West Hampstead railway station

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). 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 London Overground.

After privatisation, Anglia Railways ran a regional service for a while between and 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.

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. The upgrade included a new station building, wider platforms and step free access, and was completed in December 2019. The works were designed by Mott MacDonald engineers and BPR Architects.

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.

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.{{cite web |access-date=2008-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611231733/http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/download/asset/?asset_id=564194 |archive-date=11 June 2011 |url-status=dead The redevelopment would involve demolishing existing buildings and the redevelopment of West End Lane as "a tree-lined boulevard".{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040712235704/http://www.alwaystouchout.com/project/35 |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 July 2004 |access-date=2008-07-29 |access-date=2008-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024093559/http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/environment/planning-and-built-environment/planning-consultations/recently-completed-planning-consultations/west-hampstead-interchange-draft-planning-framework.en |archive-date=24 October 2007 |url-status=dead |access-date=2008-07-29

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.

Connections

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

Services

All services at West Hampstead are operated by London Overground as part of the Mildmay line using EMUs.

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

• 8 tph to via
• 4 tph to
• 4 tph to

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

References

References

1. "London Overground's West Hampstead station becomes step-free".
2. {{citation London station interchange January 2016
3. Joe Brown. (2006). "London Railway Atlas". Ian Allan Publishing.
4. Turton, Jonathan. (12 July 2013). "New Overground station to be built next year".
5. "West Hampstead Square {{!}} Ballymore".
6. "London Overground's West Hampstead station becomes step-free".
7. "Work to improve London Overground's West Hampstead station is complete".
8. "BPR Architects - WEST HAMPSTEAD OVERGROUND STATION". BPR Architects.
9. Trevena, Arthur. (1980). "Trains in Trouble". Atlantic Books.
10. "Thameslink station redevelopment gets go-ahead". New Civil Engineer.
11. [http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/london_local_group London Campaign for Better Transport] {{Webarchive. link. (14 October 2007 North and West London light railway (NWLLR) / Brent Cross Railway (BCR) plan)
12. {{NRtimes. December 2023. 59
13. (August 2025). "London Overground Timetable: Richmond and Clapham Junction to Stratford". [[Transport for London]].