Westbourne Park tube station

Westbourne Park is a London Underground station in the Notting Hill area of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is on the Circle and Hammersmith and City lines, between Ladbroke Grove and Royal Oak stations, and is in Travelcard Zone 2.[3]

Not to be confused with Westcombe Park railway station.

Westbourne Park
Westbourne Park Location of Westbourne Park in Greater London
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
2014	3.73 million[1]
2015	3.79 million[1]
2016	3.98 million[1]
2017	4.13 million[1]
2018	3.64 million[2]
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	TfL station info page
WGS84	51.52111°N 0.20111°W / 51.52111; -0.20111
London transport portal

History

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.[4][5] 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).[4]

The original station closed on 31 October 1871, and was replaced the following day by a new station[4] constructed to the east of the original.[6] 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.[4][note 1] A bomb planted by the Suffragettes was discovered at the station on 16 May 1913.[7]

The Circle line was extended to Hammersmith in 2009.[8] The line now operates between Hammersmith and Edgware Road via a single complete circuit of the previous route.[8][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.[8] However, it means that no trains through Notting Hill Gate go east of Edgware Road.[8]

National Rail platforms

Victorian Turntable excavated near the station

Victorian engine shed excavated near the station

The GWR opened platforms on the Great Western Main Line on 30 October 1871, but these closed in March 1992.[9] 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 posted on 13 December 1990.[10]

Royal Oak, another station on the Hammersmith & City line, was also once served by the GWR, but its services were withdrawn in 1934.[11] 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.[12]

Connections

London Bus routes 7, 18, 23, 28, 31, 36, 70 and 328,[13] and night routes N28 and N31[14] serve the station. In addition, bus route 23 provides a 24-hour bus service.[13]

In popular culture

The station was featured in the video of the Boris Gardiner song "I Want to Wake Up with You".[15][16]

Notes and references

Notes

1. These tracks were dedicated to Underground use, but they only came into LU control on 1 January 1948 and ownership on 1 January 1950.[4]
2. Hammersmith, Edgware Road, Liverpool Street, Tower Hill, South Kensington, High Street Kensington, Paddington, and Edgware Road (and vice versa).[8]

References

1. "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures (2007-2017)" (XLSX). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. January 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
2. "Station Usage Data" (CSV). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2018. Transport for London. 21 August 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
3. Standard Tube Map (PDF) (Map). Not to scale. Transport for London. May 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 July 2020.
4. Clive's Underground Line Guides – Hammersmith & City line
5. Butt 1995, p. 244
6. Rose 2007
7. "Suffragette Bombs, 1912 - 1914". Standing Well Back. 8 February 2018. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
8. Clive's Underground Line Guides – Circle line
9. "Westbourne Park Railway Station (site), 2009 Thompson, Nigel Geograph.org.uk; Retrieved 25 April 2017
10. Leigh, Chris, ed. (March 1991). "Rail report: Westbourne Park closure". Railway World. 52 (611): 165.
11. Chronology of London Railways by H.V.Borley- page78/79
12. Hamish McDougall (2014). "Crossrail uncovers Brunel's railway heritage". Crossrail. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
13. "Buses from Westbourne Park" (PDF). Transport for London. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
14. Westbourne Park Underground Station – Bus
15. Tube Facts – Music Videos filmed on the tube
16. Westbourne Park tube station is seen in the video from 0:58 to 1:43.

Bibliography

• Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Rose, Douglas (December 2007) [1980]. The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (8th ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. ISBN 978-1-85414-315-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Ladbroke Grove towards Hammersmith		Circle line		Royal Oak towards Edgware Road (via Aldgate)
		Hammersmith & City line		Royal Oak towards Barking
	Historical railways
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Ladbroke Grove towards Hammersmith		Metropolitan line Hammersmith branch (1864–1990)		Royal Oak towards Paddington
Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Acton Line and station open		Great Western Railway Great Western Main Line		Royal Oak Line and station open
Old Oak Lane Halt Line open, station closed		Great Western Railway New North Main Line
Acton Main Line Line and station open		Network SouthEast Great Western Main Line		London Paddington Line and station open