West Brompton Station - History

History

The West London Extension Joint Railway (WLEJR) was opened in the early 1860s. It joined the southern end of the West London Joint Railway at Kensington (Olympia) station with Clapham Junction station and ran through West Brompton although a station was not opened until 1866.

On 12 April 1869, the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR, now the District Line) opened its own station adjacent to the WLEJR station as the terminus and only station on its extension from Gloucester Road station (Earl's Court station did not open until 1871). The original plan was to connect the MDR to the WLEJR but this did not take place.

On 1 March 1880, the MDR opened an extension south from West Brompton to Putney Bridge.

In 1940, during World War II, several WLL stations sustained bomb damage. Passenger services on the WLL between Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction were withdrawn on 21 October 1940. The Underground station remained in use and the WLL continued in use for freight traffic. The WLL station buildings and platforms were subsequently demolished.

Full passenger services resumed on the WLL in 1994, but it was not until 1 June 1999 that new Network Rail platforms were opened at West Brompton. The works were funded by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on whose border the station lies.

The WLL platforms do not have a separate entrance and access is from the Underground station. The District Line serves platforms 1 and 2 and the WLL serves platforms 3 and 4. There is a fence between platforms 2 and 3, but they are on the same level and it is possible to pass directly between them.

Read more about this topic:  West Brompton Station

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