Although the Metropolitan Railway (MR) had been extended to Notting Hill and Hammersmith on 1 June 1864, the first station by this name did not open until 1 February 1866.[7][8] In 1867, with the companies on better terms, the MR bought a share of the Hammersmith & City Railway (H&CR) from the Great Western Railway (GWR), after which it eliminated the broad gauge track and operated almost all the trains (the H&CR's identity being effectively lost).[7]
The original station closed on 31 October 1871, and was replaced the following day by a new station,[7] constructed to the west of the original.[9] To remove this traffic from its own busy main line, the GWR built a new pair of tracks from Paddington to Westbourne Park, and on 12 May 1878 it opened a dive-under to remove conflicts where the service crossed the main line.[7][note 1] A bomb planted by the Suffragettes was discovered at the station on 16 May 1913.[10]
The Circle line was extended to Hammersmith in 2009.[11] The line now operates between Hammersmith and Edgware Road via a single complete circuit of the previous route.[11][note 2] This was done with the aim of improving reliability by providing a place for trains to terminate after each trip rather than letting delays accumulate.[11] However, it means that no trains through Notting Hill Gate go east of Edgware Road.[11]
National Rail platforms
Victorian turntable excavated near the stationVictorian engine shed excavated near the station
The GWR opened platforms on the Great Western Main Line on 30 October 1871, but these closed in March 1992.[12] The Up line through the station had a 30 mph (48 km/h) speed limit, which was unacceptable for the planned Heathrow Express services; instead of modifying the station's platforms; British Rail decided that it would be more cost-effective to dispense with them, and closure notices were published 13 December 1990.[13]
Royal Oak, another station on the Hammersmith & City line, was also once served by the GWR, but its services were withdrawn in 1934.[14] Today, the first stop out of Paddington is at Acton Main Line. Industrial archaeologists have found the remains of buildings including a broad gauge train shed for Brunel's original lines, a turntable, and engine sheds in excavations east of the station as part of the land clearance work for the Crossrail project.[15]
Early railway buff Fanny Johnson, fourteen years old, recorded passing engines in her notebook ‘Names of Engines on the Great Western that I have Seen’ in 1861.[18]
Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN1-85260-508-1. R508.
Rose, Douglas (December 2007) [1980]. The London Underground: A Diagrammatic History (8th ed.). Harrow Weald: Capital Transport. ISBN978-1-85414-315-0.
