Bayswater tube station

Bayswater
Entrance on Queensway
Bayswater Location of Bayswater in Central London
Location	Queensway
Local authority	City of Westminster
Managed by	London Underground
Number of platforms	2
Fare zone	1
London Underground annual entry and exit
2011	5.10 million
2012	5.54 million
2013	5.49 million
2014	5.69 million
Key dates
1868	Opened as "Bayswater" (MR)
1926	Started (District) and renamed "Bayswater (Queen's Road) & Westbourne Grove"
1933	Renamed "Bayswater (Queen's Road)"
1946	Renamed "Bayswater (Queensway)" (suffix gradually dropped)
1949	Started (Circle)
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
London Transport portal

Bayswater is a London Underground station in the Bayswater area of the City of Westminster. The station is on the Circle and District lines, between Notting Hill Gate and Paddington stations and is in Travelcard Zone 1. It is less than 100 metres (330 ft) away from the Central line's Queensway station.

Location

The station is located on the busy Queensway tourist street and is only a short walk from Portobello Market. Further north along the street is Whiteleys shopping centre. Also nearby is Westbourne Grove, Queens ice rink and bowling centre, Kensington Gardens and St Sophia's Greek Orthodox Cathedral. It is less than 100 metres (330 ft) away from Queensway station on the Central line.

History

Ordnance Survey map showing Bayswater station in 1869

The station was opened by the steam-operated Metropolitan Railway (MR) (now the Metropolitan line) on 1 October 1868 as Bayswater, as part of the railway's southern extension to South Kensington where it connected to the District Railway (DR). Construction of the railway line, through the already developed Bayswater area required the excavation of a tunnel using the cut and cover method: a trench 42 feet (13 m) deep was excavated between brick retaining walls which was then roofed-over with brick arches to allow building work above. Large compensation payments were made to landowners affected by the excavations and, in Leinster Gardens to the east, the frontages of two houses demolished to make way for the line were reconstructed to restore the appearance of a terrace of houses.

Station roof under construction

Completed station

Bayswater station, circa 1867

The platforms of Bayswater station were constructed in the trench and provided with a glazed roof. A short section of the trench was left unroofed to the west of the station to allow smoke and steam from the trains to escape from the tunnels. Even before the completion in 1884 of the continuous circuit of tracks which are now the Circle line, the MR and DR operated services through Bayswater as the Inner Circle. The MR originally provided all of the trains, but from 1871, each company operated half of the service.

In 1905, to improve the conditions in the tunnels and stations and increase service frequencies, the MR electrified the tracks through Bayswater and, in conjunction with the DR, around the whole of the Inner Circle and across most of their routes. Electric trains began running on 1 July 1905, but the MR's poor coordination of the installation work with the DR led to disruption for several months.

Exterior view in 1961

On 1 November 1926 the District line began a service between Edgware Road and Putney Bridge and the station was also renamed to Bayswater (Queen's Road) & Westbourne Grove. From this date the MR operated all Inner Circle services apart from a few District line operated Sunday services. The station was then renamed again to Bayswater (Queen's Road) in 1933. In 1946, it was renamed to Bayswater (Queensway) but the suffix was gradually dropped. In 1949, the service was separately identified on the tube map as the Circle line for the first time.

The station was refurbished by Metronet in 2006.

Services and connections

Services

Circle line

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:

• 6tph clockwise to Edgware Road via Paddington (Circle and District lines)
• 6tph anti-clockwise to Hammersmith via High Street Kensington and Victoria

District line

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is:

• 6tph eastbound to Edgware Road
• 6tph westbound to Wimbledon

There is also a morning service every day from Acton Town (Ealing Broadway on Saturdays) to Edgware Road and a late evening service from Edgware Road to Ealing Broadway on Sundays only.

Connections

London Bus routes 7, 23, 27, 36 and 70, and night route N7 serve the station. Additionally, bus routes 23, 27 and 36 provide a 24-hour bus service.

In popular culture

Bayswater tube station is the subject of a painting by Walter Sickert dating from 1916, showing the platform-sign reading ‘Queen’s Road (Bayswater)’ beside a big advertisement for Whiteley’s department store. The station was later renamed Bayswater, to avoid confusion with Queensway station, which was also named ‘Queen’s Road’ until 1946.

External links

• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Bayswater station, 1868
  • Bayswater station, 1934

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Notting Hill Gate towards Hammersmith (via Tower Hill)		Circle line		Paddington towards Edgware Road
Notting Hill Gate towards Wimbledon		District line