| London Paddington | |
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| Location | Paddington |
|---|---|
| Local authority | City of Westminster |
| Managed by | Network Rail |
| Station code | PAD |
| Platforms in use | 14 |
| Travelcard zone | 1 |
| NR 2002/3 usage | 25.263 million[1] |
| NR 2004/5 usage | 25.788 million[1] |
| NR 2005/6 usage | 26.501 million[1] |
| NR 2006/7 usage | 27.259 million[1] |
| NR 2007/8 usage | 29.225 million[1] |
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| 1854 | Opened |
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| List of stations | Underground · National Rail |
| External links | Departures • Facilities |
Paddington station,[2] also known as London Paddington,[3] is a major National Rail and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area of central London, England.
The site is an historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates back to 1854, and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The site was first served by Underground trains in 1863, and was the original western terminus of the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway.
Despite its historic nature, and the wish to preserve many of its features, the complex has recently been modernised, and has a new role as the terminus of the dedicated Heathrow Express service. The complex is in Travelcard Zone 1.
Contents |
Location
The station complex is bounded at the front by Praed Street and at the rear by Bishop's Bridge Road, which crosses the throat of the main line station on the recently replaced Bishop's Bridge. On the west side of the station is Eastbourne Terrace, whilst the east side is bounded by the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal. The main line station is located in a shallow cutting, a fact that is obscured at the front by an hotel building, but which can be clearly seen from the other three sides.[4]
None of the bounding streets are major traffic thoroughfares, which makes access by road a little more difficult. The surrounding area is partly residential, and also includes the site of the major St Mary's Hospital, as well as restaurants and hotels, as is usual near stations.[4][5]
Until recently there was not much office accommodation in the area, so that most of Paddington's commuters interchanged between National Rail and the London Underground to reach their destination in the West End or the City. However, recent redevelopment of nearby derelict railway and canal land, marketed as Paddington Waterside, has resulted in a number of new office complexes in the area.[4][5]
National Rail station
The National Rail station is officially named London Paddington, a name that is commonly used outside London, but rarely by Londoners. Parts of the station, including the main train shed, date back to 1854, when it was built as the London terminus for Brunel's Great Western Railway. Today it is one of seventeen UK railway stations managed by Network Rail.[5][6]
History
The first station to open in the Paddington area was a temporary terminus for the Great Western Railway on the west side of Bishop's Bridge Road. The first GWR service from London to Taplow, near Maidenhead, began at Paddington in 1838. After the opening of the main station in 1854, this became the site of the goods depot. After years of dereliction, it is now being redeveloped as part of a mixed residential and business area called Paddington Waterside.[5]
The main Paddington station between Bishops Bridge Road and Praed Street was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel who was later commemorated by a statue on the station concourse (known as "The Lawn"), although much of the architectural detailing was by his associate Matthew Digby Wyatt. The station opened in 1854. The glazed roof is supported by wrought iron arches in three spans, respectively spanning 20.70 m (68 ft), 31.20 m (102 ft) and 21.30 m (70 ft). The roof is 213 m (699 ft) long, and the original roof spans had two transepts connecting the three spans. It is commonly believed that these were provided by Brunel to accommodate traversers to carry coaches between the tracks within the station. However recent research, using early documents and photographs, does not seem to support this belief, and their actual purpose is unknown.[5]
The Great Western Hotel was built on Praed Street in front of the station in 1851-1854 by architect Philip Charles Hardwick, son of Philip Hardwick (designer of the Euston Arch). The station was substantially enlarged in 1906-1915 and a fourth span of 33 m (109 ft) was added on the north side, parallel to the others. The new span was built in a similar style to the original three spans, but the detailing is different and it does not possess the transepts of the earlier spans.[5][7]
On Armistice Day 1922, a memorial to the employees of the GWR who died during the First World War was unveiled by Viscount Churchill. The bronze memorial, depicting a soldier reading a letter, was sculpted by Charles Sargeant Jagger and stands on platform 1.[7][8]
In 1961, the decomposing body of a male child was found in a case at the station. Paper stuffed into his mouth was the cause of death. His identity has never been discovered.[9]
A very early construction by Brunel was recently discovered immediately to the north of the station. A cast iron bridge carrying the Bishop's Bridge Road over the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal was uncovered after removal of more recent brick cladding during the complete replacement of the adjacent bridge over the railway lines at the mouth of the station.[5]
The station today
Today Paddington has 14 terminal platforms, numbered 1 to 14 from south-west to north-east (left to right as seen from the main concourse). Platforms 1 to 8 are located below the original three spans of Brunel's 1854 train shed, whilst platforms 9 to 12 are located beneath the later fourth span. Platforms 13 and 14 are within the Metropolitan Railway's old Bishops Bridge station to the north-west. Immediately alongside are two through platforms, numbered 15 and 16, used by the Hammersmith & City Line of the London Underground (see below).[10]
Platforms 6 and 7 are dedicated to the Heathrow Express, and platforms 13 and 14 can only be used by the 2 and 3 car Turbo trains used on local services. Platforms 1 to 5 and 8 to 12 can be used by any of the station's train services. However long distance trains usually use the south-western platforms, and local trains (including Heathrow Connect) the north-eastern ones.
The station concourse stretches across the head of platforms 1 to 12, underneath the London end of the four main train sheds. Platforms 13 and 14 can be reached directly from the country end of platform 12, or from the footbridge which crosses the country end of the station and gives access to all platforms.[10]
The area between the back of the Great Western Hotel and the station concourse is traditionally called The Lawn. It was originally unroofed and occupied by sidings, but was later built up to form part of the station's first pedestrian concourse. The Lawn has recently been reroofed and separated from the concourse by a glass screen wall. It is now surrounded by shops and cafes on several levels.[5][7]
There are ticket barriers to platforms 2-5 and 10-16.
Services
Paddington is the London terminus for long distance trains, operated by First Great Western, to Bristol, Bath, Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, Exeter and Penzance in the West Country and Midlands, and Newport, Cardiff and Swansea in South Wales. It also acts as the terminus for shorter distance commuter services to West London and the Thames Valley, also operated by First Great Western. Two services from Paddington serve Heathrow Airport: the Heathrow Express travels non-stop whilst the Heathrow Connect service runs along the same route but calls at most intermediate stations. Paddington also serves as an alternative London terminal for Chiltern Railways' service to Birmingham, used when London Marylebone is inaccessible for engineering or other reasons, and for one daily service, London-bound only.[11][12][13][14]
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terminus | First Great Western Greenford Branch Line Monday-Saturday Only |
Acton Main Line | ||
| Terminus | First Great Western Great Western Main Line |
Slough or Reading |
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| Terminus | First Great Western Night Riviera |
Reading | ||
| Terminus | First Great Western Commuter services Great Western Main Line |
Acton Main Line Ealing Broadway on Sundays |
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| Terminus | Heathrow Express Paddington - Heathrow |
Heathrow Central | ||
| Terminus | Heathrow Connect Paddington - Heathrow |
Ealing Broadway | ||
| Terminus | Chiltern Railways London Paddington - Gerrards Cross Monday-Friday Only |
West Ruislip | ||
London Underground stations
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| Location | Paddington |
|---|---|
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Managed by | London Underground |
| Platforms in use | 6 |
| Travelcard zone | 1 |
| LUL 2005 usage | 34.293 million[15] |
| LUL 2007 usage | 37.273 million[15] |
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| 1863 | Opened |
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| List of stations | Underground · National Rail |
Paddington has stops on several London Underground lines: the Hammersmith & City Line at surface platforms on the north side of the main line station and parallel with it; the District Line and Circle Line in a cutting in front of the main line station and at right angles to it; and the Bakerloo Line in deep-level tubes below the main line station. On the London Underground map, the Hammersmith & City line platforms are shown as a separate station, as they have no direct passenger access to the other lines.[16]
History
As originally built, these were three stations on separate lines that subsequently became part of the London Underground.
On 10 January 1863 the Metropolitan Railway opened the first underground railway, running from Paddington (Bishop's Road) to Farringdon. The platforms serving this line were on the north side of the mainline station with the tunnel entrance under Praed Street. There was a connection to the GWR mainline which allowed it to run regular services onto the GWR's Hammersmith branch. The station was renamed "Paddington" on 10 September 1933. From the 1930s until the late 1960s the Metropolitan Line and GWR suburban services shared a group of four platforms, but the Underground is now entirely separate and forms Paddington station on the Hammersmith & City Line.[17][18]
In 1868 the Metropolitan Railway opened a new branch to South Kensington, with a station called Paddington (Praed Street) in a cutting along that street south-east of the mainline station. This station was renamed as "Paddington" on 11 July 1948 and now serves the Circle and District Lines. It is linked to the mainline station and to the Bakerloo line by a footway that passes underneath Praed Street and the Great Western Hotel.[19]
The deep-level Baker Street and Waterloo Railway—now the Bakerloo Line—opened on 1 December 1913, with platforms underneath the mainline station.[20]
The stations today
Today the District/Circle line platforms and the Bakerloo Line platforms are linked by an underground corridor under Praed Street within the fare paid area. They form a single station, which is shown as such on the tube map.[10][16]
The platforms of the Hammersmith & City Line station are still quite separate from the other Underground platforms, and were until the September 2009 revision of the Underground map shown as a separate station on the tube map. They are similar to the mainline platforms alongside them, and are numbered (15 and 16) in the same sequence as the mainline platforms. Interchange between the District/Circle/Bakerloo lines and the Hammersmith & City Line involves walking the length of the mainline station outside the London Underground barrier lines, although the ticket barriers are programmed to permit changing between the two stations as part of a single journey.[10]
Services
The Hammersmith & City Line trains run between Hammersmith and Barking stations. Circle Line trains run in a continuous loop, as the name implies, and trains of the District Line serving this station run between Wimbledon and Edgware Road. The Bakerloo Line runs between Elephant & Castle and Harrow & Wealdstone stations.[16]
Future
From Sunday December 13, 2009, Circle Line will begin to operate to/from this station.
All London Underground services serving Paddington are summarised in the following table:
| Preceding station |  London Underground |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Praed Street | ||||
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towards Harrow & Wealdstone
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Bakerloo line |
towards Elephant & Castle
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towards Victoria
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Circle line |
towards King's Cross St. Pancras
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towards Wimbledon
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District line |
Terminus
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| Bishop's Bridge Road | ||||
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towards Hammersmith
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Hammersmith & City line |
towards Barking
|
Under the planned reorganisation of the Circle Line, trains of that line will also call at platfroms 15 and 16 on their way to Hammersmith. Thus there will be the fairly unusual situation of the same trains stopping at completely different platforms of the same location in the course of a single journey.
Layout
Hammersmith & City line
| ⇒ Hammersmith & City towards Hammersmith ⇒ | |
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| ⇐ Hammersmith & City towards Barking ⇐ | |
Crossrail station
Between 2009 and 2015[21], a new Crossrail station will be built under London Paddington, serving as both a connection to National Rail services, as well as London Underground. Services are due to start in 2017.[22]
| Preceding station | Crossrail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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towards Maidenhead or Heathrow Airport
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Crossrail |
towards Abbey Wood or Shenfield
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Paddington station in fiction
The children's book character Paddington Bear was named after Paddington station. In the books, by Michael Bond, he is found at the station in London, coming from "deepest, darkest Peru" and with a note attached to his coat reading "please look after this bear, thank you". In real life there is a statue of Paddington Bear in the station concourse, and a small shop full of Paddington Bear paraphernalia in the main station area. This merchandise can also be found at Hamley's Toy Store and at Harrod's. This statue is a representation of the original Paddington drawings by Peggy Fortnum.[7][23]
The mystery novel 4.50 From Paddington (1952) by Agatha Christie begins with a murder witnessed by a passenger on a train from Paddington station.[24]
One of The Railway Series books (The Eight Famous Engines) has a story in it about Gordon, Duck, and a foreign engine debating which station London is. Duck says that he used to work at London Paddington as a station pilot so he thinks Paddington is most important. However, Gordon later finds out that the station in London is St. Pancras.
A toilet at Paddington station makes an appearance in the film The Long Good Friday.[25]
Also, Platform one appears briefly in both Quadrophenia and The Bank Job
There is an underground Paddington Station, separate from the real one, on the North London System in the novel The Horn of Mortal Danger (1980).[26]
Gallery
 Platforms 1, 2 and 3 with First Great Western trains for the West of England and Wales. |
 First Great Western (Local) and Heathrow Connect pass on the approach of Paddington. |
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at London Paddington station from Office of Rail Regulation statistics
- ^ "Stations Run by Network Rail". Network Rail. http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/765.aspx. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- ^ "Station Codes". National Rail. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/codes/. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- ^ a b c "Paddington Station Planning Brief" (PDF). Westminster City Council. April 2009. http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/BriefMar08redraft2.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Steven Brindle Paddington Station: Its history and architecture, English Heritage, 2004, ISBN 1-873592-70-1
- ^ "Station Facilities for London Paddington". Association of Train Operating Companies. http://nrekb.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/PAD.html. Retrieved June 9 2006.
- ^ a b c d "Architectural mini guide - Paddington" (PDF). Network Rail. http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/3053_PaddingtonArchitecturalMiniGuide.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
- ^ "'Great Western Railway War Memorial'". from The Great Western Railway Magazine, December 1922, pp. 537-40. 1922, reproduced 2001-11-01. http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/irs/irshome/features/readings/archive/remembrance.htm#EX04. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ^ "A Time Line for Policing the Railways". British Transport Police. http://www.btp.police.uk/History%20Society/Publications/History%20Society/The%20history/A%20Time%20Line%20for%20Policing%20the%20Railways%201950%20-%201979.htm. Retrieved September 20 2006.
- ^ a b c d "Paddington - Station Guide" (PDF). Network Rail. http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/For%20Passengers/Station%20Maps/4509_Paddington%20Station%20Map.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
- ^ "Current timetable vaild from Sunday 18 May until Saturday 13 December 2008". First Great Western. http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=2415. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ "Our Company". Heathrow Express. https://www.heathrowexpress.com/content.asp?SID={F7A5215E-07AE-4BCD-A09B-9FC1EE00CD75}&pageid=27. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ "Welcome". Heathrow Connect. http://www.heathrowconnect.com/. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ "New Timetable to further improve punctuality". Chiltern Railways. 2005-06-03. http://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/news/press-releases/new-timetable-to-further-improve/. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ a b Transport for London - London Underground performance update
- ^ a b c "Standard Tube Map" (PDF). Transport for London. May 2008. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ Nock, O.S. (1973). Underground Railways of the World. London: A & C Black Ltd. pp. 1–15. ISBN 0713613041.
- ^ Wolmar, Christian (2004). The Subterranean Railway : how the London Underground was built and how it changed the city forever. London: Atlantic. ISBN 1843540223.
- ^ Nock, O.S. (1973). Underground Railways of the World. London: A & C Black Ltd. pp. 17–32. ISBN 0713613041.
- ^ "CULG - Bakerloo Line". Clive's Underground Lines Guide. http://www.davros.org/rail/culg/bakerloo.html. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ "Orders of the Day — Crossrail Bill". TheyWorkForYou.com. 2005-07-19. http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2005-07-19.1136.2. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
- ^ ""London Crossrail gets the go-ahead". Railway Gazette International. 2007-10-05. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news_view/article/2007/10/7798/london_crossrail_gets_the_go_ahead.html.
- ^ "How It All Started". paddingtonbear.co.uk. http://www.paddingtonbear.co.uk/en/1/fachismbohow.mxs. Retrieved 2008-07-28.
- ^ Christie, Agatha (2006-01-03). 4.50 From Paddington. Harper Collins. ISBN 0007208545.
- ^ "Film locations for The Long Good Friday". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/l/longgood_1.html. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ Leonard, Lawrence (1980). The Horn of Mortal Danger. Cox and Wyman Ltd. ISBN 0-7445-0847-9.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paddington station |
- Station information on Paddington station from Network Rail
- Train times and station information for Paddington railway station from National Rail (Station code: PAD)
- Image gallery of the station
Coordinates: 51°31′03″N 0°10′39″W / 51.517395°N 0.177476°W
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