruption. So, while disruptions are very bad, if you hear about a problem on the Bakerloo line and can get to Kilburn, just maybe you will see a fleeting glimpse of a Bakerloo line train reversing where you would never usually see one.