The Kensington and Richmond line was a railway in West London, England. It was built by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), which already had a main line to Richmond from London. The Kensington line was chiefly a defensive measure to limit the incursion of rival railways into territory. It ran from Kensington on the West London Railway, by way of Hammersmith, Turnham Green, Gunnersbury and Kew; it opened in 1869. It had a separate station at Richmond, in keeping with the intention of preventing competitors from easily obtaining running powers to go further into the area.
Nevertheless, several competing companies ran passenger train services into Richmond over part of the line, and the Midland Railway developed an important route for the supply of house coal to the developing suburbs served. In 1877 the Metropolitan District Railway connected to the Kensington line at Hammersmith, and ran an increasingly intensive passenger service to Richmond. From 1879 the District operated to Ealing, and soon the volume of its train service swamped the capacity of the shared route section, from near Hammersmith to Turnham Green. When the District Railway electrified its train services in 1905, it was obvious that line capacity was overwhelmed, and the line was quadrupled from 1911, the District Railway being allocated a dedicated double track.
The had almost exclusive use of the other double track, but its own service, now seen by the public as inferior, was declining steeply, and in 1916 it was withdrawn completely. The pair of tracks remained dormant for ten years, until in 1926 the District Railway implemented a widening scheme. By taking the ground formerly occupied by the , the District Railway, now part of the Underground system, was able to quadruple its own tracks. This was operational from 1932, with the Piccadilly Line operating fast services on the centre two tracks and the District Line working stopping trains on the outer pair. This applied between Hammersmith (at the former Studland Road Junction) and Turnham Green. From Studland Road Junction to Kensington was now derelict and the land was sold. From Turnham Green to Richmond, the line continued, but was now used by the District Line trains and the North London Line trains from Broad Street, later from North Woolwich.
History Richmond as a residential centre Richmond had long had royal connections and in the 19th century, Richmond became increasingly desirable as a residential town. The amenities available for the well-to-do made it attractive, and travel to the City of London by steamer made it attractive as a rural retreat.Janet Dunbar, Richmond upon Thames, A Short Guide, self published by Janet Dunbar, Richmond, 1978, , pages 5 and 6H P White, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 3: Greater London, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1963, new edition 1971, , pages 127 to 129
Richmond gained a railway connection in 1846 when the Richmond Railway reached the town, giving a quick connection to London. At first this was the Nine Elms terminus, but Waterloo became the London station from 1848.R A Williams, The London and South Western Railway: volume 1: The Formative Years, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1968, , pages 160, 168 and 169 The Richmond Railway was taken over by the London and South Western Railway in 1847.Donald J Grant, Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain, Matador, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, , page472 The railway accelerated the establishment of an affluent class of professional people living in the area served, and in turn this attracted the 's railway competitors to consider participating in the business of residential travel. The urge was enhanced by the 's continuing difficulty in getting to the City of London: in a daily journey of twelve miles, the last two miles from Waterloo were far more time-consuming, and more aggravating than the first part of the journey.R A Williams, The London and South Western Railway: volume 2: Growth and Consolidation, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1973, , pages 11 and 12
Competing railways The North and South Western Junction Railway (N&SWJR) was connected from Willesden on the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) to Kew, on the 's Hounslow loop line, in 1853. It wanted to advance to Richmond, and the feared that Parliament would support that if the did nothing to facilitate the connection. Not wanting the to have its own entry to Richmond, the constructed curves at Kew and Barnes, opening in 1862, enabling the trains to reach Richmond over track. The route was very circuitous.H C Casserley, Britain's Joint Lines, Ian Allan, London, 1968, , page 106 Although the trains ran, this was clearly unsatisfactory and the pressure to get direct access to Richmond continued. The decided to promote its own line from Kew Bridge to Richmond; the was alarmed at this possibility and persuaded the that it would build such a line itself, providing connections and running powers for the , and the other companies that used track.Williams, volume 1, page 178
The formulated a Kensington and Richmond Railway. It would make a six-mile line from near Kensington (Addison Road) station on the West London Railway, through Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith, and the would join it south of Acton; the line would cross the River Thames on a new bridge and run to a separate terminus alongside the existing Richmond station. By running the line to a terminal station, the intended to restrict the incursion of rival railways to Richmond only, and discourage the granting of running powers to go further west.Alan A Jackson, London's Local Railways, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1978, , pages 327 to 330R A Williams, The London and South Western Railway: volume 2: Growth and Consolidation, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1973, , pages 21 to 23
LSWR Kensington and Richmond line
The LNWR, as the most assertive member of the West London Railway's joint owners, had negative feelings about the limitation to terminating at Richmond, but acquiesced in the face of other potential threats. The parliamentary bill received royal assent on 14 July 1864 and became the (27 & 28 Vict. c. clxvi); the share capital was £330,000; the line would be long. The authorisation permitted the Kensington and Richmond line to connect into the Hammersmith and City Railway (H&CR) near its Hammersmith terminus. This was granted to allow the trains of the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the Metropolitan Railway, users of the Hammersmith and City line, to run trains on to Richmond. The Hammersmith and City line operated on the broad gauge at the time; the could require mixed gauge track to be installed on the , in which case it would pay for the work. There would be a short section of the on which trains would run, and a joint / station was to be built there; the would have to be converted to dual-gauge at this point. At South Acton, an Acton Junction Line would allow trains to work from the to the Richmond terminus.
The connecting lines and other arrangements were repeatedly revised in the following years, authorised by a series of further acts of Parliament. A second act of Parliament in June 1865, the (28 & 29 Vict. c. lxxxix), allowed an extension of time; it also altered the layout at Hammersmith to give a separate through line from Kensington, with connections onto and off from the , the intention being that some trains would run over the to call at the joint station whilst others would by-pass it. This act also sanctioned a Chiswick Curve, to allow direct running from Hounslow onto the Kensington line, just south of the present Gunnersbury station. A Kew Bridge Curve, for direct running between Richmond and Hounslow was authorised by the London and South-western Railway (Additional Powers) Act 1866 (29 & 30 Vict. c. ccxvi), but it was never built.
The Hammersmith connections were altered again in the following year: now there would be a single junction north of the terminus, allowing trains to run from the running south from Goldhawk Road towards Richmond, and abandoned the proposed joint interchange station. In its place, the would build a station at Hammersmith Grove, south of the proposed junction, which and Metropolitan trains would be able to use on payment and which would be connected by 'a convenient passageway', enclosed and covered and at least 10 ft wide, passing over the into its Hammersmith terminus.
Opening of the line
The River Thames crossing at Kew had been started in 1865, and this enabled the line to be finally opened on 1 January 1869; the train service was approximately hourly between Richmond and Waterloo; from Kensington the trains ran south to cross the Thames again, and turn towards Waterloo via Latchmere Junction and West London Junction at Battersea. This access to Latchmere Junction enabled the to run from there to Ludgate Hill via Factory Junction and Loughborough Junction. There had been a Kensington to Ludgate Hill service since 1 February 1868, so this was simply started back from Richmond via Hammersmith. Richmond to Ludgate Hill took an hour; about ten trains ran each way daily.Williams, volume 2, pages 23 to 25J C Gillham, The Railways of Kew and Gunnersbury, in the Railway Magazine, August 1956, pages 503 and 504
The North London Railway (NLR) took advantage of the Richmond end of the new route, running trains from Richmond to Broad Street, via Gunnersbury Junction (then known as Brentford Road Junction) and South Acton Junction (then simply Acton Junction). The Kew east curve of 1862 (South Acton towards Barnes) continued in use, but the Barnes West curve was no longer required, and was removed after authorisation in the South Western Railway (Various Powers) Act 1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. clxxxiii) of 26 August 1880. The North London Railway Company's trains ran alternately to Broad Street and to Kew Bridge, hourly to each destination forming a 30-minute frequency as far as South Acton. From 1909 the service frequency was doubled.
The route of the line
The new line had a separate terminus station at Richmond, alongside and on the north of the through station. The had its own booking office and clerks there, until 1917. After Kew Gardens station, the line crossed the river Thames on a five-span girder bridge and crossed the Hounslow line. The Chiswick curve trailed in at the south end of Gunnersbury station. The Chiswick curve enabled goods trains to access the Hounslow line to and from the Hammersmith direction. At the north end of Gunnersbury station, a facing junction led to the Acton Junction line of the ; this joined the original line at South Acton station, and was now the normal route for passenger trains leaving Richmond. Although the area through which the main line ran was still relatively rural, Hammersmith was developing fast as a residential area, and the Midland Railway in particular, as a joint lessee from 1871 of the , was establishing house-coal deliveries to yards in the Hammersmith area.Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Willesden Junction to Richmond, Middleton Press, Midhurst, 1996, , Historical Background