West Hampstead station will benefit from new lifts allowing for obstacle free access from ticket hall to platform. This will be a great boost to commuters who use the station, especially those with disabilities or families travelling with young children.
The station’s homely library building was opened in 1901. It was a time when many libraries were facing serious threats of closure.
Aesthetics
West Hampstead is home to a number of bespoke beauty salons that specialise in a range of services, from skin peels and facials to dermaplaning. For those with more specific skincare needs, there are a number of laser treatments available. This serene and calming spa is a short walk from both Royal Oak and Warwick Avenue tube stations and is ideal for those looking to pamper themselves.
West End Lane is served by three adjacent railway stations – West Hampstead Thameslink, West Hampstead Overground and West Hampstead Jubilee Line. Although the stations are not directly connected, they are a short distance apart and serve the same catchment area.
In the main station building, there are two ticket machines and customer help points, as well as a waiting room. There are also both male and female toilets. Outside the station, there is a taxi rank and an exit to the bus stops at Blackburn Road, Iverson Road and Broadhurst Gardens.
For those who need to get to work, there is an on-street car park and a secure underground station car park nearby. Both offer a flat rate of £4.30 per hour. There are also a number of cycle racks located close to the station, which is perfect for commuters who want to get their bike to work in record time.
Accessibility
Located in the London Borough of Camden, West Hampstead Station is part of the London Overground network and is in Travelcard Zone 2. Its train services are operated by the North London Line between Brondesbury and Finchley Road & Frognal. The station is currently undergoing a significant upgrade to improve accessibility.
The work includes a new concourse that connects to the station’s platforms, providing more space for customers to board and disembark reducing crowding. The work will also widen the platform, providing more space for trains to wait on – allowing TfL to increase the number of services serving the station.
The station’s stairs are also being replaced with lifts, which will be able to cope with expected growth in passenger numbers. TfL is investing PS20 million each year on improving step-free access at London Overground and Tube stations. But it is a long process, and often stations are waiting for larger redevelopment in their areas before they can afford to make changes.
In the meantime, a bus service – 189 – is available from West Hampstead to Kilburn High Road. However, it is not a direct route, and passengers have to change buses twice. This is because TfL applied for disability funding a year or so ago to install a lift at Kilburn, but was refused.
Environment
The arrival of the railways spurred the development of the area from a small hamlet into a suburban neighbourhood. Its elegant Victorian houses and streets have made it a desirable place to live for both families and young professionals alike. Its location in north-west London is ideal for easy access to the city centre, yet it retains a village atmosphere and is renowned for its diversity.
West Hampstead Station is situated within Travelcard Zone 2. It is served by the London Underground Jubilee Line and the London Overground North London Line, as well as Thameslink rail services.
Aside from the station, there are a variety of shops and cafes on the main street of West End Lane, as well as the imposing edifice of the Hampstead Synagogue. It was built in 1879 and is one of the few remaining 19th-century synagogues in London.
There is also the railway hotel on the corner of West End Lane and Broadhurst Gardens, which was built in 1881. From 1961 to 1970 it housed Klooks Kleek, a jazz and rhythm and blues club, whose notable acts included Cream, Ten Years After, Stevie Wonder, Buddy Guy and Rod Stewart. The live album John Mayall Plays John Mayall was recorded there in 1964 by running cables out of the window to Decca Studios, which was two buildings away.
History
As with so many of London’s suburbs, the advent of the railways gave a boost to development in West Hampstead. The railways encouraged the spread of working-class tenements, and by the latter years of the 19th century the area was rather in the style of a village, with policemen, travelling salesmen and railway workers mixing with clerks and artisans in ramshackle trading estates that sprang up along the lines. Engineering workshops often operated close to the rails.
The station opened as Heath Street in 1857, but was renamed in 1907 when the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway merged with the North London Railway (which itself had amalgamated with the Metropolitan and St John’s Wood Railway in 1868). On nationalisation in 1948 it became part of the London Midland Region of British Rail, and later, under a different branding, British Rail.
It has the deepest platforms on the London Underground network,[1] and its high-speed lifts are among the fastest in the system.[2] The station is in Travelcard Zone 2.
There are three railway stations, West Hampstead Thameslink, Finchley Road and Hampstead, within close proximity of the tube station. London Bus routes 139, 328 and C11 also serve the area. West Hampstead is a sought-after residential area with both period and modern properties, as well as mews houses and converted warehouses. Rental prices are a little higher than average for the city.
