Twickenham railway station

Twickenham
Twickenham Location of Twickenham in Greater London
Location	Twickenham
Local authority	London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Managed by	South West Trains
Station code	TWI
DfT category	C1
Number of platforms	5
Fare zone	5
National Rail annual entry and exit
2011–12	5.149 million[1]
2012–13	5.565 million[1]
2013–14	5.758 million[1]
2014–15	6.013 million[1]
Key dates
22 August 1848	Opened
28 March 1954	Resited 230m east
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°27′01″N 0°19′47″W / 51.4504°N 0.3296°WCoordinates: 51°27′01″N 0°19′47″W / 51.4504°N 0.3296°W
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Twickenham railway station is in Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and is in Travelcard Zone 5. The station and all trains serving it are operated by South West Trains.

History

The predecessor, a neo-gothic station, was built by the London and Windsor Railway on the west of London Road bridge, opening on 22 August 1848.^[2]

Preparatory work for rebuilding by the Southern Railway in its "Southern Odeon" style on the east of London Road was halted by the outbreak of World War II,^[3] with most trackwork and the vertical edgings of the five planned through platforms in place. After the war some platforms were made level for rugby spectators' trains which were hand-flagged through the embryonic station. It was not until 28 March 1954 that the present station came into use with three through tracks inconveniently having the two up platforms facing each other. The track at platform 1 is disconnected in one direction and stops at a causeway which allows rugby crowds to reach platforms 2 and 3 without entering the cramped station building. The original station was demolished immediately after closure and there are no remains to be seen.

On 4 February 1996, South West Trains operated its first service which ran from Twickenham to London Waterloo, departing at 05:10. This was the first scheduled privatised train to operate in 48 years.

Access avoiding stairs

Platforms 1 and 2 can be reached by the entrance reserved for match days. With staff attendance platform 3 can be reached across the causeway from the car park and platforms 4 and 5 by a stairlift from the road-level footbridge.

Services

The typical off-peak service from the station in trains per hour is:^[4]

• 12 to London Waterloo, of which:
  • 8 run direct via Richmond and Clapham Junction with:
    • 2 calling at Richmond and Clapham Junction only,
    • 2 calling at Richmond, Putney, Clapham Junction and Vauxhall,
    • 4 calling at all stations
  • 2 run via the Kingston Loop and Wimbledon calling at all stations except Queenstown Road
  • 2 run via the Hounslow Loop line calling at all stations
• 2 to Reading, calling at Feltham, Staines and then all stations except Longcross (served at weekday peak hours only).
• 2 to Windsor and Eton Riverside, calling at Whitton, Feltham, Ashford, Staines and then all stations.

Lines

Platform 5, with the Bridge House office building in the background.

Connections

London Buses route 267, 281 and school route 681 serve the station. King Street is a short walk away and is served by routes 33, 110, 267, 281, 290, 490, 691, H22, R68 and R70 and night route N22 serve the station

Future

The RFU had petitioned the government to improve the station to be ready to handle the increased use during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Network Rail consented to a plan to improve the station^[5] and the rolling stock, but progress stalled because of disagreement between the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames council and some local residents. A judicial review was carried out in December 2012 of the planning permissions that had been granted.^[6] These reviews are now complete and construction started in 2014.^[7]

References

1. "Station usage estimates". Rail statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Please note: Some methodology may vary year on year.
2. The Times, Thursday 24 August 1848
3. Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (1988). Waterloo to Windsor. Middleton Press. p. 70. ISBN 0-906520-54-1.
4. Table 149 National Rail timetable, May 2016
5. "Twickenham". Solum Regeneration. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
6. "Twickenham Residents Action Group". Retrieved 19 November 2012.
7. "£5.2m Twickenham station improvements in time for 2015 Rugby World Cup". Retrieved 19 March 2014.

External links

• Train times and station information for Twickenham railway station from National Rail