Earl's Court tube station is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

station in

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, on the

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

and

Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are ...

s. It is an important interchange for both lines and is situated in both

Travelcard Zone 1 Fare zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used by the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and National Rail. For most tickets, travel through Zone 1 is more expensive than journeys ...

and Zone 2. The station has an eastern entrance on Earl's Court Road and a western entrance on

Warwick Road Warwick Road is an arterial east-west road located in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It was built in 1969 to service the Shire of Wanneroo parts of the Hamersley Development Scheme, which was later split into the suburbs o ...

(both part of

A3220 The A3220 is a primary A road in London. It runs north from Clapham Common to the A40 Westway at Ladbroke Grove. Route The road crosses the River Thames at Battersea Bridge. Turning left at the northern end of the bridge, the A3220 follows ...

). Another former entrance allowed passengers to enter the station from the other side of Warwick Road, via a ticket hall and subway leading to a concourse beneath the District line platforms. Earl's Court is a step-free tube station; the Earls Court Road entrance provides lift access between street and platform levels. The station was opened by the

District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the first par ...

in 1871, two years after the line was built, and had become a hub to five different local routes by 1874. It was damaged by fire the following year, and a new station was constructed on the other side of Earl's Court Road, opening in 1878. A connection to the

Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR), also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London.A "tube" railway is an underground rail ...

(now the Piccadilly Line) opened in 1906. Earl's Court was the first tube station with escalators, which were added in 1911. Major redevelopment and rebuilding work occurred in 1915, 1936–37 and 2005.

Location

Earl's Court has two entrances, which are situated on A3220 Earls Court Road and Warwick Road. The station is within a moderate commercial area, with a few residential and accommodation areas nearby, such as Nevern Square and Philbeach Gardens. It is the nearest stop to Bupa Cromwell Hospital and a Tesco, and formerly next to the now demolished Earl's Court Exhibition Centre. The station sits in the Earl's Court Village and Earl's Court Gardens area. The station name has been spelt with an

apostrophe The apostrophe ( or ) is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes: * The marking of the omission of one ...

on the

tube map The Tube map (sometimes called the London Underground map) is a schematic transport map of the lines, stations and services of the London Underground, known colloquially as "the Tube", hence the map's name. The first schematic Tube map was des ...

since 1951. Prior to this, the use of punctuation on tube maps was intermittent. The name of the station and the local area has always been shown with an apostrophe on

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

maps, but not on the

Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas The ''Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas'', commonly shortened to ''A–Z'' (pronounced "Ay to Zed"), is a title given to any one of a range of atlases of streets in the United Kingdom produced by Geographers' A–Z Map Company Limited. Its first ...

History

District line

On 12 April 1869, the

(DR, now the District line) opened tracks through Earl's Court as part of a south-westward extension from its station at Gloucester Road to

West Brompton West Brompton is an area of south-west London, that straddles the boundary between the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The centuries-old boundary was traced by Counter's Creek, now lost ...

where the DR opened an interchange with the West London Extension Joint Railway (WLEJR, now the West London Line). At its opening, the extension had no intermediate station. Interior of Earl's Court Tube station

On 3 July 1871 the DR opened a northward link from the West Brompton branch which connected to the Inner Circle (now the Circle line) south of High Street Kensington. Local residents near Earl's Court lodged a petition against the DR building the station, which opened on 30 October. The original station was a simple wooden booking office. On 1 February 1872, the DR opened a northbound branch west of Earl's Court station to the WLEJR to which it connected at Addison Road (now Kensington Olympia). From that date the Outer Circle service began running over the DR's tracks. The service was run by the

North London Railway The North London Railway (NLR) company had lines connecting the northern suburbs of London with the East and West India Docks further east. The main east to west route is now part of London Overground's North London Line. Other NLR lines fe ...

(NLR) from its terminus at Broad Street (now demolished) in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

via the

North London Line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a ro ...

Willesden Junction Willesden Junction is a railway station in Harlesden, north-west London, UK. It is served by both London Overground and London Underground services. History The station developed on three contiguous sites: the West Coast Main Line (WCML) st ...

, then the West London Line to Addison Road and the DR to Mansion House — at that time the eastern terminus of the DR. From 1 August 1872, the

Middle Circle The Middle Circle was a Great Western Railway service in London that operated from 1872 to 1905. The route was from the District Railway station at Mansion House to Earl's Court, then via the West London Railway to Latimer Road on to the Hamm ...

service also began operations through Earl's Court; it ran from

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, bu ...

along the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

(MR) tracks on the north side of the Inner Circle to

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

, then over the Hammersmith & City Railway (H&CR) track to Latimer Road, then, via a now demolished link, to the West London Line to Addison Road and the DR to Mansion House. The service was operated jointly by the H&CR and the DR. On 9 September 1874, another extension was opened which took the DR west from Earl's Court to West Kensington and

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

. Trains from Earl's Court could then travel via five different routes, and the station's efficient operation was central to the DR's success. The station was damaged by fire on 30 November 1875 and a more substantial replacement was built to the west of Earl's Court Road, opening on 1 February 1878. The original station site was redeveloped into shops and a post office around 1905. On 5 May 1878, The

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

began running a circuitous service known as the

Super Outer Circle The Outer Circle was a London & North Western Railway service in London that operated from 1872 to 1908. The route was from the District Railway station at Mansion House to Earl's Court, then via the West London Railway to Willesden Junction and ...

from St Pancras to Earl's Court via

Cricklewood Cricklewood is an area of London, England, which spans the boundaries of three London boroughs: Barnet to the east, Brent to the west and Camden to the south-east. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies north ...

and South Acton. It operated over a now disused connection between the NLR and the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

's branch to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

(now part of the District line). The service was not a success and was ended on 30 September 1880. By the start of the 20th century competition from buses and the new electric

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

s was eroding passenger numbers; to make itself more competitive, the DR began to plan the electrification of its services. An experimental service was operated for six months in 1900 when electric trains were tested over the section of track between Earl's Court and High Street Kensington. Following protracted negotiations with the MR over the method of electrification to be used, the first electrified section of the DR was opened in 1903. Electric services through Earl's Court began on 1 July 1905.

Piccadilly line

On 30 June 1900 the Middle Circle service was withdrawn east of Earl's Court, which was the terminus of the service until 31 January 1905, when the service was cut back again to terminate at Addison Road. On 15 December 1906, the

(GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly line) opened between

and

Finsbury Park Finsbury Park is a public park in the London neighbourhood of Harringay. It is in the area formerly covered by the historic parish of Hornsey, succeeded by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey. It was one of the first of the great London parks ...

, serving Earl's Court from platforms in deep tube tunnels constructed beneath the surface station. Unlike at Gloucester Road and

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

, other stations served by both the District and Piccadilly lines, a new building to house the lifts to the deep level platforms was not required. Instead space was provided within the existing station, and the line ran in a deep tunnel beneath the District platforms. On 1 January 1909, Earl's Court became the terminus of the Outer Circle service when it stopped running east from there to Mansion House. By then, the service was operated by the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

(LNWR, successor to the NLR).

Later developments

On 4 October 1911, the first

escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...

s on the Underground opened at Earl's Court to supplement the lift access. They were promoted as "made entirely of fireproof material"; unlike the lifts, one could smoke on them.Ackroyd, P. (2012). London Under. London: Vintage Books. p. 125 These operated from the GNP&BR platforms up to new passageways beneath the sub-surface District platforms. "Bumper" Harris, a one-legged engineer, rode the escalators on the first day of operation to reassure passengers of their safety. In 1936, the escalators were replaced in a contemporary style featuring cleated steps and combs, which had become standard elsewhere on the Underground network. They remain in use into the 21st century, though the wooden cladding has been removed because of fire regulations. A new station building on Earls Court Road opened in 1915. It was designed by District line architect Harry Ford and constructed from red brick. The Warwick Road entrance was rebuilt between 1936 and 1937 in the modern brick and glass style then employed by London Underground, though it retained the original facade from the opening of the Piccadilly line in 1905/6. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, bomb damage to the West London Line caused the closure of the line, and the Willesden to Earl's Court shuttle last ran on 2 October 1940. The section to Kensington (Olympia) was reopened on 19 December 1946 but ran only when exhibitions were open at Olympia. The part of the station between the District and Piccadilly Lines was converted into a munitions factory used to make torpedo periscopes. A glass rotunda was added on top of the Warwick Road entrance in 1970. In 1984, the station was 'Grade II' listed as being of architectural and historical interest. The listing noted the 1878 train shed and the improvements in 1906 and 1937. Between 1986 and 2011, the Kensington (Olympia) service was operated full-time throughout the week, whether or not an exhibition was open. From December 2011 onwards, it reverted to operating only during exhibitions. The station underwent major refurbishment works in 2005. Additional lifts for the mobility impaired were added from the District line platforms. They initially suffered from operational issues, leading to a review of the equipment by Transport for London. In December 2006, work started on repairing the roof as part of a £10 billion restoration programme. At the 2009 National Railway Heritage Awards the reconstruction of the station's train shed roof gained a certificate of merit for the quality of the work carried out. In 2019, a report showed that Earl's Court was one of the most polluted stations in London. The levels of

nitrogen dioxide Nitrogen dioxide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is one of several nitrogen oxides. is an intermediate in the industrial synthesis of nitric acid, millions of tons of which are produced each year for use primarily in the productio ...

in the station complex approached , over three times the recommended objective limit of . It was concluded that the station was more polluted than Strand in the City of Westminster.

Services

Earl's Court is a hub for several routes on the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One branch runs to in south-west London and a short branch, with a limited serv ...

and

. It is in both

and Zone 2. The station concourse is split over two levels. The District line is on the upper section below ground and covers platforms 1–4, with two island platforms in between the pairs of lines. The Piccadilly line covers the lower platforms 5–6, below ground. The connecting escalators are by the Warwick Road entrance, while the lift is towards the centre. Platforms 1 and 2 serve the District line eastbound to

Edgware Road Edgware Road is a major road in London, England. The route originated as part of Roman Watling Street and, unusually in London, it runs for 10 miles in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern A5 road, Edgware Road undergoes ...

and , while platforms 3 and 4 runs westbound to Wimbledon,

and

Ealing Broadway Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

along with a part-time service to . Platforms 5 serves the Piccadilly line eastbound to

Cockfosters Cockfosters is a suburb of north London to the east of Chipping Barnet, lying partly in the London Borough of Enfield and partly in the London Borough of Barnet. Before 1965, it was in the counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. Origins ...

, and platform 6 serves the line westbound to

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

and

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

. The station has a dedicated regulating room which has served as the principal point for signalling on the Piccadilly and District lines since the 1960s. Most of the junctions and reversing points along the network are controlled automatically. On each platform is an old-fashioned "next train" indicator board which had various routes shown, of which one is usually highlighted by an arrow to indicate that this is the route of the next train. In March 2022 these were temporarily disabled while signalling was being upgraded to

CBTC Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accu ...

signalling, as part of the 4LM improvement works to the subsurface lines, however they were brought back into service in June of the same year, after being updated, in order to work with the upgraded signalling systems. These have not been replaced by modern electronic equivalents as they are Grade II listed.

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

routes 74,

328 __NOTOC__ Year 328 ( CCCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ianuarinus and Iustus (or, less frequently, year 1081 ' ...

430 __NOTOC__ Year 430 ( CDXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Valentinianus (or, less frequently, yea ...

, C1 and C3 and night routes N31, N74 and N97 serve the station.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** Glass roof of Gloucester Road station is visible in distance. ** ** ** ** ** **
British History Online — Warwick Road entrance, 1907
{{DEFAULTSORT:Earl's Court Tube Station District line stations Piccadilly line stations London Underground Night Tube stations Tube stations in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Former Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway stations London Underground stations located underground Former Metropolitan District Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1871 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1878 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1878

Tube station The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Und ...

Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Grade II listed railway stations