Twickenham station

Twickenham
Twickenham Location of Twickenham in Greater London
Location	Twickenham
Local authority	London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Managed by	South Western Railway
Station code	TWI
DfT category	C1
Number of platforms	5
Fare zone	5
National Rail annual entry and exit
2011–12	5.149 million
2012–13	5.565 million
2013–14	5.758 million
2014–15	6.013 million
2015–16	6.535 million
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°W / 51.4504; -0.3296Coordinates: 51°27′01″N 0°19′47″W / 51.4504°N 0.3296°W / 51.4504; -0.3296

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 Western Railway.

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.

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, 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.

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.

The typical off-peak service from the station in trains per hour is:

The station, and King Street, a short walk away, are both served by a number of London Buses routes.

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 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. These reviews are now complete and construction started in 2014.