The station was opened as Paddington by the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863 as the western terminus of the world's first underground railway. The station building was located on the road bridge carrying Bishop's Road over the mainline tracks of the Great Western Railway. Services were initially operated with rolling stock provided by the GWR, and the MR route to Farringdon was laid with dual-gauge track for both broad-gauge and standard-gauge trains. On 9 May 1864, the boiler exploded on the engine of a train about to leave the station eastbound. The driver and fireman, a member of staff on the platform and a passenger on a train arriving from the east were injured. The explosion threw fragments of the boiler up to away. The canopy and end screen of the station's roof, the side wall of the platform stairs and the carriage of the arriving train were all damaged. On 13 June 1864, GWR services were extended westward when the Hammersmith & City Railway opened to Hammersmith. MR services began operating to Hammersmith in 1865. Initially, trains ran for about on the GWR's mainline tracks between Paddington and the start of the Hammersmith branch, but delays on the mainline section led to a separate pair of parallel tracks for the Hammersmith service being constructed. These opened on 30 October 1871. On 1 October 1868, the MR opened a south-west facing junction approximately west of Edgware Road for a new branch to Gloucester Road. MR trains to Gloucester Road served a separate station named Paddington south of the main-line station. Paddington station was given its current name in 10 September 1933. From 1 August 1872, the '"Middle Circle"' service also began operations through the station running from Moorgate then over the Hammersmith branch to Latimer Road then, via a now demolished link, to the West London Line to Addison Road and the District Railway to Mansion House. The service was operated jointly by the GWR and the DR. The service ended on 31 January 1905. Until 1990, services through the station were shown on maps as part of the MR and, later the Metropolitan line. They were separately identified as the Hammersmith & City line in 1990.
Circle line
In December 2009, Circle line services began serving the station. Originally operating as a loop-line using tracks constructed by the MR and the DR and serving only the station in Praed Street, the Circle line's route was altered to include the Hammersmith branch to increase train frequency on the branch and improve the regularity of Circle line trains. Trains run in a spiral anti-clockwise from Edgware Road around the loop, back to Edgware Road and then on to the Hammersmith branch. The station was rebuilt during 2012 and 2013 to provide longer platforms, improved access and connections to the mainline station. A new entrance to Paddington Basin was opened.
Accidents and incidents
On 9 May 1864, the boiler of a Great Northern Railway 0-6-0 locomotive exploded as it was leaving Bishops Road. Two people were seriously injured and the resulting debris landed up to away, and a section of the main station roof was dented.
Services
The station is in London Fare Zone 1 between Royal Oak and Edgware Road stations. Train frequencies vary throughout the day, but, generally, Hammersmith & City line trains operate every 10 minutes from approximately 04:50 to 00:42 eastbound and 05:22 to 00:53 westbound; they are supplemented by Circle line trains every 10 minutes from approximately 04:58 to 23:43 eastbound and 06:40 to 00:45 westbound. Both lines use the same tracks.
Connections
routes 46 and 332 serve Bishop's Bridge Road, north of the station. Other bus routes serve the station in Praed Street. Lancaster Gate Underground station on the Central line and Marylebone mainline station are within walking distance and out of station interchanges to these stations are permitted at no extra cost if made within the permitted time.
