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On a recent early morning trip to Heathrow on the Piccadilly Line, the train I was on called at Ravenscourt Park, Stamford Brook, and the other District Line stations it passes through. These stations are not indicated on the Tube map as Piccadilly stations. Does the Piccadilly Line in fact always stop at these stations; does it only stop there in the early mornings as some kind of variant "local" service?

Update: This appears to have been the result of line closures on the District line at that time:

Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 June, no service between South Kensington / Edgware Road and Wimbledon / Kensington (Olympia) / Ealing Broadway / Richmond. ... During the day on Saturday and Sunday, some Piccadilly line trains call additionally at Ravenscourt Park, Stamford Brook, Turnham Green and Chiswick Park.

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  • Do you remember if there were any line closures? I had this a few months ago on a day when the District Line was closed due to engineering works - the Piccadilly Line stopped at the District Line stations it normally skips. There wasn't any special announcement explaining it, and so some passengers looked very confused. I can't find anything on TFL's site explaining it (hence this is just a comment) but I'd guess it's just what they do if they can, so they don't need to put on as many replacement buses
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Jul 16, 2017 at 16:54
  • @user568458: I don't recall, but there had been other weekends during before and after on which the Circle had been completely closed for sure, and I believe the District may have been also.
    – orome
    Jul 16, 2017 at 17:00

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The Piccadilly Line does not normally serve these stations (Ravenscourt Park, Stamford Brook, Turnham Green (except as indicated) and Chiswick Park)), and I cannot find any westbound weekend early morning services that are scheduled to do on the Piccadilly Line working timetable.

Between these stations, the District and Piccadilly lines run on separate tracks, which thus allows Piccadilly line trains to overtake District line trains. I would suspect therefore that one of these tracks was closed, most likely due to engineering work, forcing both lines onto the same track and stopping at all stations.

On a more general note, some Tube services are scheduled to serve stations that you would not normally expect to find them on; details can be found on the relevant line's working timetable. This happens for various reasons, such as to allow Circle Line trains to get to their line from the depot or sidings, which are not necessarily on the Circle Line itself. Such "odd" services typically run at the start or end of the day.

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  • Wow that's incredible: there's still an elaborate printed timetable for underground trains!
    – orome
    Jul 16, 2017 at 16:12
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    @raxacoricofallapatorius: Note that's the working timetable -- it's intended for use by drivers, signalmen and other employees, not the general traveling public. Even though passengers do not need to care much about timetables (just turn up and go) it still needs to be planned exactly which trains go where and when -- e.g. such that trains will end up at the right depot when they're scheduled for maintenance, and drivers going off-shift end up where there's a relief driver waiting for them.
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Jul 16, 2017 at 19:45
  • @HenningMakholm: Of course. I'm just surprised it's printed (and so far in advance).
    – orome
    Jul 16, 2017 at 19:48
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    @orome I appreciate this is long after the date of your original question. Though this website keeps a record of all line's status in 15-min intervals back to Aug 2012. The specific link I posted linked to a date few weeks before you posted your question, showing a closure on the District line and a modified service for the Piccadilly line.
    – B.Liu
    Sep 6, 2018 at 17:14
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    @B.Liu: That's the answer.
    – orome
    Sep 6, 2018 at 18:18
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This appears to have been the result of line closures on the District line at that time:

Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 June, no service between South Kensington / Edgware Road and Wimbledon / Kensington (Olympia) / Ealing Broadway / Richmond. ... During the day on Saturday and Sunday, some Piccadilly line trains call additionally at Ravenscourt Park, Stamford Brook, Turnham Green and Chiswick Park.

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