Richmond, also known as Richmond (London), is an

interchange station An interchange station or a transfer station is a train station for more than one railway route in a public transport system that allows passengers to change from one route to another, often without having to leave a station or pay an additional ...

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 ...

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

on the Waterloo to Reading and

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

lines. It is a western terminus of both the

District line The District line is a London Underground line running from in the east and Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines), Edgware Road in the west to in west London, where it splits into multiple branches. One br ...

of the

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 ...

and the

Mildmay line The Mildmay line is the service operated by London Overground on the North London and West London railway lines. It passes through the inner suburbs of London, between Richmond and Clapham Junction in the south-west and Stratford in the east, ...

of the

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

South Western Railway South Western Railway Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), is the British state-owned train operating company that took over the services of the South Western Railway (2017–2025), operator of the same name from FirstGroup and MTR ...

services on the

Waterloo to Reading Line Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia *Waterloo, New South Wales ...

are routed through Richmond, which is between and St Margarets stations, down the line from .

Architecture

The station building, designed by James Robb Scott in

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

and dating from 1937, is in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style and its facade includes a square clock. The area in front of the station main entrance was pedestrianised in 2013 and includes a

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

to soldier

Bernard Freyberg Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Bernard Cyril Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, (21 March 1889 – 4 July 1963) was a United Kingdom, British-born New Zealand soldier and Victoria Cross recipient, who served as the List of g ...

, who was born in Richmond.

History

The Richmond and West End Railway (R&WER) opened the first station at Richmond on 27 July 1846,Clive's Underground Line Guides – Hammersmith & City Line
/ref> as the terminus of its line from .
/ref> This station was on a site to the south of the present through platforms, which later became a goods yard and where a

multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...

now stands. The Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway (WS&SWR) extended the line westward, resiting the station to the west side of The Quadrant, on the extended tracks and slightly west of the present through platforms. Both the R&WER and WS&SWR were subsidiary companies of 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). On 1 January 1869,Clive's Underground Line Guides – District Line
/ref> the L&SWR opened the Kensington and Richmond line from north of Addison Road station (now

Kensington (Olympia) station Kensington (Olympia) is an interchange station between the Mildmay line of the London Overground and National Rail services operated by Southern, located in Kensington, West London. Limited services on the District line of the London Underg ...

) on the West London Joint Railway. This line ran through Hammersmith (Grove Road) station, since closed, and and had connection with the

North & South Western Junction Railway The North and South Western Junction Railway (NSWJR) was a short railway in west London, England. It opened in 1853, connecting Willesden on the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) with Brentford on the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) ...

(N&SWJR) near . Most of this line is now part of the London Underground District line; the line south from Gunnersbury was also served by 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 ...

(NLR) and is now used also by London Overground. Before this line was built, services north from Richmond ran somewhat circuitously via chords at

Kew Bridge Kew Bridge is a wide-span bridge over the Tideway (upper estuary of the Thames) linking the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Hounslow. The present bridge, which was opened in 1903 as King Edward VII Bridge by King Edward VII and Q ...

and

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People *Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom * Barnes, London, England ** Barnes railway station **Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes High Stree ...

. The

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

(GWR) briefly (1 June to 31 October 1870) ran a service from to Richmond via the Hammersmith & City Railway (now the

Hammersmith & City line The Hammersmith & City line is a London Underground line that runs between Hammersmith in west London and in east London. Coloured pink on the Tube map, it serves 29 stations over . Between and it skirts the City of London, the capital's finan ...

) tracks to Grove Road and then over the L&SWR tracks through

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 ...

. On 1 June 1877, 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) linked its then terminus at

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 ...

to the nearby L&SWR tracks east of the present station. The DR 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 The Metropolitan line, colloquially known as the Met, is a London Underground line between in the City of London and and in Buckinghamshire, with branches to in Hertfordshire and in London Borough of Hillingdon, Hillingdon. Printed in mage ...

) restarted the former GWR service to Richmond via Grove Road station. The DR route from Richmond to central London via

was more direct than those of the NLR via , of the L&SWR and the MR via Grove Road station and of the L&SWR via Clapham Junction to

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

. From 1 January 1894, the GWR began sharing the MR Richmond service, resulting in

Gunnersbury Gunnersbury is an area of West London, England. Toponymy The name "Gunnersbury" originally meant "Gunner's (Gunnar's) fort", and is a combination of an old Scandinavian personal name + Middle English -''bury'', meaning, "fort", or "fortified ...

having the services of five operators. After electrifying its tracks north of in 1903, the DR funded the electrification, completed on 1 August 1905, from Gunnersbury to Richmond. The DR ran

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

trains on the branch, while the L&SWR, NLR, GWR and MR services continued to be

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

hauled. MR services ceased on 31 December 1906 and those of the GWR on 31 December 1910, leaving operations northwards through

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

and

to the DR, the NLR and L&SWR. On 3 June 1916, the L&SWR withdrew its service from Richmond to Addison Road through

due to competition from the

, leaving the District as the sole operator over that route and the NLR providing main line services via

Willesden Junction Willesden Junction () is an interchange station located in Harlesden, north-west London. It is situated on the Bakerloo line of the London Underground and the Lioness and Mildmay lines of the London Overground. The station is located close to ...

. Under the grouping of 1923, the L&SWR became part of the Southern Railway (SR) and the NLR became part of the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

(LMS); both were subsequently nationalised into

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

ways. On 1 August 1937, the SR opened its rebuilt station with the station building and the through platforms moved east to be next to the terminal platforms. At around the same time, the SR moved the goods yard from the site of the original terminus to a new location north-east of the station. In 2025 the station has been undergoing restoration to restore its historic

features. This includes a new mural commemorating twinning with

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

in France and

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

in Germany.

Accident

On 18 September 1987, an accident occurred at Richmond when a westbound District line hit the buffers of platform 6 and broke the glass/perspex panels behind. No passengers were seriously injured.

Crossrail

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

branch to

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

via Richmond was proposed in 2003, but was dropped in 2004 due to a combination of local opposition, complex choices and engineering at the start of the route, cost, and insufficient return on investment. It could have run either overland or via a tunnel to and on the existing track through to Richmond (which would have lost the

service) and thence to Kingston.

Platforms

The station has seven platforms numbered from south to north: * Platforms 1 and 2 are through platforms for South Western Railway services. * Platforms 3 to 7 are terminating platforms used by: ** London Overground Mildmay line services (normally platforms 4 and 5 but sometimes 3, 6 and 7) ** London Underground District line services (normally platforms 6 and 7. Occasionally 4 and 5 but never 3 due to 3's lack of a fourth rail, which the District Line uses for electric power). As of September 2011, work was under way to extend platforms 1 and 2 to accept 10-car trains. The bulk of the lengthening was to be at the west (country) end; extending eastwards was deemed unviable by Network Rail as Church Road Bridge would have needed widening. As part of these works, the platform canopies were also being refurbished. The wide gap between platforms 3 and 4 originally had a third, run-around track for steam locomotives. Eight retail units are at the station: four eatery-cafés on alternate sides of the barriers (two on the rail side being thin and smaller) similarly two kiosks, the upper one being a hot drinks kiosk through to a M&S Simply Food grocery store. A florist and a

WH Smith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service st ...

flank the entrance.

Services

Services at Richmond are operated by

on the

and

on the

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 2 tph between and . These services are the fastest services to London Waterloo, calling at only intermediately. * 2 tph between London Waterloo and . These services call at Putney, Clapham Junction and Vauxhall on the way to London Waterloo. * 2 tph in each direction on the loop service via , returning to London Waterloo via and , calling at all stations. * 4 tph to via * 6 tph to via Additional services, including trains to and from , , and London Waterloo via call at the station during the peak hours.

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 ...

routes 33, 65,

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 Cap ...

, 190,

337 __NOTOC__ Year 337 (Roman numerals, CCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Felicianus and Titianus (or, less frequently, year 1090 ''Ab urbe condita ...

371 __NOTOC__ Year 371 (CCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Petronius (or, less frequently, year 1124 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...

419 Year 419 ( CDXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Monaxius and Plinta (or, less frequently, year 1172 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 419 for th ...

490 Year 490 ( CDXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Faustus and Longinus (or, less frequently, year 1243 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 490 for this ...

493 Year 493 ( CDXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Albinus and Eusebius (or, less frequently, year 1246 ''ab urbe condita''). The denomination 493 for th ...

, H37, R68, R70, mobility route

969 Year 969 ( CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th year of the 10th century, and the 10th ...

and night routes N22 and N65 serve the station.

References

External links

Transport for London Richmond Underground station
{{LB Richmond Art Deco railway stations District line stations Former London and South Western Railway stations Railway stations in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Railway stations served by London Overground Railway stations served by South Western Railway Tube stations in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Richmond, London 1846 establishments in England James Robb Scott buildings Art Deco architecture in London Mildmay line stations