Kensal Green station

Not to be confused with Kensal Rise railway station.

Kensal Green
Kensal Green Location of Kensal Green in Greater London
Location	Kensal Green
Local authority	London Borough of Brent
Managed by	London Underground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	KNL
DfT category	E
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	2
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011	2.32 million
2012	2.54 million
2013	2.56 million
2014	2.28 million
National Rail annual entry and exit
2007–08	0.483 million
2008–09	0.386 million
2009–10	0.538 million
2010–11	0.836 million
2011–12	0.939 million
2012–13	0.891 million
2013–14	0.929 million
Key dates
1916	Opened (LNWR & Bakerloo)
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Kensal Green station is a Network Rail station served by London Underground Bakerloo line and London Overground trains. It is located in College Road, London NW10 close to the junction with Harrow Road. It is about 0.5 mile (750m) route distance from the older Kensal Rise station located to the north east on the North London Line, which was itself named Kensal Green until 1890.

History

The station opened on 1 October 1916 on the New Line on the north side of the existing London and North Western Railway (LNWR) tracks from Euston to Watford.

The 1980 station almost complete before closure of the original.

The original station was replaced in 1980.

Bakerloo line services had been running between Queen's Park and Willesden Junction since 10 May 1915.

Since November 2007, National Rail services serving Kensal Green have been operated by LOROL under contract to Transport for London using the brand of London Overground; the station is managed by London Underground.

The station was in the news early in 2006, as it was the last station visited by Thomas ap Rhys-Price before he was murdered in a robbery in Kensal Green. The two main suspects had also visited the station that same night, a short time before the murder, and mugged a man on the platform. A suspect also tried to use ap Rhys-Pryce's Oyster Card a day after the incident at the station, and was picked up on CCTV, aiding the police investigation.

This incident sparked a major public discussion on station safety and security, mainly because the station was un-staffed when the passenger was mugged. The only security present was CCTV cameras, and the ticket barriers were left open allowing the suspects to enter the station freely. Many high-profile politicians spoke on the issue of station safety and called on train companies to provide security or staff the station until the last train had left the station.

The Mayor of London at the time, Ken Livingstone, became personally involved in this, and publicly attacked Silverlink, the then operator of the station, for not providing staffing or security throughout the station's opening hours. He also stated that any company that wanted to bid for the subsidy to run the train line would have commit to staffing the station until the last train had left. Eventually, towards the last quarter of 2006, Silverlink hired a private security firm to patrol the station, and also had speakers installed in the ticket hall to deter gangs of youths from loitering.

Connections

London Buses route 18 and night route N18 serve the station.

See also

• Kensal Rise railway station
• Murder of Tom ap Rhys Pryce

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Station building, 1928

• Train times and station information for Kensal Green station from National Rail

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Willesden Junction towards Harrow & Wealdstone		Bakerloo line		Queen's Park towards Elephant & Castle
London Overground
Willesden Junction towards Watford Junction		Watford DC Line		Queen's Park towards Euston
	Future services
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Old Oak Common towards Harrow & Wealdstone		Bakerloo line		Queen's Park towards Elephant & Castle