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Kensington (Olympia)
Location
Place	Olympia, London
Local authority	Kensington & Chelsea
Operations
Managed by	London Overground
Platforms in use	3
National Rail
Station code	KPA
Annual entry/exit	1.159 million **
Transport for London
Zone	2
Annual entry/exit	0.799 million †
History
Key dates	Opened 1864
Transport for London List of London stations: Underground | National Rail
† Data from Transport for London [1]
** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at this station. Disclaimer (PDF)
London Transport Portal
UK Railways Portal

Kensington (Olympia) station is a National Rail and London Underground station in West London. On the Underground network it is the terminus of a short branch of the District Line from Earl's Court, although built as part of the Outer Circle; on the main-line railway it is on the West London Line between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction, used by many trains to bypass Central London. The station was first named Kensington; in 1868 it was renamed Addison Road, as central Kensington then got its own station, High Street Kensington; in 1947 it was renamed Kensington (Olympia).

As the railway forms the boundary between two London Boroughs, the southbound platform lies in Kensington and Chelsea while the northbound and London Underground platforms are in Hammersmith and Fulham. The station appears on London Underground maps as "Kensington (Olympia)" although it is referred to on National Rail maps and timetables, and the London Overground-maintained station signage as "Kensington Olympia".

Contents 1 Services 1.1 National Rail 1.2 London Underground 2 Description 3 Gallery 4 External links 5 References

Main-line trains from the following operators call here:

The Brighton to Manchester service will cease in 2008, after the bidders for the CrossCountry franchise were offered the option of removing the route from network. ^{[1] [2]}

London Overground
Willesden Junction Terminus		West London Line		West Brompton towards Clapham Junction
National Rail
Wembley Central		Southern West London Line		West Brompton
Reading		CrossCountry Brighton-Manchester Piccadilly Mondays-Saturdays only		East Croydon

When Shepherd's Bush opens

Preceding station		London Overground		Following station
Shepherd's Bush towards Willesden Junction		West London Line		West Brompton towards Clapham Junction

District Line trains serve this station on a short shuttle service from High Street Kensington via Earl's Court (the driver walks to the other end of the train, waits a few minutes, then drives back to Earl's Court). District Line train drivers generally dislike working the Olympia branch service, as during their working day they will do up to seven 'High Street Kensington' to 'Olympia' trips, and return. There is one late evening train per day which runs Kensington Olympia, direct to Upminster (indicated in italics below). This station is in London Underground Zone 2.

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Terminus		District line		Earl's Court towards High Street Kensington

On weekdays, the first tube train leaves the station at 07:18 and then they run roughly three or four times an hour as follows;

Hour	Minutes past
07:		18		34
08:	08				42	59
09:		16		33	48
10:	04	19		35		52
11:	04	18		34	49
12:	04	19		35		52
13:	04	18		34	49
14:	05	19		35		52
15:	04		20	35		50
16:	08		23		40	58
17:		14		31	48	57
18:	05		22	39
19:		15		36	49
20:	05	19		36		52
21:	04	18		34	48
22:	05	19		34	48	52
23:		19		37		50

This station is relatively quiet compared to its busy past, although for many years the passenger service was limited to peak-hour main-line trains each way to and from Clapham Junction, and Underground trains during exhibition times only. A large number of freight trains pass through the station, as the West London Line is the main freight route from north of London to the south-east of England and the Channel Tunnel.

Prior to the transfer of Eurostar services to St Pancras International in November 2007, Eurostar trains passed through on their way from Waterloo International to North Pole depot. In the more distant past, Motorail services operated by British Rail used to terminate here, allowing passengers to convey their cars between London and many parts of the country.

The link to the Great Western Main Line, avoiding Paddington station, the western central London terminus, meant that the station was to play an important role in the Cold War should a nuclear exchange have seemed likely. The station was part of the secret plans to evacuate large numbers of civil servants to the Hawthorn, Wiltshire underground nuclear bunker in the period leading up to a nuclear war ^[3].

Kensington Olympia was also a backup terminus for the Eurostar services in the event that Waterloo station became unusable in an emergency. Until the move to St Pancras, there were immigration facilities kept at Kensington Olympia for this purpose, and possibly also because of the aborted plan to run Eurostar services from regional stations in the UK through to the continent ^{[4] [5]}.

Silverlink EMUs 313122 and 313123 at Kensington (Olympia)

Aerial view of Kensington (Olympia)

Current (right) and former (left) southbound platforms at Kensington (Olympia)

Mainline platforms

• Train times and station information for Kensington Olympia station from National Rail
• Street map and aerial photo of Kensington Olympia station from Multimap.com

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Coordinates: 51°29′55″N, 0°12′39″W