Westbourne Park tube station
London Underground station From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Westbourne Park is a London Underground station. It is located in the Notting Hill area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The station is on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines between Ladbroke Grove and Royal Oak stations, and is in Travelcard Zone 2.[6]
Westbourne Park | |
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![]() Circle line trains at the station | |
Location | Notting Hill |
Local authority | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea |
Managed by | London Underground |
Owner | London Underground |
Number of platforms | 2 |
Fare zone | 2 |
London Underground annual entry and exit | |
2019 | 4.13 million[1] |
2020 | 2.25 million[2] |
2021 | 1.82 million[3] |
2022 | 3.21 million[4] |
2023 | 3.53 million[5] |
Railway companies | |
Original company | Hammersmith and City Railway |
Key dates | |
1 February 1866 | H&C station opened |
30 October 1871 | GW main line station opened |
1 November 1871 | H&C station resited |
13 March 1992 | GW main line station closed |
Other information | |
External links | |
Coordinates | 51.52111°N 0.20111°W |
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History
Summarize
Perspective
Although the Metropolitan Railway (MR) had been extended to Notting Hill and Hammersmith on 1 June 1864, the first station by this name did not open until 1 February 1866.[7][8] In 1867, with the companies on better terms, the MR bought a share of the Hammersmith & City Railway (H&CR) from the Great Western Railway (GWR), after which it eliminated the broad gauge track and operated almost all the trains (the H&CR's identity being effectively lost).[7]
The original station closed on 31 October 1871, and was replaced the following day by a new station,[7] constructed to the west of the original.[9] To remove this traffic from its own busy main line, the GWR built a new pair of tracks from Paddington to Westbourne Park, and on 12 May 1878 it opened a dive-under to remove conflicts where the service crossed the main line.[7][note 1] A bomb planted by the Suffragettes was discovered at the station on 16 May 1913.[10]
The Circle line was extended to Hammersmith in 2009.[11] The line now operates between Hammersmith and Edgware Road via a single complete circuit of the previous route.[11][note 2] This was done with the aim of improving reliability by providing a place for trains to terminate after each trip rather than letting delays accumulate.[11] However, it means that no trains through Notting Hill Gate go east of Edgware Road.[11]
National Rail platforms
The GWR opened platforms on the Great Western Main Line on 30 October 1871, but these closed in March 1992.[12] The Up line through the station had a 30 mph (48 km/h) speed limit, which was unacceptable for the planned Heathrow Express services; instead of modifying the station's platforms; British Rail decided that it would be more cost-effective to dispense with them, and closure notices were published 13 December 1990.[13]
Royal Oak, another station on the Hammersmith & City line, was also once served by the GWR, but its services were withdrawn in 1934.[14] Today, the first stop out of Paddington is at Acton Main Line. Industrial archaeologists have found the remains of buildings including a broad gauge train shed for Brunel's original lines, a turntable, and engine sheds in excavations east of the station as part of the land clearance work for the Crossrail project.[15]
Connections
London Bus day and night routes serve the station.[16][17]
In popular culture
Early railway buff Fanny Johnson, fourteen years old, recorded passing engines in her notebook ‘Names of Engines on the Great Western that I have Seen’ in 1861.[18]
The station was featured in the video of the Boris Gardiner song "I Want to Wake Up with You".[19][20]
Notes and references
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