West Hampstead tube station

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox London station Template:West Hampstead stations

West Hampstead is a London Underground station in West Hampstead, London. It is located on West End Lane between Broadhurst Gardens and Blackburn Road and is situated in London fare zone 2. The station is on the Jubilee line, between Kilburn and Finchley Road stations. It is Template:Cvt from West Hampstead station on the London Overground's Mildmay line and Template:Cvt from West Hampstead Thameslink station. Metropolitan line trains also pass through the station, but do not stop.

History

The station was opened on 30 June 1879 by the Metropolitan Railway (now the Metropolitan line) when it extended its tracks from Swiss Cottage. The station acted as the temporary terminus of the branch until it was further extended to Willesden Green on 24 November that year. The original station had two tracks with facing platforms; the booking office was to the south of the current surface building location with separate stairs to each platform. Consequential to the extension of the Great Central Railway displacing the Metropolitan Railway toward the north, this construction was replaced by an island platform overlapping the position of the previous Up platform.<ref>Ordnance Survey 1:1056 mapping, 1893-1895 accessed via National Library of Scotland (nls.ac.uk)</ref>

On 20 November 1939, most stopping services were transferred to the Bakerloo line when it took over operations on the Stanmore branch; at this time the platform was rebuilt in the Underground's standard style, but the station building was retained. Stopping services were transferred to the Jubilee line on 1 May 1979.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Metropolitan line services run past the station on their own tracks either side of the Jubilee Line having not served the station (a few trains in the early morning and late at night) since the connection between the Metropolitan and Jubilee Lines at Finchley Road was removed as part of the preparation for automatic operation of the Jubilee Line.

In 2003, Chiltern Railways unveiled a proposal for West Hampstead interchange, a development that would allow passenger interchange among five different Tube and railway lines.<ref name="cnj2003">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2008 it was proposed that the North and West London Light Railway could serve the station.<ref name="proposal">Template:Cite web</ref> The West Hampstead interchange proposal is now no longer possible, due to development in the area.

Step free access

Both the nearby Thameslink station and the Overground station were rebuilt and upgraded in 2011 and 2019 respectively, with step free access added to both stations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Local community groups and politicians have pushed for step-free access to be provided at the Underground station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As part of the approval of redevelopment of the O2 Centre by developers Landsec in 2023, £10 million was secured for future step-free access at the Underground station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In July 2023, TfL announced that West Hampstead was one of several stations that could become step-free, depending on available funding.<ref name=":37">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2025, a property developer proposed replacing light industrial units adjacent to the station with student accommodation and new homes. This proposal would allow for TfL to expand the station to provide step-free access, as well as widen the narrow pavement outside the entrance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Access and interchanges

Due to stairs leading from the ticket hall to the platform, the station is not accessible. Facilities include an automatic ticket machine, two quick ticket machines, a ticket booth, countdown timers, a waiting room and both male and female toilets.

Most maps show the three stations as connections. Through ticketing is allowed.

Image gallery

West Hampstead tube station northbound platform, December 2005.
West Hampstead tube station seen from the footbridge between Blackburn Road and Broadhurst Gardens, April 2007.
West Hampstead tube station westbound platform looking east, September 2008.
West Hampstead tube station, looking towards Kilburn, April 2008.
West Hampstead tube station main entrance April 2009.
Waiting room.