West Kensington tube station

West Kensington London Underground
District line eastbound platform at the station
Interactive map of West Kensington
General information
LocationWest Kensington
Local authorityLondon Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Managed byLondon Underground
Number of platforms2
Fare zone2
London Underground annual entry and exit
2021Decrease 2.03 million[1]
2022Increase 3.61 million[2]
2023Increase 3.76 million[3]
2024Increase 3.82 million[4]
2025Decrease 3.71 million[5]
Key dates
9 September 1874Opened (DR)
5 May 1878Started "Super Outer Circle" (Midland)
30 September 1880Ended "Super Outer Circle"
14 July 1965Goods yard closed[6]
Other information
External links
Coordinates51°29′27″N 0°12′23″W / 51.4908°N 0.2063°W / 51.4908; -0.2063

West Kensington is a London Underground station in West Kensington, London. It is located on North End Road (B317) close to its junction with West Cromwell Road/Talgarth Road (A4). The station is on the District line, between Barons Court and Earl's Court stations. It is in London fare zone 2.

The station is situated in a cutting with the ticket office at street level.

History

The station was opened by the District Railway (DR, now the District line) on 9 September 1874 as 'North End (Fulham)'[7][8] when it opened its extension from Earl's Court to Hammersmith. At that time the next station west was Hammersmith - Barons Court did not open until 1905. It was renamed West Kensington in 1877. Despite its name, the station is located in Hammersmith and Fulham.

On 5 May 1878, The Midland Railway began running a circuitous service known as the "Super Outer Circle" from St Pancras to Earl's Court via Cricklewood and South Acton. It operated over a now disused connection between the NLR and the London and South Western Railway's branch to Richmond (now part of the District line). The service was not a success and was ended on 30 September 1880.

The entrance building was rebuilt in 1927. The design, by Charles Holden, uses similar materials and finishes to those Holden used for the Northern line's Morden extension opened in 1926.

In 2009, because of financial constraints, TfL decided to stop work on a project to provide step-free access at West Kensington and five other stations, on the grounds that these are relatively quiet stations and some are already one or two stops away from an existing step-free station.[9] Earl's Court and Hammersmith stations which have step-free access are respectively one stop to the east and two stops to the west. £5.05 million was spent on West Kensington before the project was halted.[10]

Services

West Kensington station is on the District line in London fare zone 2. It is between Barons Court to the west and Earl's Court to the east. The typical off-peak service pattern in trains per hour is:

Connections

The station is also served by London Buses day and nightime routes.

References

  1. ↑ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2021. Transport for London. 12 July 2022. Archived from the original on 6 April 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2022. Transport for London. 4 October 2023. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2023. Transport for London. 8 August 2024. Archived from the original on 31 May 2025. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  4. ↑ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2024. Transport for London. 20 January 2026 [8 October 2025]. Archived from the original on 27 March 2026. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
  5. ↑ "Station Usage Data" (XLSX). Usage Statistics for London Stations, 2025. Transport for London. 13 May 2026. Archived from the original on 19 July 2026. Retrieved 24 July 2026.
  6. ↑ Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be - freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News (591). London Underground Railway Society: 175–183. ISSN 0306-8617.
  7. ↑ Forgotten Stations of Greater London
  8. ↑ Chronology of London Railways by H.V.Borley
  9. ↑ "Disability and Deaf Equality Scheme (DES) 2009-2012". TfL. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  10. ↑ "TfL wastes £64million abandoning disabled access plans on the Tube". Evening Standard. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
Preceding station London Underground Following station
Barons Court District line Earl's Court
Former service
Hammersmith
towards St Pancras
Midland Railway
(1878–1880)
Earl's Court
Terminus