The station was opened in 1849 by the London and South Western Railway. The starting category listed large station building, designed by Sir William Tite, is now a coffee shop. The North & South Western Junction Railway in a spirit of affording LSWR access to Fenchurch Street operated its admittedly rival 'Kew' station on the western curve. From 1862 the companies cooperated: the junction railway company building additional Kew Bridge platforms, the LSWR having constructed the eastern curve itself.
Present
The station, on the Hounslow Loop Line, is on the southern and eastern curves of the Kew Bridge railway triangle, although the eastern curve platforms are abandoned. The station building was extensively refurbished in June 2013, with the platforms reached by a side walkway. The station has 2 active platforms and 2 disused platforms:
Platform 3: Currently disused, served trains via South Acton
Platform 4: Currently disused, served trains from South Acton continuing via Chiswick.
There are currently no passenger services on the eastern and western curves, but both have been proposed by the London Borough of Hounslow for Crossrail and also for Zone 3OvergroundOrbirail. The football stadium redevelopment plan includes space for additional platforms on the other curves. Briefly, between 2000 and 2002, Anglia Railways ran trains originating from the Great Eastern Main Line via the North London Line and the western curve as far as Basingstoke. This was termed the "Crosslink" service.
proposed that Crossrail services from the east have the option of terminating at Hounslow as well as Reading by a mix of existing line and new connections. This proposal was rejected. Other plans have been drafted and floated to Network Rail for reinstatement of track on the curves and direct services for Brentford Football Club's development of its Lionel Road stadium.
Gallery
Service
The typical off-peak weekday service in trains per hour is
On Sundays there is one train per hour in each direction between Waterloo and via and one train per hour in each direction between Waterloo and Twickenham, Kingston, Wimbledon and Waterloo via Hounslow.
Connections
routes 65, 237, 267 and 391 and night routes N9 and N65 serve the station.