Hammersmith (Grove Road) station

Hammersmith (Grove Road) was a station on the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR). It was located in Grove Road (now Hammersmith Grove), Hammersmith, adjacent to the Hammersmith & City Line station.

For much of its existence the station was also served by the Metropolitan Railway (MR, now the Metropolitan line) and the Great Western Railway (GWR).

L&SWR trains serving the station ran from Waterloo via Clapham Junction and Addison Road (now Kensington (Olympia)) to Richmond. MR and GWR trains ran from Paddington via the Hammersmith & City Railway (H&CR, now the Hammersmith & City line) and also on to Richmond.

History

Grove Road station was opened on 1 January 1869 by the L&SWR when it opened a new branch line from a junction with the West London Joint Railway (WLJR) north of Addison Road station to Richmond via Turnham Green.cite web |url=http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/hammersmith.html#History |title=Hammersmith & City Line, History, The Hammersmith & City Railway |work=Clive's Underground Line Guides |accessdate=2008-08-25]

To the north of Grove Road station the line ran parallel with the H&CR before passing under the line and turning through a wide arc south of Shepherd's Bush (with its own station there) before reaching the WLJR at a southward pointing junction. To the west of the station, the line became what is now the District Line to Richmond, starting just to the east of Ravenscourt Park.

In 1870, a junction (Grove junction) was built north of the station connecting the H&CR with the L&SWR tracks and enabling GWR trains running over the H&CR to access Grove Road station and run to Richmond. The GWR service was short lived, running for only a few months in 1870 before being discontinued.

In June 1877, the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR, now the District Line) had opened an extension from its own station at Hammersmith to a junction (Studland Road Junction) to connect to the L&SWR tracks east of Ravenscourt Park. From 1 October 1877, the MR began to run trains through Grove Road to Richmond.

From 1 January 1894, the GWR also ran trains through Grove Road to Richmond.

The more direct route of the MDR into central London gave it a competitive advantage over the other operators of the Richmond service and, gradually, the other railway companies ended their operations on the Richmond branch. MR services ended on 31 December 1906, shortly after the H&CR tracks from Paddington were electrified. GWR services continued until 31 December 1910 and L&SWR services continued until 3 June 1916 when the loop line between Studland Road junction and Addison Road was closed. The section west of the junction remains part of the District Line.

In 1919, the Central London Railway (CLR, now London Underground's Central Line) published plans to build a tunnelled link from west of its Shepherd's Bush station to the disused tracks north of the staton so that it might run trains to Richmond via Grove Road and Turnham GreenLondonGazette|issue=31656|date=25 November 1919|startpage=14473] . Although authorisation was granted in 1920Central London and Metropolitan District Railway Companies (Works) Act, 1920] , the connection was never realised.

Grove Road station has been demolished and the loop line to the WLJR has been removed although remnants of the viaduct at Studland Road junction where the L&SWR tracks turned north-east are visible west of Hammersmith Piccadilly and District Line station.

References

Former Services