Richmond (London) station

Richmond
Entrance to Kew Road
Richmond Location of Richmond 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
2009	7.60 million[3]
2012	7.56 million[3]
2013	7.95 million[3]
2014	8.45 million[3]
2015	8.66 million[3]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2009–10	6.661 million[4]
2010–11	7.604 million[4]
2011–12	8.402 million[4]
2012–13	9.093 million[4]
2013–14	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	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London Transport portal UK Railways portalCoordinates: 51°27′47″N 0°18′00″W / 51.463°N 0.300°W

Richmond station, also known as Richmond (London), 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 North London line services (normally platforms 3 and 4 but sometimes 5, 6 and 7)
  • London Underground 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:

• 8 direct to Waterloo (South West Trains)
  • 2 fast calling at Clapham Junction only
  • 2 semi fast calling at Putney, Clapham Junction and Vauxhall
  • 4 all stations
• 8 direct from Waterloo (South West Trains)
  • 2 to Reading
  • 2 to Windsor & Eton Riverside
  • 2 indirectly returning to Waterloo via Hounslow and Brentford
  • 2 indirectly returning to Waterloo via Kingston and Wimbledon
• 4 to Stratford (London Overground)
• 6 to Upminster via Tower Hill (District line)

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

1. "Step free Tube Guide" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2015.
2. "London and South East" (PDF). National Rail Enquiries. National Rail. September 2006. Archived from the original (pdf) on 6 March 2009.
3. "Multi-year station entry-and-exit figures" (XLS). London Underground station passenger usage data. Transport for London. April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
4. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
5. Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner (1983). The Buildings of England – London 2: South. London: Penguin Books. p. 521. ISBN 0 14 0710 47 7.
6. "Art Deco Gallery – Stations etc". london-footprints.co.uk. 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
7. "'Jewel in the Crown' of a historic Town centre". Construct. FM Conway. Spring 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
8. Clive's Underground Line Guides – Hammersmith & City Line
9. Clive's Underground Line Guides – Hammersmith & City Line
10. 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

• Train times and station information for Richmond (London) station from National Rail
• Transport for London Richmond station
• www.Old-maps.co.uk — Richmond station, 1871