West Brompton station

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.^[11] The original station was designed by the chief engineer of the Metropolitan and District Railway, Sir John Fowler^[12] and thus has local railway associations that go back to 1838.^[13] The current Lillie (road) bridge dates from 1860 and is the work of Fowler.^[13] The soon to disappear Lillie Bridge Railway and Engineering Depot, opened in 1872, is close by. Other historic associations are with the Lillie Bridge Grounds, a noted 19th c. athletics, cricket, ballooning and cycling venue adjacent to the West of the station and Brompton Cemetery adjacent to the East. From 1887, the station gave access to John Robinson Whitley's Earl's Court exhibition grounds and from 1937 to 2014 it was the alternative access to Earls Court Exhibition Centre, now demolished.

On 12 April 1869, the District Railway (DR, 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 DR to the WLEJR but this did not take place.

On 1 March 1880, the DR opened an extension south from West Brompton to Putney Bridge.^[14] In 1906 a heat wave affected the railway such that one of the Underground's electric rails was warped at the station; trains coasted over the affected track until it was repaired.^[15]

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 Passenger services on the WLL between Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction were withdrawn on 21 October 1940.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 by the then Minister of Transport, Glenda Jackson. There is a commemorative plaque to this effect on the Western lift tower. The station design was by Robinson Kenning and Gallagher of Croydon.^[16][17] The lift tower design is an echo of the decorative brickwork by the 19th c. City of London architect and surveyor, John Young designer of the nearby Empress Place and Lillie Road terrace in Fulham.^[18] 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.

There are lifts to both overground platforms for wheelchair access, and this means there is also step-free access to the eastbound District line platform, but not the westbound one. The station is in a cutting that is covered at one end.

National Rail services at West Brompton are operated by Southern and London Overground using Class 377 and 378 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[19][20]

• 4 tph to Stratford via Willesden Junction
• 1 tph to Watford Junction
• 4 tph to Clapham Junction
• 1 tph to East Croydon

Additional services call at the station during the peak hours.

During the late evenings, London Overground services at the station run between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction only.

The typical off-peak London Underground service on the District Line in trains per hour is:^[21]

• 6 tph to Tower Hill of which 3 continue to Barking
• 6 tph to Edgware Road
• 12 tph to Wimbledon

Additional services, including trains to and from Dagenham East and Upminster call at the station during the peak hours.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Kensington (Olympia)		Southern West London Line		Imperial Wharf
Preceding station		London Overground		Following station
Kensington (Olympia) towards Stratford		West London Line		Imperial Wharf towards Clapham Junction
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Fulham Broadway towards Wimbledon		District line Wimbledon Branch		Earl's Court towards Upminster or Edgware Road
	Disused railways
Chelsea & Fulham		West London Railway		Kensington (Olympia)

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  Station, entrance on Old Brompton Road in 1963
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  West Brompton underground station platforms, with northbound train arriving (September 2006)
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  West Brompton underground station footbridges (September 2006)
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  West Brompton overground station – southbound Southern Class 377 Electrostar service at the platform (September 2006)
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  London Overground branded sign at West Brompton Station.
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  Vintage sign, from before the Johnston typeface was standardised
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  Green verges beside the track into West Brompton station, adjacent to Brompton Cemetery

• Hobhouse, Hermione, ed. (1986). "The Kensington Canal, railways and related developments". Survey of London: Volume 42, Kensington Square To Earl's Court. London. pp. 322–338. Retrieved 15 October 2016 – via British History Online (transcription).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to West Brompton station.

• Train times and station information for West Brompton station from National Rail
• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  • Construction of the District Railway station at West Brompton, 1867
  • District Railway platforms, 1876
  • West Brompton Underground station, 1928
• London's Abandoned Tube stations – West London Line
• West Brompton, SubBrit disused stations project
• www.Old-maps.co.uk – West Brompton station, 1874