Kew Gardens
Main entrance on the eastbound side, 2014
Kew Gardens Location of Kew Gardens in Greater London
Location	Kew
Local authority	London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Managed by	London Underground[1]
Owner	Network Rail
Station code	KWG
DfT category	D
Number of platforms	2
Accessible	Yes[2]
Fare zone	3 and4
London Underground annual entry and exit
2020	1.81 million[3]
2021	2.15 million[4]
2022	3.97 million[5]
2023	3.94 million[6]
2024	3.08 million[7]
National Rail annual entry and exit
2019–20	1.281 million[8]
2020–21	0.412 million[8]
2021–22	0.972 million[8]
2022–23	1.223 million[8]
2023–24	1.382 million[8]
Key dates
1 January 1869	Opened (L&SWR)
1869	Started (NLR)
1870	Started and Ended (GWR)
1 June 1877	Started (MR and DR)
1 January 1894	Started (GWR)
31 December 1906	Ended (MR)
31 December 1910	Ended (GWR)
3 June 1916	Ended (L&SWR)
Other information
External links	TfL station info page Departures Facilities
Coordinates	51°28′38″N0°17′07″W / 51.4771°N 0.2853°W /51.4771; -0.2853
London transport portal

Kew Gardens is aGrade II–listed^[9]interchange station on theDistrict line of theLondon Underground and theMildmay line of theLondon Overground. Located inKew in theLondon Borough of Richmond upon Thames, it first opened in 1869 and is now managed by London Underground. The station, which is inLondon fare zone 3 and4, is situated midway betweenGunnersbury andRichmond stations.

The station is the nearest toKew Gardens, about 500 yards (460 m) to the west, andThe National Archives, about 600 yards (550 m) to the north east.Kew Gardens Station Footbridge, also aGrade II-listed structure,^[10][11] is next to the station, on the southern side.

The main entrance to the station is at the junction of Station Parade, Station Avenue and Station Approach, about 100 yards (90 m) from Sandycombe Road (B353). There is also an entrance, which iswheelchair-accessible, on North Road, on the other side of the railway line; the two entrances are connected by apedestrian subway.

The station was opened by theLondon and South Western Railway (L&SWR) on 1 January 1869,^[12] in an area ofmarket gardens andorchards.^[13] The station was located on a new L&SWR branch line toRichmond built from theWest London Joint Railway starting north of Addison Road station (nowKensington (Olympia)). The line ran throughShepherd's Bush andHammersmith via a now closed curve andGrove Road station (also now closed) in Hammersmith. Via a short connection from theNorth & South Western Junction Railway (N&SWJR) to Gunnersbury the line was also served by theNorth London Railway (NLR).

Between 1 June 1870 and 31 October 1870, theGreat Western Railway (GWR) briefly ran services fromPaddington toRichmond via Hammersmith & City Railway (now theHammersmith & City line) tracks to Grove Road then on the L&SWR tracks through Kew Gardens.^[14]

On 1 June 1877, theDistrict Railway (DR, now the District line) opened a short extension from its terminus at Hammersmith to connect to the L&SWR tracks east ofRavenscourt Park station.^[12] The DR then began running trains over the L&SWR tracks to Richmond. On 1 October 1877, theMetropolitan Railway (MR, now the Metropolitan line) restarted the GWR's former service to Richmond via Grove Road station.^[14]

The DR's service between Richmond, Hammersmith and central London was more direct than the NLR's route viaWillesden Junction, the L&SWR's or the MR's routes via Grove Road station or the L&SWR's other route from Richmond viaClapham Junction. From 1 January 1894, the GWR began sharing the MR's Richmond service and served Kew Gardens once again,^[14] meaning that passengers from Kew Gardens could travel on the services of five operators.

Following theelectrification of the DR's own tracks north ofActon Town in 1903, the DR funded the electrification of the tracks on the Richmond branch, including those through Kew Gardens. This was completed on 1 August 1905^[12] and DR services on the line were then operated withelectric trains. However, the L&SWR, NLR, GWR and MR services continued to besteam-hauled.

MR services were withdrawn on 31 December 1906 and GWR services were withdrawn on 31 December 1910,^[14] leaving operations at Kew Gardens and Gunnersbury to the DR (by then known as the District Railway), the NLR and L&SWR. By 1916, the L&SWR's route through Hammersmith was being out-competed by the District to such a degree that the L&SWR withdrew its service between Richmond and Addison Road on 3 June 1916, leaving the District as the sole operator over that route.^[15]

A brass plaque at the station commemorates its reopening on 7 October 1989 byMichael Portillo MP,Minister of State forTransport, after it had been refurbished.

The two-storeyyellow brick station buildings are unusually fine examples of mid-Victorian railway architecture and are protected as part of the Kew Gardens conservation area. The station is one of the few remaining 19th-century stations on the North London line and had one of the last illuminatedbanner signals on theLondon Underground, possibly because of the footbridge. This signal was replaced by an electronic version in 2011.^{[citation needed]}

Kew Gardens is the only station on the London Underground network that has apub attached to it.^[16] The pub has a door (no longer in use) which leads out onto platform 1. Previously known asThe Railway, and subsequently asThe Pig and Parrot and asThe Flower and Firkin, the pub reopened after renovation in 2013 asThe Tap on the Line.^[16]

Kew Gardens Station Footbridge
Coordinates	51°28′37″N0°17′06″W / 51.476911°N 0.285107°W /51.476911; -0.285107
Carries	Pedestrians
Crosses	Railway
Locale	Kew,London
Characteristics
Longest span	23 metres[10]
History
Opened	1912
Statistics
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Footbridge at Kew Gardens station
Designated	26 September 2002
Reference no.	1031879
Location
Interactive map of Kew Gardens Station Footbridge

The footbridge to the south of the station is also noteworthy and isGrade II-listed in its own right.^[10][11] The railway line bisected Kew, but it was not until 1912^[10] that the bridge was provided to allow residents to cross the tracks safely (previously, a level crossing was used, with the added disadvantage of delaying trains). It is a rare surviving example of areinforced concrete structure built using a pioneering technique devised by the French engineerFrançois Hennebique.^[17] The bridge has a narrow deck and very high walls, originally designed to protect its users' clothing from the smoke ofsteam trains passing underneath. It also has protrusions on either side of the deck to deflect smoke away from the bridge structure.^[18] It was restored in 2004^[19] with a grant from theHeritage Lottery Fund, in a project led byThe Kew Society.^[18] In July 2017, concerns were expressed about the structural safety of the bridge.^[20]

Kew Gardens currently has the followingLondon Underground (District line) andLondon Overground (Mildmay line) services, which are operated by theLondon Underground S7 stock andBritish Rail Class 378 trains respectively:

• 6 trains per hour (tph) toUpminster
• 6 tph toRichmond

• 4 tph toStratford^[21]
• 4 tph toRichmond
• 4 tph each way on Sundays

There are nolifts. Platform 2 (going towards central London) is at ground level. Platform 1 (going towards Richmond) is reached by a short set of 10 steps; there is also awheelchair-accessible ramp.

London Buses route110 serves the station.^[22]

Kew Gardens station appeared in the BBCcomedy dramaLove Soup (Series 2, Episode 1 –Smoke and Shadows, 1 March 2008) as the fictional "Hove West" station.^[23]

• Kew Bridge railway station
• North Sheen railway station

Wikimedia Commons has media related toKew Gardens station (London).

• Transport for London: Kew Gardens Underground station
• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Kew Gardens station, 1955
  • Hennebique's Footbridge, 1955
  • Kew Gardens station, 2001
• Train times fromNational Rail

Preceding station	London Overground			Following station
Richmond Terminus		Mildmay line North London line		Gunnersbury towardsStratford
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Richmond Terminus		District line Richmond branch		Gunnersbury towardsUpminster
Former services
Richmond Terminus		London and South Western Railway (1869–1916)		Gunnersbury towardsWest Brompton
		Metropolitan Railway (1877–1906)		Gunnersbury towardsPaddington
		Great Western Railway (1894–1910)
Abandoned plans
Preceding station	London Underground			Following station
Richmond Terminus		Central line (1913 & 1920)		Gunnersbury towardsLiverpool Street

• Rail transport stations in London fare zone 3
• Rail transport stations in London fare zone 4
• DfT Category D stations
• 1869 establishments in England
• District line stations
• Former London and South Western Railway stations
• Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
• Grade II listed railway stations
• Kew, London
• Mildmay line stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1869
• Railway stations in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
• Railway stations served by London Overground
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• Tube stations in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

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