Barons Court tube station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Barons Court | |
 |
|
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Place | Barons Court |
| Local authority | Hammersmith & Fulham |
| Operations | |
| Managed by | London Underground |
| Platforms in use | 4 |
| Transport for London | |
| Zone | 2 |
| 2005 annual usage | 5.917 million † |
| 2007 annual usage | 6.698 million † |
| History | |
| 1874 1905 1906 |
Tracks laid (MDR) Opened (DR) Started (GNP&BR) |
| Transport for London List of London stations: Underground | National Rail |
|
| † Data from Transport for London [1] | |
Barons Court is a London Underground station on the District and Piccadilly lines. The station is located on Gliddon Road a short distance from Talgarth Road (A4) in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. On the District Line Barons Court is between West Kensington and Hammersmith and on the Piccadilly Line it is between Earl's Court and Hammersmith. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. The Piccadilly Line emerges from tunnel going towards Acton Town and descends going towards Cockfosters.
Contents |
[edit] History
The tracks through Barons Court were first opened on 9 September 1874 when the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR, now the District Line) opened an extension from Earl's Court to Hammersmith. When the line was constructed the area now known as Barons Court was open fields and market gardens to the west of the settlement of North End and there was no call for a station between West Kensington and Hammersmith. By the beginning of the 20th century; however, the area had been developed for housing and on 10 October 1905 the District Railway (DR) opened the station to serve these new developments and in preparation for the opening of the Great Northern Piccadilly & Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly Line) then under construction.
The GNP&BR itself began operations on 15 December 1906, running between Hammersmith and Finsbury Park. The GNP&BR tracks come to the surface east of Barons Court and the station has two island platforms to provide an interchange between the two lines - the inner pair of tracks is used by the Piccadilly Line and the outer tracks by the District Line.
The station building was constructed to a design by Harry Ford in a style similar to that used at Earl's Court and Hammersmith and is now a Grade II listed building as it retains many of its original features. The wooden benches on the platform with the station name along the back on enameled metal panels are a unique feature.
[edit] Trivia
The name Barons Court is possibly inspired by Earl's Court to the east and the association of the area in the early 19th century with the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach [2] (died 1806) and his English wife Elizabeth [3] (the Margravine, the widow of the 6th Baron Craven). They had a home at Brandenburg House immediately to the west of the site of Charing Cross Hospital. The Margravine died in 1828 and is commemorated by a number of roads in the area (Margravine Road and Margravine Gardens) and the Margrave possibly by Barons Court Road although the approximate equivalent rank in the British peerage to Margrave is a Marquess.
Unlike its neighbouring station, Earl's Court, Barons Court is not written with an apostrophe.
[edit] Services
The typical off-peak service from this station is as follows:
- 12 tph to Heathrow Airport via Acton Town (Piccadilly Line)
- 3 tph to Rayners Lane via Acton Town (Piccadilly Line)
- 3 tph to Uxbridge via Acton Town and Rayners Lane (Piccadilly Line)
- 3 tph to Northfields via Acton Town (Piccadilly Line)
- 6 tph to Ealing Broadway via Acton Town (District Line)
- 6 tph to Richmond (District Line)
- 18 tph to Cockfosters via Central London (Piccadilly Line)
- 3 tph to Arnos Grove via Central London (Piccadilly Line)
- 6 tph to Tower Hill (District Line)
- 6 tph to Upminster via Tower Hill (District Line)
[edit] Nearby places
- Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College's Hammersmith site is across Talgarth Road on Gliddon Road.
- The Queen's Club, location of the Stella Artois Championships tennis championship, is at the end of Palliser Road.
- The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, (LAMDA), is on the Talgarth Road.
[edit] External links
- London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive
- Entrance to GNP&BR tunnel between District Railway tracks, 1906. In the distance can be seen the Great Ferris wheel at Earl's Court exhibition ground.
- Barons Court station, 1916
- Booking hall, 1939
- View of platforms, 1983
| Preceding station |  London Underground |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
towards Richmond or Ealing Broadway
|
District line | |||
| Piccadilly line |
towards Cockfosters
|
