Ravenscourt Park is a

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 ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

station located in west

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. ...

, west London. The station is served by the District line and is between

and

Stamford Brook Stamford Brook was a tributary of the Tideway stretch of the River Thames in west London supplied by three headwaters. Historically used as an irrigation ditch or dyke the network of small watercourses had four lower courses and mouths. Histo ...

stations. The station is located between Dalling Road ( B408) and Ravenscourt Road and is about 100 m north of King Street ( A315). The station takes its name from the nearby

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 ar ...

and is in Travelcard Zone 2. The station has four tracks serviced by two island platforms. The outside tracks are used by the District line. The

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 n ...

uses the inside tracks, but does not stop here except on rare occasions, such as engineering works taking place on other sections of the District line, and during all-night services on New Year's Eve.

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

member Murad Qureshi has called for Piccadilly line trains to stop at Ravenscourt Park on a regular basis.

History

The line through Ravenscourt Park station was opened on 1 January 1869 by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) on a new branch line 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, California, ...

. The branch was built from the West London Joint Railway starting north of Addison Road station (now

Kensington (Olympia) Kensington (Olympia) is a combined rail and tube station in Kensington, on the edge of Central London. Services are provided by London Overground, who manage the station, along with Southern and London Underground. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. O ...

). The line ran through

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

and

via a now closed curve and initially the next station west from Hammersmith (Grove Road) (also now closed) was Turnham Green. Ravenscourt Park station was opened as Shaftesbury Road by the L&SWR on 1 April 1873. On 1 June 1877, 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 ...

(DR, now the District line) opened a short extension from its terminus at Hammersmith to connect to the L&SWR tracks east of Ravenscourt Park station. The DR then began running trains over the L&SWR tracks to Richmond. On 1 October 1877, 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, now the Metropolitan line) also started a service to Richmond via Grove Road station. 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 am ...

began running a circuitous service known as the Super Outer Circle 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 North London Railway and the L&SWR Richmond branch. The service was not a success and was ended on 30 September 1880. Ravenscourt Park stn main entrance

Ravenscourt Park tube station taken from Kings Mall

Following an accident at on 9 April 1878 when a passenger fell trying to climb the from the platform into a DR carriage, the platforms at Shaftesbury Road were experimentally raised from the L&SWR standard height of above rail level to , which was lower than the DR standard height of . The Richmond branch was a major stimulus to residential development along the route and traffic on the line was high. The DR's service between Richmond, Hammersmith and central London was more direct than either the L&SWR's or the MR's routes via Grove Road station or the L&SWR's other route from Richmond via Clapham Junction and it took much of the custom. On 1 March 1888, the station was given its present name in advance of the nearby park being opened to the public. From 1 January 1894, the GWR began sharing the MR's Richmond service and served Turnham Green once again, meaning that passengers from Ravenscourt Park could travel on the services of four operators. Following the

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

of the DR's own tracks north of

Acton Town Acton Town is a London Underground station in the south-west corner of Acton, West London, in the London Borough of Ealing, close to the border with the London Borough of Hounslow. The station is served by the District and Piccadilly lines a ...

in 1903, the DR funded the electrification of the tracks through Ravenscourt Park. The tracks between Acton Town and central London were electrified on 1 July 1905. Whilst DR services were operated with electric trains, the L&SWR, GWR and MR services continued to be

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

hauled. MR services were withdrawn on 31 December 1906 and GWR services were withdrawn on 31 December 1910 leaving operations at Ravenscourt Park to the DR and L&SWR. The L&SWR constructed an additional pair of non-electrified tracks between Turnham Green and its junction with the District at Hammersmith and opened these on 3 December 1911 although their use was short-lived as the District's trains out-competed the L&SWR's to the extent that the L&SWR withdrew its service between Richmond and Addison Road on 3 June 1916, leaving the District as the sole operator. Ravenscourt Park tube station approach to Hammersmith

Ravenscourt Park tube station approach to Hammersmith

In the early 1930s, the

London Electric Railway The London Electric Railway (LER) was an underground railway company operating three lines on the London Underground. It was formed in 1910 and existed until 1933, when it was merged into the London Passenger Transport Board. History The LER wa ...

, precursor of the London Underground and owner of the District and Piccadilly lines, began the reconstruction of the tracks between Hammersmith and Acton Town to enable the Piccadilly line to be extended from Hammersmith 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. Uxbrid ...

and

Hounslow West Hounslow West is an area of the London Borough of Hounslow, United Kingdom. It is part of the western residential area of Hounslow but is its own separate area. The area came about with the arrival of the District Railway and then the Piccadilly Li ...

(then the terminus of what is now the Heathrow branch). The inner tracks at Ravenscourt Park were designated for the Piccadilly line between the stopping lines of the District line. Services on the Piccadilly line began running through Ravenscourt Park on 4 July 1932. To the east of the station, the remaining parts of the viaduct (''pictured'') taking the L&SWR's tracks to Grove Road station are situated between the eastbound District and Piccadilly lines on the approach to Hammersmith station.

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 se ...

routes

110 110 may refer to: *110 (number), natural number *AD 110, a year *110 BC, a year *110 film, a cartridge-based film format used in still photography *110 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *110 (song), 2019 song by Capi ...

190 Year 190 (CXC) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Sura (or, less frequently, year 943 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...

218 Year 218 (Roman numerals, CCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Adventus (or, less frequently, year ...

267 __NOTOC__ Year 267 ( CCLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Paternus and Arcesilaus (or, less frequently, year 10 ...

306 __NOTOC__ Year 306 ( CCCVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 105 ...

and H91 and night routes N9 N11 and N266 serve the station.

References

External links

London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
** ** ** ** ** ** {{Central line navbox District line stations Tube stations in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham London Underground stations located above ground Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1873