West Hampstead railway station

For other uses, see West Hampstead station.

West Hampstead

West Hampstead Location of West Hampstead in Greater London
Local authority	London Borough of Camden
Managed by	London Overground
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	WHD
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	2
Interchange	West Hampstead West Hampstead Thameslink
National Rail annual entry and exit
2004–05	0.690 million
2005–06	0.680 million
2006–07	1.897 million
2007–08	1.108 million
2008–09	1.500 million
- interchange	0.129 million
1888	Opened
Lists of stations	DLR · Underground · National Rail · Tramlink
External links	Departures • Layout
	Facilities • Buses

West Hampstead is a National Rail station on the North London Line between Brondesbury and Finchley Road & Frognal. It is in Travelcard Zone 2.

The station and all trains are operated by London Overground.

History

The station originally opened in 1888 and was called West End Lane until its name was changed in 1975. Rail services were operated by the North London Railway until British Rail took control of operations. The station later became part of the Network SouthEast system.

Following the privatisation of British Rail, the station was operated by the Silverlink train franchise from 1997 until 2007, when operations passed to Transport for London's London Overground system.

Anglia Railways used to run a regional rail service that called here, between Norwich and Basingstoke. This service known as London Crosslink, was discontinued in Autumn 2002 due to congestion on the North London Line and the financial return being less than that forecast.^{[citation needed]}

The station received a major refurbishment towards the end of 2007, to coincide with the London Overground takeover. The ticket office has a new layout including automatic ticket gates and machines and the station is now staffed throughout traffic hours (as are all London Overground stations).

Interchanges

Stations in West Hampstead

Legend Very generally: South - North Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Jubilee and Metropolitan lines Thameslink and Midland Main Line ◄ North London Line to Richmond Overground and TLK stations West Hampstead (on West End Lane} Underground Finchley Road OSI Finchley Road (MR) (1868-1927) Finchley Road & Frognal OSI North London Line to Stratford To St Pancras LU to Baker Street Chiltern Main Line to Marylebone  OSI = Interchange is allowed  between these two stations

The station is situated within close walking distance of two nearby stations:

• London Underground: West Hampstead tube station (Jubilee Line)
• National Rail: West Hampstead Thameslink railway station (First Capital Connect).

Development

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. 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. The redevelopment would involve demolishing existing buildings and the redevelopment of West End Lane as "a tree-lined boulevard". The plans were put on hold in 2007 due to uncertainty over the North London Line rail franchise. This has now been shelved with Network Rail instead redeveloping the station by giving it two separate entrances with another footbridge with lift access, and a new station building on Iverson Road, due to open in December 2011.

In early 2008, the London Group of the Campaign for Better Transport published a plan 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.

Transport links

London bus route 139, 328 and C11.

Services

The normal off-peak service in trains per hour is:

• 4 westbound to Richmond.
• 2 westbound to Clapham Junction.
• 6 eastbound to Stratford.

Preceding station		London Overground		Following station
Brondesbury towards Richmond		North London Line		Finchley Road & Frognal towards Stratford
		West Hampstead interchange
Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Kilburn towards Stanmore		Jubilee line Transfer at: West Hampstead		Finchley Road towards Stratford
National Rail
St Pancras International		First Capital Connect Thameslink Transfer at: West Hampstead Thameslink		St Albans City
Kentish Town		First Capital Connect Sutton Loop Transfer at: West Hampstead Thameslink		Cricklewood
Kentish Town		First Capital Connect Bedford-Sevenoaks Transfer at: West Hampstead Thameslink		Cricklewood
		Former Service
Brentford towards Norwich		Anglia Railways London Crosslink		Camden Road or Highbury & Islington towards Basingstoke