Anciently, East Acton and Acton developed as separate settlements and the nearby districts of North Acton, West Acton and South Acton were developed in the late nineteenth century.
East Acton, largely separated from London by Wormwood Scrubs developed later and was mainly agricultural until after the arrival of the underground railway.
East Acton station opened in 1920 on the Ealing Broadway extension of the Central London Railway (CLR), which was renamed the Central line in 1937.
The new line was built with connections to the West London Line near Shepherd’s Bush, the former GWR main line to Birmingham at North Acton, and the main line to Bristol at Ealing Broadway.
Since the CLR was exclusively a passenger service, two extra dedicated tracks for the GWR’s freight trains were opened in 1938, but were closed in 1964. The trackbed of these rails is now overgrown, with vegetation visible immediately to the north of the station.
East Acton was mentioned frequently in the classic 1950s radio comedy series the Goon Show, as the Goons used to rehearse in a room over a greengrocers in East Acton.