Hammersmith is a

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

station in

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. It ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is served by 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

and

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

lines, providing

cross-platform interchange A cross-platform interchange is a type of Interchange station, interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly ...

between the lines. On the District line, the station between

Ravenscourt Park Ravenscourt Park or RCP is an public park and garden located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England. It is one of the Borough's flagship parks, having won a Green Flag Award. Stamford Brook and Ravenscourt Park tube stations a ...

and

Barons Court Barons Court is a London Underground station in West Kensington in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Greater London. This station serves the District line and the Piccadilly line. Barons Court is between West Kensington and Ha ...

stations. On the Piccadilly line, it is between Acton Town (or

Turnham Green Turnham Green is a public park on Chiswick High Road, Chiswick, London, and the neighbourhood and conservation area around it; historically, it was one of the four medieval villages in the Chiswick area, the others being Old Chiswick, Littl ...

stations at very early morning and late evening hours) and Barons Court stations. The station is located in

Travelcard Zone 2 Fare zone 2 is an inner zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services. Bac ...

. The

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

and Hammersmith & City lines' station of the same name is a separate station to the north-west. The two stations are separated by

Hammersmith Broadway Hammersmith Broadway is a major transport node and shopping centre in Hammersmith, London. History The shopping centre opened in 1994, on the site of many now-demolished buildings, including The Clarendon Hotel (a music venue) and Palmers De ...

.As the crow flies, the stations are about apart door to door, although the positions of the pedestrian crossings on the Broadway makes it more like on foot. Se
here
for a close-up map. The north of the two roundels is the Hammersmith & City line station, the south one is the Piccadilly and District lines station. The lifts at this station, which were replaced towards the end of 2013, provide step-free access between the platforms and the main entrance on Hammersmith Broadway.

History

The station was opened on 9 September 1874 by the

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

(DR, now the District line) as the western terminus of the railway when it was extended from

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 ...

. In 1877, Hammersmith became a through station when the DR was extended west to meet 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, Exete ...

(L&SWR) at Ravenscourt Park and services over the L&SWR tracks started to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

On 5 May 1878, the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 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 ...

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

via

Cricklewood Cricklewood is a town in North London, England, in the London Boroughs of Camden, Barnet, and Brent. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies north-west of Charing Cross. Cricklewood was a small rural hamlet ...

and South Acton on the Dudding Hill Line. It operated over a now disused connection between the

North London Railway The North London Railway (NLR) company had lines connecting the northern suburbs of London with the Port of London further east. The main east to west route is now part of London Overground's North London Line. Other NLR lines fell into disus ...

and the L&SWR Richmond branch. The service was not a success and was ended on 30 September 1880. On 15 December 1906, 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, England.A "tube" railway is an undergr ...

(GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly line) opened with Hammersmith as its western terminus. The opening of the western extension of the Piccadilly line from 4 July 1932 required the reconstruction of the station at track level to increase the number of platforms to four and much of the station was rebuilt behind the Harry W Ford designed station building on

Charles Holden Charles Henry Holden (12 May 1875 – 1 May 1960) was an English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadwa ...

designed a secondary entrance for Queen Caroline Street virtually identical to one he designed at the same time for

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

(now Archway) station, since demolished. In the early 1990s, the station buildings were demolished along with the neighbouring bus garage and incorporated into a modern shopping centre and Underground and bus interchange. During the redevelopment the designers commissioned to undertake the station's re-design, Minale Tattersfield, salvaged parts of the tiling from the Harry W Ford façade showing the station name and the lines serving it and preserved them. They now form a frame to a decorative mosaic of

Hammersmith Bridge Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, with Barnes in the London Boroug ...

in the station's north ticket hall. The station is situated in a cutting below Hammersmith bus station.

2003 derailment

On 17 October 2003, a Piccadilly Line train derailed in a tunnel just outside the station, when the wheels of the second-to-last carriage left the tracks. There were no injuries, but there was some damage to rails and sleepers. A report from the subsequent investigation, with input from maintenance contractors

Metronet Metronet may refer to: * Metronet (British infrastructure company), who maintained London Underground infrastructure between 2003 and 2008. *Metronet (Western Australia) Metronet (styled METRONET) is a multi-government agency in Western Austral ...

, rail unions and rail consultants, determined that the direct cause was a broken rail, and suggested that this resulted from outdated specifications for track inspection, resourcing and equipment. The rail that snapped was on the outside of a curved section of track. It had been turned around by London Underground in 2001, because of

corrosion Corrosion is a natural process that converts a refined metal into a more chemically stable oxide. It is the gradual deterioration of materials (usually a metal) by chemical or electrochemical reaction with their environment. Corrosion engine ...

on its inner face, so that what had been its running side was positioned on the outside of the curve. This meant that what had been the running side – the corroded section – was then put under tension. The combination of corrosion and the forces exerted on it by trains led to the rail snapping.

Ultrasonic Ultrasound is sound with frequencies greater than 20 kilohertz. This frequency is the approximate upper audible limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply to any frequency range, includi ...

inspection equipment specified for track inspections was unable to detect outside face cracks of the type thought to have led to the break.

indicated that it would respond to the incident by using different ultrasound detection equipment, increasing the frequency of track inspections, and preferentially replacing rails rather than turning them around.

Connections

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 ...

day and night serve the station from

Hammersmith bus station Hammersmith bus station is located adjacent to the Hammersmith tube station (District and Piccadilly lines), District & Piccadilly and Hammersmith tube station (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines), Circle and Hammersmith & City lines London Und ...

, part of which is above Hammersmith Broadway.

References

External links

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** ** ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammersmith Tube Station (Piccadilly And District lines) District line stations Piccadilly line stations London Underground Night Tube stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Former Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway stations Former Metropolitan District Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1874

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

it:Hammersmith (metropolitana di Londra)#Hammersmith (Piccadilly e District Line)

History

2003 derailment

Connections

See also

References

External links