Hammersmith (Grove Road) railway station

1889 railway map of Hammersmith showing Grove Road station

Abandoned viaduct looking east on approach to Hammersmith (Grove Road)

Hammersmith (Grove Road), as it was officially named but often referred to as simply Hammersmith, was opened on 1 January 1869 by the LSWR on a new branch line from a junction with the West London Joint Railway (WLJR) north of Addison Road to Richmond via Turnham Green.[1]

Kensington to Richmond
London and South Western Railway
District Railway to Earl's Court & West London Extension Rly to Waterloo & Clapham Jn Kensington Addison Road Richmond Junction West London Joint Railway to Willesden Junction Shepherd's Bush (L&SWR) Hammersmith & City Railway to Paddington Hammersmith Depot Hammersmith (Grove Road) Hammersmith (H&CR) District Railway to Earl's Court Hammersmith (DR) Ravenscourt Park originally Shaftesbury Road Stamford Brook North & South Western Junction Rly Hammersmith & Chiswick branch Turnham Green Chiswick Park North & South Western Junction Railway to Willesden Junction District Railway to Acton Town Gunnersbury Junction Gunnersbury originally Brentford Road Hounslow Loop Line to Kew Bridge │ to Waterloo Kew Bridge over River Thames Kew Gardens Waterloo–Reading line to Waterloo Richmond Waterloo–Reading line to Reading
Note: diagram shows modern extent of line but historic line names.

To the north of Hammersmith (Grove Road) the line ran parallel with the HCR before passing under the line and turning through a wide arc south of Shepherd's Bush before reaching the WLJR at a southward pointing junction. To the west of the station, the line became what is now the District line to Richmond, starting just to the east of Ravenscourt Park.

In 1870, Grove Junction was built north of the station connecting the HCR and LSWR tracks, enabling GWR trains on the HCR to access Hammersmith (Grove Road) and run on to Richmond.[1] However, the GWR service ran for only a few months during 1870.[1]

In June 1877, the District Railway (DR; now the District line) opened an extension from its own Hammersmith station to a junction (Studland Road Junction) to connect to the LSWR tracks east of Ravenscourt Park. From 1 October 1877, the MR began to run trains through Hammersmith (Grove Road) to Richmond.[1] From 1 January 1894, the GWR also initiated services along this route.[1]

The more direct route of the DR into central London had a competitive advantage over the other operators of the Richmond service and gradually the other railway companies ended their operations on the Richmond branch. MR services ended on 31 December 1906, shortly after the HCR tracks from Paddington were electrified. GWR services continued until 31 December 1910 and LSWR services continued until 3 June 1916 when the loop line between the Studland Road Junction and Addison Road was closed.[1] The section west of the junction remains part of the District line.

In 1919 the Central London Railway (CLR; today's Central line) published plans to build a tunnelled link from west of its Shepherd's Bush station to the disused tracks north of the station so that it might run trains to Richmond via Hammersmith (Grove Road) and Turnham Green.[2] Although authorisation was granted in 1920,[3] the connection was never realised.

Hammersmith (Grove Road) was demolished and the loop line to the WLJR was removed, although remnants of the viaduct at the Studland Road Junction where the LSWR tracks turned north-east are still visible west of the current Hammersmith station on the District and Piccadilly lines. The station site is now occupied by an office block on Hammersmith Grove.