Hammersmith | |
|---|---|
 Piccadilly line westbound platform at the station | |
  Hammersmith Location of Hammersmith in Greater London | |
| Location | Hammersmith,London, England |
| Managed by | London Underground |
| Number of platforms | 4 |
| Accessible | Yes[1] |
| Fare zone | 2 |
| OSI | Hammersmith (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)[2] |
| London Underground annual entry and exit | |
| 2020 |  9.90 million[3] |
| 2021 |  10.80 million[4] |
| 2022 | 20.06 million[5] |
| 2023 | 20.29 million[6] |
| 2024 | 22.48 million[7] |
| Key dates | |
| 9 September 1874 | Opened (DR) |
| 1877 | DR extended west |
| 5 May 1878 | Started "Super Outer Circle" (MR) |
| 30 September 1880 | Ended "Super Outer Circle" |
| 15 December 1906 | Started (GNP&BR)(Terminus) |
| 4 July 1932 | Piccadilly line extended west |
| Other information | |
| Coordinates | 51°29′34″N0°13′28″W / 51.4927°N 0.2244°W /51.4927; -0.2244 |
 London transport portal | |
Hammersmith is aLondon Underground station inHammersmith,London. It is served by theDistrict andPiccadilly lines, providingcross-platform interchange between the lines. On the District line, the station is betweenRavenscourt Park andBarons Court stations, and on the Piccadilly line, it is betweenActon Town (orTurnham Green at the very early morning and late evening hours) and Barons Court stations. The station is located inLondon fare zone 2.
TheCircle andHammersmith & City lines'station of the same name is a separate station to the north-west. The two stations are separated byHammersmith Broadway.[8]
The lifts at this station, which were replaced towards the end of 2013, provide step-free access between the platforms and the main entrance on Hammersmith Broadway.[9]
The station was opened on 9 September 1874 by theDistrict Railway (DR, now the District line) as the western terminus of the railway when it was extended fromEarl's Court.[10] In 1877, Hammersmith became a through station when the DR was extended west to meet theLondon and South Western Railway (L&SWR) at Ravenscourt Park and services over the L&SWR tracks started toRichmond.[10]
On 5 May 1878, theMidland Railway began running a circuitous service known as theSuper Outer Circle fromSt Pancras toEarl's Court viaCricklewood andSouth Acton on theDudding Hill Line.[11] It operated over a now disused connection between theNorth London Railway and the L&SWR Richmond branch. The service was not a success and was ended on 30 September 1880.[11]
On 15 December 1906, theGreat Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly line) opened with Hammersmith as its western terminus.[12]
The opening of the western extension of the Piccadilly line from 4 July 1932 required the reconstruction of the station at track level to increase the number of platforms to four and much of the station was rebuilt behind the Harry W Ford designed station building onHammersmith Broadway.Charles Holden designed a secondary entrance for Queen Caroline Street virtually identical to one he designed at the same time forHighgate (now Archway) station, since demolished.
In the early 1990s, the station buildings were demolished along with the neighbouring bus garage and incorporated into a modern shopping centre and Underground and bus interchange. During the redevelopment the designers commissioned to undertake the station's re-design,Minale Tattersfield, salvaged parts of the tiling from the Harry W Ford façade showing the station name and the lines serving it and preserved them. They now form a frame to a decorative mosaic ofHammersmith Bridge in the station's north ticket hall.
The station is situated in a cutting below Hammersmith bus station.
On 17 October 2003, a Piccadilly Line train[13] derailed in a tunnel just outside the station, when the wheels of the second-to-last carriage left the tracks. There were no injuries, but there was some damage to rails and sleepers. A report from the subsequent investigation, with input from maintenance contractorsMetronet,London Underground,rail unions and rail consultants, determined that the direct cause was a broken rail, and suggested that this resulted from outdated specifications for track inspection, resourcing and equipment.
The rail that snapped was on the outside of a curved section of track. It had been turned around by London Underground in 2001, because ofcorrosion on its inner face, so that what had been its running side was positioned on the outside of the curve. This meant that what had been the running side – the corroded section – was then put under tension.
The combination of corrosion and the forces exerted on it by trains led to the rail snapping.Ultrasonic inspection equipment specified for track inspections was unable to detect outside face cracks of the type thought to have led to the break.Metronet indicated that it would respond to the incident by using different ultrasound detection equipment, increasing the frequency of track inspections, and preferentially replacing rails rather than turning them around.
London Buses day and night serve the station fromHammersmith bus station, part of which is above Hammersmith Broadway.[14][15]
| Preceding station | London Underground | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ravenscourt Park towardsEaling Broadway orRichmond | District line | Barons Court towardsUpminster orHigh Street Kensington | ||
| Turnham Green | Piccadilly line Early morning, late evening and Friday and Saturday Nights service only | Barons Court towardsCockfosters orArnos Grove | ||
| Acton Town | Piccadilly line | |||
| Former service | ||||
| Ravenscourt Park towardsSt Pancras | Midland Railway (1878–1880) | West Kensington towardsEarl's Court | ||
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