Old Oak Common depot

Once the largest depot on the Great Western network when it opened in 1906, Old Oak Common was rebuilt in the 1960s following the decision to make it a diesel-only facility ahead of the final withdrawal of steam locomotives. That led to the demolition of the majority of the original depot, apart from a repair shed known as ‘The Factory’.

The new facility opened in 1965, and was joined in the late 1970s by a depot specifically for the High Speed Train fleet then being introduced on BR’s Western Region.

English, Welsh & Scottish Railways took over the original site (including The Factory) at privatisation, but gradually reduced its use. In 2009 the site was vacated by DB Schenker (which had replaced EWS), and a compulsory purchase order was made by the Crossrail project.

Since then a depot operated by Bombardier has been built on that land, which is being used to store more than 30 Class 345s that cannot yet be used on the cross-London project.

GWR’s Old Oak Common depot closed on December 8 2018, with the operator’s High Speed Train fleet the last to be maintained at the depot. HSTs are now maintained at Laira (Plymouth) and St Philip’s Marsh ( Bristol), while their replacement fleet of Intercity Express Train Class 800/802s are maintained at Hitachi’s nearby North Pole depot (London), Stoke Gifford (Bristol) and Maliphant (Swansea), with other work carried out at Laira and Long Rock (Penzance).

Staff have been transferred to different sites, while maintenance of the Night Riviera Sleeper has transferred to Long Rock, with servicing also carried out at Reading.

Heathrow Express will be the last operator to vacate the site by the end of 2019, when fleet maintenance transfers to Reading.