Richmond (London) station

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Richmond (London) National Rail London Overground London Underground
Richmond Station, Richmond, Surrey.jpg
Entrance to Kew Road
Richmond (London) is located in Greater London
Richmond (London)
Richmond (London)
Location of Richmond (London) in Greater London
Location Richmond
Local authority London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Managed by South West Trains
Owner Network Rail
Station code RMD
DfT category B
Number of platforms 7
Accessible Yes [1][2]
Fare zone 4
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011 Increase 7.47 million[3]
2012 Increase 7.56 million[3]
2013 Increase 7.95 million[3]
2014 Increase 8.45 million[3]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2008–09 Decrease 6.628 million[4]
2009–10 Increase 6.661 million[4]
2010–11 Increase 7.604 million[4]
2011–12 Increase 8.402 million[4]
2012–13 Increase 9.093 million[4]
2013–14 Increase 9.534 million[4]
— interchange 1.886 million[4]
Key dates
1846 Opened as Terminus (R&WER)
1848 Station moved (WS&SWR)
1869 Opened (L&SWR via Hammersmith)
1869 Started (NLR)
1870 Started and Ended (GWR)
1877 Started (MR and DR)
1894 Started (GWR)
1906 Ended (MR)
1910 Ended (GWR)
1916 Ended (L&SWR via Hammersmith)
1937 Stations merged (SR)
Other information
Lists of stations
External links
London Transport portal
UK Railways portalLua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Richmond (London) station is a National Rail and London Underground station, managed by South West Trains, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London. South West Trains services on the Waterloo to Reading Line are routed through Richmond, which is between North Sheen and St. Margarets stations. Richmond is also a terminus of one of the branches of London Underground's District line and for the London Overground's North London Line; the next station on both these lines, to the northeast, is Kew Gardens.

Architecture

The station building, in Portland stone[5] and dating from 1937, is in Art Deco style and its facade includes a square clock.[6] The area in front of the station main entrance was pedestrianised in 2013.[7]

History

The Richmond and West End Railway (R&WER) opened the first station at Richmond on 27 July 1846[8] as the terminus of its line from Clapham Junction [9] on a site, which later became a goods yard, to the south of the present through platforms and where a multi-storey car park now stands. The Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway (WS&SWR) extended the line westward resiting the station to the west side of The Quadrant, on the extended tracks slightly west of the present through platforms. Both the R&WER and WS&SWR were subsidiary companies of the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR).

On 1 January 1869[10] the L&SWR opened a line to Richmond from north of Addison Road station (now Kensington (Olympia) station) on the West London Joint Railway. This line ran through Hammersmith (Grove Road) station, since closed, and Turnham Green and had connection with the North & South Western Junction Railway (N&SWJR) near Gunnersbury. Most of this line is now part of the London Underground District line; the line south from Gunnersbury was also served by the North London Railway (NLR) and is now used also by London Overground. Before this line was built services north from Richmond ran somewhat circuitously via chords at Kew Bridge and Barnes.

The Great Western Railway (GWR) briefly (1 June to 31 October 1870) [8] ran a service from Paddington to Richmond via the Hammersmith & City Railway (now the Hammersmith & City line) tracks to Grove Road then over the L&SWR tracks through Turnham Green.

On 1 June 1877 the District Railway (DR) linked its then terminus at Hammersmith to the nearby L&SWR tracks east of the present Ravenscourt Park station. The DR began running trains over the L&SWR tracks to Richmond.[10] On 1 October 1877,[8] the Metropolitan Railway (MR, now the Metropolitan line) restarted the former GWR service to Richmond via Grove Road station.

The DR route from Richmond to central London via Hammersmith was more direct than those of the NLR via Willesden Junction, of the L&SWR and the MR via Grove Road station and of the L&SWR via Clapham Junction to Waterloo. From 1 January 1894,[8] the GWR began sharing the MR Richmond service, resulting in Gunnersbury having the services of five operators.

After electrifying its tracks north of Acton Town in 1903, the DR funded the electrification, completed on 1 August 1905, from Gunnersbury to Richmond.[10] The DR ran electric trains on the branch while the L&SWR, NLR, GWR and MR services continued to be steam hauled.

MR services ceased on 31 December 1906 and those of the GWR on 31 December 1910[8] leaving operations northwards through Kew Gardens and Gunnersbury to the DR (by then known as the District Railway), the NLR and L&SWR. On 3 June 1916 the L&SWR withdrew its service from Richmond to Addison Road through Hammersmith due to competition from the District line,[8] leaving the District as the sole operator over that route and the NLR providing main line services via Willesden Junction.

Under the grouping of 1923 the L&SWR became part of the Southern Railway (SR) and the NLR became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS); both were subsequently nationalised into British Railways. On 1 August 1937 the SR opened its rebuilt station with the station building and the through platforms moved east to be next to the terminal platforms. At around the same time the SR moved the goods yard from the site of the original terminus to a new location north-east of the station.

Crossrail

A Crossrail branch to Kingston upon Thames via Richmond was proposed in 2003, but was dropped in 2004 due to a combination of local opposition, uncertainty over the route, cost, and insufficient return on investment. It could have run either overland or via a tunnel to Turnham Green and on the existing track through Gunnersbury to Richmond, which would have lost the District line service, and thence to Kingston.

Platforms

Train at the station

The station has seven platforms:

  • Platforms 1 and 2 are through platforms for South West Trains services.
  • Platforms 3 to 7 are terminating platforms used by:
    • London Overground services (normally platforms 3 and 4 but sometimes 5, 6 and 7)
    • District line services (normally platforms 5, 6 and 7. Occasionally 4 but never 3 due to 3's lack of a fourth rail, which the District Line uses for electrification).

As of September 2011 work is currently underway to extend platforms 1 and 2 to accept 10-car trains.[11] The bulk of the lengthening will be to the west (country) end; extending eastwards was deemed unviable by Network Rail as Church Road Bridge would have needed widening.[12] As part of these works the platform canopies are also being refurbished.

The wide gap between platforms 3 and 4 originally had a third, run-around, track for steam locomotives.

Off peak service

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

The Heathrow Airtrack proposal of the October 2008 consultation,[13] would have two more fast trains per hour to Waterloo and two trains per hour to Heathrow Terminal 5 station from 2014. Although vociferous objection arises about possible level-crossing congestion on the Chertsey line, the effect of 20 trains per hour through the four crossings between Richmond and Barnes, where even now five trains may pass at one closure, is muted.

Transport links

London Buses serving nearby are:

Route Start End Operator
33 Fulwell Hammersmith London United
65 Kingston
Chessington (Nights)
Ealing Broadway London United
190 West Brompton Richmond Metroline
337 Clapham Junction Richmond Go-Ahead London
371 Kingston Richmond London United
391 Sands End Richmond London United
419 Hammersmith Richmond London United
490 Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 Richmond Abellio London
493 Tooting Richmond Go-Ahead London
969 Whitton Roehampton Vale Abellio London
H22 Hounslow Richmond London United
H37 Hounslow Richmond London United
R68 Kew Hampton Court Abellio London
R70 Hampton Richmond Abellio London
N22 Piccadilly Circus Fulwell Go-Ahead London

There is a taxi rank at the front station entrance, which opens onto Kew Road. There are staff-operated lifts to all platforms.

An extensive bike storage facility is located outside the back entrance from Church Road, from where 27 steps lead down into the main platform area, which includes platforms 2-7 and a set of ticket barriers.

References

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  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
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  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Clive's Underground Line Guides – Hammersmith & City Line
  9. Clive's Underground Line Guides – Hammersmith & City Line
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Clive's Underground Line Guides – District Line
  11. http://idoxwam.richmond.gov.uk/WAM/doc/Correspondence-943643.pdf?extension=.pdf&id=943643&location=&contentType=application/pdf&pageCount=2&appid=1001
  12. http://idoxwam.richmond.gov.uk/WAM/doc/Correspondence-943641.pdf?extension=.pdf&id=943641&location=&contentType=application/pdf&pageCount=4&appid=1001
  13. http://www.heathrowairport.com/assets/Internet/Heathrow/Heathrow%20downloads/Static%20files/HeathrowAirtrack_Consultation2.pdf

External links

Preceding station   Underground no-text.svg London Underground   Following station
Terminus District line
towards Upminster
Preceding station   Overground roundel (no text).svg National Rail logo.svg London Overground   Following station
Terminus North London Line
towards Stratford
National Rail National Rail
North Sheen   South West Trains
Hounslow/Kingston loop line
  St Margarets
Putney   South West Trains
Waterloo - Windsor
  Twickenham
Clapham Junction   South West Trains
Waterloo - Reading
  Twickenham
  Former services  
Terminus   London and South Western Railway
(1869-1916)
  Kew Gardens
towards West Brompton
  Metropolitan Railway
(1877-1906)
  Kew Gardens
towards Paddington
  Great Western Railway
(1894-1910)
 
  Abandoned Plans  
Preceding station   Underground no-text.svg London Underground   Following station
Terminus Central line
(1913 & 1920)