Trains to London Paddington - Station Details and further Information on the London Paddington Area
Paddington station, also known as London Paddington, is a major National Rail and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area near central London, England.
The site is a historic one, having served as the London terminus of the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the current mainline station dates back to 1854, and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The site was first served by Underground trains in 1863, and was the original western terminus of the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway.
Despite its historic nature, and the need to preserve many of its features, the complex has recently been modernised, and has added a new role as the terminus of the dedicated Heathrow Express service. The complex is in Travelcard Zone 1.
The station complex is located in, alongside and under a long thin city block bounded across the front by Praed Street and to the rear by Bishop's Bridge Road, which crosses the throat of the main line station on the recently replaced Bishop's Bridge. The west side of the station is paralleled by Eastbourne Terrace, whilst the east side is constrained by the Paddington arm of the Grand Union Canal. The main line station is located in a shallow cutting, a fact that is obscured from the front by the frontal hotel building, but which can be clearly seen from the other three sides.
The station's location is something of a back street one, with none of the bounding streets being major traffic thoroughfares but afflicted by the station's awkward traffic system. The surrounding area is partly residential, together with the major St. Mary's hospital, small restaurants and hotels as usual near stations. Until recently there has been little in the way of office accommodation in the area, meaning that most of Paddington's commuter traffic interchanges between National Rail and the London Underground to reach its eventual destination in the West End or the City. However, recent redevelopment of nearby derelict railway and canal land, marketed as Paddington Waterside, has resulted in a number of new office complexes in the area.
The National Rail station is officially named London Paddington, a name that is commonly used outside London, but rarely by Londoners. Parts of the station, including the main train shed, date back to 1854, when it was built as the London terminus for Brunel's Great Western Railway. Today it is one of seventeen UK train stations managed by Network Rail.
Today Paddington has 14 terminal platforms, numbered 1 to 14 from west to east. Platforms 1 to 8 are located below the original three spans of Brunel's 1854 train shed, whilst platforms 9 to 12 are located beneath the later fourth span. Platforms 13 and 14 are within the Metropolitan Railway's old Bishops Bridge station. Immediately alongside are two through platforms, numbered 15 and 16, used by the Hammersmith & City Line of the London Underground.
Platforms 6 and 7 are dedicated to the Heathrow Express, and platforms 13 and 14 can only be used by the 2 or 3 car Turbo trains used on local services. All the other platforms can be used by any of the station's train services. However in normal usage the tendency is for long distance trains to use the western platforms, and local trains (including Heathrow Connect) the eastern ones.
The station concourse stretches across the head of platforms 1 to 12, underneath the London end of the four main train sheds. Platforms 13 and 14 can be reached directly from the country end of platform 12, or from the footbridge which crosses the country end of the station and gives access to all platforms.
The area between the back of the Great Western Hotel and the station concourse is traditionally called The Lawn. It was originally unroofed and occupied by sidings, but was later built up to form part of the station's first pedestrian concourse. The Lawn has recently been reroofed and separated from the concourse by a glass screen wall. It is now surrounded by shops and cafes on several levels. There are ticket barriers to platforms 2-5 and 10-16.
Paddington is the London terminus for long distance trains, operated by First Great Western, to Bristol, Bath, Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, Exeter and Penzance in the West Country, and Newport, Cardiff and Swansea in South Wales. It also acts as the terminus for shorter distance commuter services to West London and the Thames Valley, also operated by First Great Western. Two services from Paddington serve Heathrow Airport; the Heathrow Express travels non-stop whilst the Heathrow Connect service runs along the same route but calling at most intermediate stations. Paddington also serves as an alternative London terminal for Chiltern Railways' service to Birmingham, used when London Marylebone is inaccessible for engineering or other reasons, and for one daily service, London-bound only. |
