London Paddington station

Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the main line station dates from 1854 and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Paddington is the London terminus of the Great Western main line, operated today by Great Western Railway, which provides the majority of commuter and regional passenger services to west London and the Thames Valley region as well as long-distance intercity services to South West England and South Wales. It is also the terminus for the Heathrow Express and TfL Rail services to and from Heathrow Airport. It is one of 11 London stations managed directly by Network Rail. It is situated in fare zone 1 and has two separate tube stations providing connections to the Bakerloo, Circle, District, and Hammersmith & City lines.

The station has been perennially popular for passengers and goods, particularly milk and parcels. Major upgrades took place in the 1870s, the 1910s and the 1960s, each trying to add additional platforms and space while trying to preserve the existing services and architecture as much as possible. Paddington was first served by London Underground trains in 1863, as the original western terminus of the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway. In the 20th century, suburban and commuter services appeared at Paddington as the urban sprawl of London moved westwards. Despite the numerous upgrades and rebuilding, plus damage sustained in particular during World War II, Brunel's original design is still recognisable.

Location
The station complex is bounded at the front by Praed Street and at the rear by Bishop's Bridge Road, which crosses the station throat on Bishop's Bridge. On the west side of the station is Eastbourne Terrace, while the east side is bounded by the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal. The station is in a shallow cutting, a fact obscured at the front by a hotel building, but which can be clearly seen from the other three sides. To the north of the station is the Westway, to the northeast is Edgware Road, and to the east and southeast is the London Inner Ring Road.

The surrounding area is partly residential, and includes the major St Mary's Hospital, restaurants and hotels. Until recently there was little office accommodation in the area, and most commuters interchanged between National Rail and the London Underground to reach workplaces in the West End or the City. However, recent redevelopment of derelict railway and canal land, marketed as Paddington Waterside, has resulted in new office complexes nearby.

The station is in London fare zone 1. In addition to the Underground stations at Paddington, Lancaster Gate station on the Central line is a short walk away to the south. A little further to the south lie the conjoined parks of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Several London Buses routes, including Nos. 23 and 205 serve the station.

History
The National Rail station is officially named London Paddington, a name commonly used outside London but rarely by Londoners, who call it just Paddington, as on the London Underground map. This same practice applies to all the London mainline rail termini, except London Bridge. Parts of the station, including the main train shed, date from 1854, when it was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the London terminus for the Great Western Railway (GWR). It is one of eleven stations in London managed by Network Rail.

Big Four, British Rail and privatisation
The GWR was the only railway company that continued through the Big Four grouping in 1923. A tube railway for the Post Office, opened in December 1927, could cater for around 10,000 mailbags every day.

Paddington was extended again from 1930 to 1934. Platforms 2 to 11 were extended past the Bishop's Road bridge and a new parcel depot was built. Suburban services, which had never been considered important at Paddington, were increased as new housing estates in the Home Counties started being built. Bishop's Road station was rebuilt, giving an extra four platforms to Paddington (Nos. 13–16) and providing a new ticket office and entrance for suburban services next to the bridge. A public address system was introduced in 1936. By this time, around 22,000 parcels a day were being forwarded from Paddington, with the Royal Mail service processing around 4,500 mailbags and 2,400 parcel bags every day.

The station came under attack several times during World War II. On 17 April 1941, the departure side of the station was hit by a parachute mine, while on 22 March 1944, the roof between platforms 6 and 7 was destroyed by two 500 lb flying bombs. Passenger traffic greatly increased through Paddington during the war, partly by evacuation to the relatively quiet Thames Valley, and because holidaymakers chose to travel west as large areas of the south and east coasts had been taken over for military purposes. On 29 July 1944, the station was closed for three hours because the platforms were saturated with passenger traffic, while on the subsequent August bank holiday, crowds were controlled in tight queues along Eastbourne Terrace by mounted police.Steam traffic began to be replaced in the late 1950s. Between 1959 and 1961, suburban services switched to diesel multiple units, while the last regular long-distance steam train left Paddington on 11 June 1965. The track layout was reorganised in 1967, abolishing the distinction between arrival and departure platforms that had been a feature of Paddington since opening. A new set of sidings was built south of Royal Oak, and the track curve into Paddington was eased. Services to the Midlands were rerouted via Marylebone during this time. The station concourse was enlarged in 1970, and the ticket office was rebuilt in the same year. By this time, public opinion had turned against wholesale demolition and redevelopment of stations such as Euston, and consequently the rebuilding work was done with an eye towards preserving Brunel and Wyatt's original station design. Special steam services began to be run from Paddington again in the 1980s.

In 1982, a bronze statue of Brunel was erected on the station concourse. It was sculpted by John Doubleday and funded by the Bristol and West Building Society. Between 1989 and 1999, the Lawn was re-roofed and separated from the concourse by a glass screen wall. It is surrounded by shops and cafes on several levels.

Paddington is now owned by Network Rail. Train services were privatised in 1996, initially to Great Western Trains and Thames Trains. The former company was renamed First Great Western in 1998, and merged with First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains to form the Greater Western franchise in 2006. In 2015, the operating company was renamed Great Western Railway.

The station's fourth span was renovated in 2010, involving repair and restoration of the original glazed roof, so that platforms 9 to 12 can once more enjoy daylight. A false ceiling or crash deck had been in place since 1996. Work was completed and the restored roof unveiled in July 2011. A second phase of improvements began in July 2014 and was completed two years later. Network Rail originally planned to demolish Span 4 and build an office block over that part of the station; Save Britain's Heritage successfully campaigned against this.

Among railwaymen, the narrow busy section of the incoming main railway line between Ladbroke Grove and Paddington station is called Paddington Throat.

Services
Paddington is the London terminus for long-distance high-speed trains operated by Great Western Railway. Two services go to Heathrow Airport: the Heathrow Express travels non-stop at a premium fare, while TfL Rail takes the same route but calls at most intermediate stations.

The station has 13 terminal platforms, numbered 1 to 12 and 14 from south-west to north-east (left to right as seen from the concourse). Platforms 1 to 8 are below the original three spans of Brunel's train shed, platforms 9 to 12 beneath the later fourth span. Platform 13 was decommissioned in December 2016 to permit lengthening of platform 12 for 10 coach trains. Platform 14 is within the Metropolitan Railway's old Bishop's Road (Suburban) station to the north-west. Immediately alongside are through platforms 15 and 16, used by the London Underground's Hammersmith & City and Circle lines. The current operator, Great Western Railway, assigns numbers to the pocket timetables it publishes, and its services to Bath, Bristol, Weston-super-Mare and South Wales are in timetable number 1.

The concourse stretches across the heads of platforms 1 to 12, underneath the London end of the four train sheds. Platform 14 can only be reached indirectly via the north-western end of platform 12. A footbridge crosses the north-western end of the station and gives access to platforms 1–12 and 14. There are ticket barriers to platforms 2–5 and 10–16.

A first-class lounge on Platform 1 provides complimentary refreshments and Wi-Fi internet access. It also has screens showing television news as well as a departure board.

Platforms 6 and 7 are dedicated to the Heathrow Express. Flight information display screens for airline passengers are provided at the Heathrow Express ticket office near these platforms. Baggage check-in facilities for airline passengers were provided in 1999 in the Lawn but progressively replaced by retail units. An integrated timetable is offered between Paddington and Rosslare Europort in Ireland via the Stena Line ferry from Fishguard Harbour railway station with through ticketing to stations and a daily morning and evening service in both directions, changing at Newport, Cardiff or Swansea. This route has been in existence since 1906.

Paddington is the terminus for suburban trains to West London and the Thames Valley, also operated by Great Western Railway. Other important short-distance services are Reading and Didcot Parkway.

Until May 2003, Paddington was part of the Virgin CrossCountry network with services to the North of England and Scotland via Oxford and Birmingham New Street. From June 2005 until May 2018, Paddington was the terminus for Heathrow Connect services.

Until December 2018, Chiltern Railways operated a weekday parliamentary service from South Ruislip and to High Wycombe via the Acton-Northolt line. It ceased when the Acton-Northolt line closed. When its London Marylebone terminus was closed, Chiltern Railways diverted its services to London Paddington as did Wrexham & Shropshire between 2008 and 2011.