West Hampstead railway station

For other stations, see Stations in West Hampstead.

West Hampstead railway station is a London Overground station on the North London Line between Brondesbury and Finchley Road & Frognal in the London Borough of Camden and is in Travelcard Zone 2.

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Legend
Station National Rail Liberty line Accessible station Thameslink Lioness line Interchange station Elizabeth line Mildmay line Accessible interchange Docklands Light Railway Suffragette line Internal interchange London Underground Weaver line Out-of-station interchange London Trams Windrush line (   ) Nearby interchange London River Services The new London Overground line names and colours were introduced across the London rail network in November 2024

West Hampstead
West Hampstead Location of West Hampstead in Greater London
Location	West Hampstead
Local authority	London Borough of Camden
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code(s)	WHD
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	2
OSI	West Hampstead West Hampstead Thameslink [2]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	4.521 million[3]
– interchange	0.650 million[3]
2019–20	4.044 million[3]
– interchange	0.665 million[3]
2020–21	1.554 million[3]
– interchange	0.200 million[3]
2021–22	2.898 million[3]
– interchange	0.447 million[3]
2022–23	3.297 million[3]
– interchange	0.828 million[3]
Key dates
1 March 1888	Opened
Other information
External links	Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51.5473°N 0.1918°W / 51.5473; -0.1918
London transport portal

The station and all trains are operated by London Overground. The station entrance is on West End Lane.

History

The station opened on 1 March 1888 and was called West End Lane until 1975, when it became West Hampstead (making it one of three stations of essentially the same name along West End Lane).^[4] The train service was provided by the North London Railway until 1909, when management of the NLR was taken over by the London and North Western Railway. Complete amalgamation with the LNWR followed in 1922, and the LNWR then amalgamated with other railways to form the LMS from January 1923. The LMS became the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, and the shortened brand name British Rail was used from 1965. The station and the rest of the North London Line was included in the reorganised BR business Network SouthEast in 1986.

Following the privatisation of British Rail, the station was managed by the Silverlink franchise (National Express) from 1997 until 2007, when operations passed to Transport for London's new London Overground.

After privatisation, Anglia Railways ran a regional service for a while between Norwich and Basingstoke which called here. This service, known as London Crosslink, was discontinued in Autumn 2002 because of a shortage of train paths on the North London Line and the financial return being less than forecast.^{[citation needed]}

The station was initially refurbished towards the end of 2007, to coincide with the takeover of the line by London Overground.

The station was comprehensively upgraded in the late 2010s thanks in part to the adjacent Ballymore West Hampstead Square development.^[5][6] The upgrade included a new station building, wider platforms and step free access,^[7] and was completed in December 2019.^[8]

Accidents and incidents

• On 23 February 1937, an express freight train, hauled by LMS Hughes Crab 2-6-0 No. 2765, was derailed near the station.^[9]

Interchanges

v t e Stations in West Hampstead
Legend
Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham LU Jubilee and Metropolitan lines Thameslink and Midland Main Line North London line to Richmond London Overground station Thameslink station West Hampstead (on West End Lane) LU Jubilee line station Finchley Road OSI: Finchley Road (MR) (1868–1927) Finchley Road & Frognal OSI: North London line to Stratford Thameslink and Midland Main Line LU Jubilee and Metropolitan lines Chiltern Main Line to Marylebone
OSI = Out of station interchange

West Hampstead railway station has an out of station interchange with both West Hampstead Thameslink railway station and West Hampstead Underground station. The arrangement of three separate stations (Thameslink, Overground and Jubilee Line) means that passengers wishing to change lines must walk along or cross West End Lane, a busy main road.

Development

A West Hampstead interchange proposal was put forward in 2004 by Chiltern Railways which would link the three West Hampstead stations with subterranean walkways. New platforms would be built for the Chiltern Main Line, and possibly also for the Metropolitan line, and the Thameslink and London Overground (formerly Silverlink) stations would be relocated on the east side of West End Lane.^[10] The redevelopment would involve demolishing existing buildings and the redevelopment of West End Lane as "a tree-lined boulevard".^[11][12] The plans were put on hold in 2007 due to uncertainty over the North London Line rail franchise.^[13] This has now been shelved with Network Rail instead redeveloping the Thameslink station by installing a second footbridge with lift access leading to a new station building on Iverson Road.^[14]

In early 2008, the London Group of the Campaign for Better Transport published a plan^[15] for an off-road, mainly orbital North and West London Light Railway, sharing the orbital Dudding Hill Line freight corridor, and taking over at least one of the two Midland Railway freight lines which run through the neighbouring West Hampstead Thameslink station.

Connections

London Buses routes 139, 328 and C11 serve the station.

Services

All services at West Hampstead are operated by London Overground using Class 378 EMUs.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:^[16][17]

• 8 tph to Stratford via Camden Road
• 4 tph to Richmond
• 4 tph to Clapham Junction

During the late evenings, the services to and from Clapham Junction do not operate.

Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Brondesbury towards Richmond or Clapham Junction		Mildmay line North London line		Finchley Road & Frognal towards Stratford
Historical Railways
Willesden Junction		Anglia Railways London Crosslink		Camden Road

References

1. "London Overground's West Hampstead station becomes step-free". Transport for London. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
2. "Out-of-Station Interchanges" (Microsoft Excel). Transport for London. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
3. "Estimates of station usage". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
4. Joe Brown (2006). London Railway Atlas. Ian Allan Publishing.
5. Turton, Jonathan (12 July 2013). "New Overground station to be built next year". West Hampstead Life. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
6. "West Hampstead Square | Ballymore". ballymoregroup.com. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
7. "London Overground's West Hampstead station becomes step-free". Transport for London. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
8. "Work to improve London Overground's West Hampstead station is complete". Transport for London. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
9. Trevena, Arthur (1980). Trains in Trouble. Vol. 1. Redruth: Atlantic Books. p. 40. ISBN 0-906899-01-X.
10. "Planning Framework for West Hampstead Interchange Area Appendix 2". London Borough of Camden. 19 April 2005. p. 25. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
11. "West Hampstead Interchange". AlwaysTouchOut.com. 11 January 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
12. "West Hampstead Interchange Draft Planning Framework". London Borough of Camden. 19 April 2005. Archived from the original on 24 October 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
13. "Station interchange plans put on hold". Camden New Journal. 15 March 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
14. "Thameslink station redevelopment gets go-ahead". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
15. London Campaign for Better Transport North and West London light railway (NWLLR) / Brent Cross Railway (BCR) plan
16. Table 59 National Rail timetable, December 2023
17. "London Overground Timetable: Richmond and Clapham Junction to Stratford" (PDF). Transport for London. Retrieved 22 January 2024.

External links

• Train times and station information for West Hampstead railway station from National Rail