92-743: The Hilton London Paddington , formerly the Great Western Royal Hotel , is a hotel that forms part of the Paddington Station complex in London , England . The hotel was originally the idea of Isambard Kingdom Brunel , who was the hotel's first managing director. The funding came in large part from the Directors of the Great Western Railway Company , who were persuaded by Brunel to buy shares in
184-659: A metropolitan borough of the County of London , it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station , designed by the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel opened in 1847. It is also the site of St Mary's Hospital and the former Paddington Green Police Station . Paddington Waterside aims to regenerate former railway and canal land. Districts within Paddington are Maida Vale , Westbourne and Bayswater including Lancaster Gate . The earliest extant references to Padington (or "Padintun", as in
276-404: A 21-foot (6.4 m) arrival platform, and a 47-foot (14 m) combined arrival platform and cab road. A series of nineteen turnplates were sited beyond the ends of the platforms for horse and coach traffic. The first GWR service from the new station departed on 16 January 1854, though the roof had not been finished at this point and there were no arrivals. It was formally opened on 29 May, and
368-511: 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, Thames Valley , Reading , and Didcot , operated by Great Western Railway. The general off peak service pattern in trains per hour (tph) is: Great Western Railway Elizabeth line (operates from underground Elizabeth line platforms, A and B) Heathrow Express Until May 2003, Paddington
460-648: A departure board. Platform 7 is dedicated to the Heathrow Express . Flight information display screens for airline passengers are provided at the Heathrow Express ticket office near these platforms. 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
552-522: A shanty-town in the 1790s before the Canal was built and brought much needed employment to its inhabitants. The area was built up during the course of the Napoleonic Wars . In the 19th century the part of the parish most sandwiched between Edgware Road and Westbourne Terrace , Gloucester Terrace and Craven Hill , bounded to the south by Bayswater Road, was known as Tyburnia. The district formed
644-403: A surviving allegorical sculpture in the pediment by John Thomas . The hotel was designed in the style of Louis XIV and further embellished by a figurative sculpture over the front entrance of the hotel representing Peace, Plenty, Science & Industry. Thomas was to contribute many statues and decorations in the present Palace of Westminster . The Great Western Railway originally leased
736-410: Is commonly believed that these were provided by Brunel to accommodate traversers to carry coaches between the tracks within the station. However recent research, using early documents and photographs, does not seem to support this belief, and their actual purpose is unknown. The original station used four platforms, 27-foot (8.2 m)-wide and 24-foot-6-inch (7.47 m)-wide departure platforms,
828-764: Is different and it has no transepts. The area between the rear of the hotel and the concourse is called the Lawn. It was originally unroofed and occupied by sidings, but was later built up to form part of the station's first concourse. Paddington's capacity was doubled to four tracks in the 1870s. The quadrupling was completed to Westbourne Park on 30 October 1871, Slough in June 1879 and Maidenhead in September 1884. An additional platform (later to become No. 9) opened in June 1878, while two new departure platforms (later Nos. 4 and 5) were added in 1885. One of
920-555: Is in London fare zone 1 . Great Western Railway services from Paddington run towards Slough , Maidenhead and Reading , with intercity services continuing towards destinations in South West England and South Wales , including Oxford , Worcester , Bristol , Cardiff , Exeter , Plymouth and Penzance . The Elizabeth line , operated by Transport for London (TfL), runs a stopping service from Paddington to Reading, either as part of through-running services from
1012-571: Is now known as Merchant Square. A former transshipment facility, the surrounds of the canal basin named Merchant Square have been redeveloped to provide 2,000,000 sq ft (190,000 m ) of offices, homes, shops and leisure facilities. The redeveloped basin has some innovative features including Heatherwicks Rolling Bridge , the Merchant Square Fan Bridge and the Floating Pocket Park. Situated to
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#17327871916911104-449: Is reputedly named after Robert Browning , the poet. More recently known as the "Little Venice Lagoon" it contains a small islet known as Browning's Island. Although Browning was thought to have coined the name "Little Venice" for this spot there are strong arguments Lord Byron was responsible. Paddington station is the iconic landmark associated with the area. In the station are statues of its designer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel , and
1196-507: Is still recognisable. 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
1288-507: The Bakerloo , Circle , District , and Hammersmith & City lines . It is one of 11 London stations managed directly by Network Rail . 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
1380-634: 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
1472-492: The Clothworkers' Company . Jane Small continued to live in Paddington after her second husband's death, and her manor house was big enough to have been let to Sir John Popham, the attorney general, in the 1580s. They let the building that became in this time Blowers Inn . As the regional population grew in the 17th century, Paddington's ancient Hundred of Ossulstone was split into divisions; Holborn Division replaced
1564-539: The Colne Valley , and Aylesbury . The Paddington Basin is in the area, as is Little Venice . A towpath runs unbroken from Paddington to Hayes. The Rolling Bridge at the Paddington Basin was designed by Thomas Heatherwick , who wanted to create a bridge that, instead of breaking apart to let boats through, would "get out of the way" instead. Heatherwick's website cites the "fluid, coiling tails of
1656-594: The Domesday Book of 1086. It has been reasonably speculated that a Saxon settlement led by the followers of Padda , an Anglo-Saxon chieftain, was located around the intersection of the northern and western Roman roads, corresponding with the Edgware Road ( Watling Street ) and the Harrow and Uxbridge Roads. From the tenth century, Paddington was owned by Westminster Abbey which was later confirmed by
1748-646: The Elizabeth Line , alongside London Liverpool Street , it has become far busier, and London Paddington had become the 2nd busiest station in the United Kingdom during the 2022–23 period, with 59.2 million total passengers, behind London Liverpool Street and ahead of London Waterloo , the former busiest station. Paddington is the London terminus for long-distance high-speed trains operated by Great Western Railway . Two services go to Heathrow Airport :
1840-567: The Grand Junction Canal (which became the Grand Union Canal in 1929) dwindled because of railway competition in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and freight then moved from rail to road after World War II, leading to the abandonment of the goods yards in the early 1980s. The land lay derelict until the Paddington Waterside Partnership was established in 1998 to co-ordinate the regeneration of
1932-810: The Great Western Main Line ; passenger services are primarily operated by Great Western Railway , which provides 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 . The station is also the eastern terminus for Heathrow Express and the western terminus for Elizabeth line services from Shenfield . Elizabeth line services also run through Paddington westwards to Reading , Heathrow Terminal 5 , and Heathrow Terminal 4 , and eastwards to Abbey Wood . Situated in fare zone 1 , it has two separate tube stations providing connections to
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#17327871916912024-420: The Heathrow Express travels non-stop at a premium fare, while Elizabeth line takes the same route but calls at all 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
2116-712: 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
2208-485: 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 . After several false starts, Brunel announced
2300-468: The Plantagenet kings in a charter from 1222. This charter mentions a chapel and a farm situated in the area. While a 12th-century document cited by the cleric Isaac Maddox (1697–1759) establishes that part of the land was held by brothers "Richard and William de Padinton". They and their descendants carried out activities in Paddington; these were known by records dating from 1168 to 1485. They were
2392-523: The Regent's Canal ; its overlap is the artisan and touristic neighbourhood of Little Venice . In the east of the district around Paddington Green it remains divided from Marylebone by Edgware Road (as commonly heard in spoken form, the Edgware Road). In the south west it is bounded by its south and western offshoot Bayswater . A final offshoot, Westbourne , rises to the north west. Paddington
2484-530: The Saxon Chartularies , 959 ), historically a part of Middlesex , appear in documentation of purported tenth-century land grants to the monks of Westminster by Edgar the Peaceful as confirmed by Archbishop Dunstan . However, the documents' provenance is much later and likely to have been forged after the 1066 Norman conquest . There is no mention of the place (or Westbourne or Knightsbridge) in
2576-550: The children's fiction character Paddington Bear . The terminus of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal was originally known as the Paddington Basin and all the land to the south was developed into housing and commercial property and titled The Grand Junction Estate. The majority of the housing was bounded by Praed Street, Sussex Gardens , Edgware Road and Norfolk Place. Land and buildings not used for
2668-495: The 1860s in this neighbourhood as Bayswater Road . They were toll roads in much of the 18th century, before and after the dismantling of the permanent Tyburn gallows "tree" at their junction in 1759 a junction now known as Marble Arch. The Tyburn gallows might have been a reason why expansion and urban development (from London) slowed in Paddington; as public execution was taking place there up until 1783. Only in 1801 did major construction to Paddington occur. This happened when
2760-452: The 18th century, several French Huguenots called Paddington village home. These included jewellers, nobility and skilled craftsmen; and men such as Claudius Amyand (surgeon to King George II ). The French nobility built magnificent gardens that lasted up until the 19th century. Roman roads formed the parish's northeastern and southern boundaries from Marble Arch : Watling Street (later Edgware Road ) and; (the) Uxbridge road, known by
2852-483: 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. On 9 August 1920, a passenger train collided with the buffers. Two people were injured. The following year, a passenger train was being shunted into a platform and collided with three luggage vans already occupying
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2944-489: The Elizabeth line terminus at Reading. Elizabeth line services link the Paddington area both to destinations in west London and Berkshire and to the centre and eastern side of London. Trains to Heathrow Airport also depart from Paddington, operated both by the Elizabeth line (stopping services via Ealing Broadway ) and the Heathrow Express (no intermediate stops). There are two London Underground (tube) stations in
3036-538: The Grand Union Canal towpath. The route, when complete, will run signposted and unbroken to Keswick , Cumbria . Within the M25, the route will pass through Hayes, Uxbridge and Watford . Santander Cycles, a London-wide bike sharing system, operates in Paddington, with several docking stations in the area. The Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal runs from Paddington to Hayes , via Westbourne Park and Willesden . Beyond Hayes, onward destinations include Slough ,
3128-646: The Great Western ship was scrapped before the hotel was completed - after the company had tendered for but failed to obtain the prized Atlantic mail contract, losing it to the Cunard Company. The 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos , whose former seat was Stowe House , died as a bankrupt in the hotel in July 1861. The Duke had formerly served as a Conservative Lord Privy Seal in the early 1840s. The railway company took full control of its operation in
3220-659: 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,
3312-438: 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 2–7 and 10–14. 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
3404-417: 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 . As of the 2022–23 Office of Rail & Road Statistics, it is the second busiest station in the United Kingdom, after London Liverpool Street , with 59.2 million entries and exits. Paddington is the London terminus of
3496-463: The Paddington frisk; to be hanged." Public executions were abolished in England in 1868. The Paddington district is centred around Paddington railway station . The conventional recognised boundary of the district is much smaller than the longstanding pre-mid-19th century parish. That parish was virtually equal to the borough abolished in 1965. It is divided from a northern offshoot Maida Vale by
3588-447: The Paddington station complex. The Bakerloo , Circle and District lines call at the station on Praed Street (which, from the main concourse, is opposite platform 3). This links Paddington directly to destinations across Central and West London, including Baker Street , Earl's Court , Oxford Circus , South Kensington , Victoria , Waterloo , Westminster and Wimbledon . The Circle and Hammersmith & City lines call at
3680-718: The Victorian Anglo-Saxon scholar John Mitchell Kemble . There is another Paddington in Surrey , recorded in the Domesday Book as "Padendene" and later as "Paddingdon", perhaps to be derived from Old English dene, denu "valley", whereas Paddington in Middlesex is commonly traced back to Old English tūn "farm, homestead, town". Both place names share the same first part, a personal name rendered as Pad(d)a , of uncertain origin, giving "Padda's valley" for
3772-530: The animatronic dinosaurs of Jurassic Park " as the initial influence behind the Bridge. The Regent's Canal begins at Little Venice, heading east towards Maida Vale , Regent's Park , Camden Town , King's Cross , Old Street and Mile End en route to Limehouse . A towpath runs along the canal from Paddington to Limehouse, broken only by the Maida Hill and Islington tunnels. Commercial traffic on
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3864-466: The area between the Westway, Praed Street and Westbourne Terrace. This includes major developments on the goods yard site (now branded Paddington Central) and around the canal ( Paddington Basin ). As of October 2017 much of these developments have been completed and are in use. PaddingtonNow BID put forward a renewal bid in 2017 covering the period April 2018 to March 2023, which would be supported by
3956-475: The bishops leased land to the Grand Junction Canal , where a direct trade link could now take place between London and the Midlands , bringing more employment to the area. The canal would remain dominant until Regent's Canal was built in 1820. Construction and building projects would take place from east to west and south to north throughout the 19th century; increasing its population in a rapid pace, overtaking
4048-745: The canal undertaking remained after 1929 with the renamed Grand Junction Company, which functioned as a property company. While retaining its own name, it was taken over in 1972 by the Amalgamated Investment and Property Company, which went into liquidation in 1976. Prior to the liquidation the Welbeck Estate Securities Group acquired the entire estate comprising 525 houses 15 shops and the Royal Exchange public House in Sale Place. The surrounding area
4140-467: The central and eastern parts of the Elizabeth line or starting from Paddington. These trains mostly depart from the deep-level Elizabeth line platforms underneath the western side of the mainline station. These deep-level Elizabeth line tracks emerge above ground adjacent to the mainline tracks just west of Royal Oak tube station and join them at that point, thereafter sharing the relief line tracks with some Great Western Railway stopping services as far as
4232-487: The centrepiece of an 1824 masterplan by Samuel Pepys Cockerell to redevelop the Tyburn Estate (historic lands of the Bishop of London) into a residential area to rival Belgravia . The area was laid out in the mid-1800s when grand squares and cream- stuccoed terraces started to fill the acres between Paddington station and Hyde Park; however, the plans were never realised in full. Despite this, Thackeray described
4324-454: The construction of a railway from Bristol to London on 30 July 1833. This became the GWR, and he intended it to be the best railway in the country. The GWR had originally planned to terminate London services at Euston as this allowed them to use part of the London and Birmingham Railway 's track into the station, which would have been cost effective. This received government approval in 1835, but
4416-458: 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-pound (230 kg) 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,
4508-502: The earliest known tenant farmers of the land. During King Henry VIII's dissolution , the property of Paddington was seized by the crown. However, King Edward VI granted the land to the Bishop of London in 1550. Successive bishops would later lease farmlands to tenants and city merchants. One such, in the 1540s was Thomas North who translated Plutarch's Parallel Lives into English in 1579. Shakespeare would later use this work and
4600-556: The east of the Paddington district immediately to the north of the Westway and west of Edgware Road. It includes St Mary on Paddington Green Church . The Paddington Green campus of the City of Westminster College is adjacent to the Green. Paddington Green Police Station is immediately to the north west of the intersection of Westway and Edgware Road. Paddington station is on the London Underground and National Rail networks. It
4692-404: The five storeys of the main block. It was originally run by a consortium of GWR shareholders and staff, before the company took over operations completely in 1896. The station was substantially enlarged in 1906–1915 and a fourth span of 109 feet (33 m) was added on the north side, parallel to the others. The new span was built in a similar style to the original three spans, but the detailing
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#17327871916914784-685: The hotel to a subsidiary, the Great Western Royal Hotel Company, which was chaired by their engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel from 1855 until his death in 1859. Brunel's original idea was that a passenger wishing to travel from London to New York would enter the Great Western Royal Hotel and, from that point, be conveyed by and housed in the various undertakings controlled by the Great Western Company. This never came to pass, however, as
4876-647: The hundred for most administrative purposes. A church, the predecessor of St Mary was built in Paddington in 1679. In 1740, John Frederick leased the estate in Paddington and it is from his granddaughters and their families that many of Paddington's street names are derived. The New Road was built in 1756–7 to link the villages of Paddington and Islington. By 1773, a contemporary historian felt and wrote that "London may now be said to include two cities ( London and Westminster ), one borough ( Southwark ) and forty six antient [ancient] villages [among which]... Paddington and [adjoining] Marybone ( Marylebone )." During
4968-510: The late 2010s improved air quality. London Paddington has always been one of the busiest stations in the UK, and was ranked as the 8th busiest station in the United Kingdom during the 2016–17 period according to the Office of Rail & Road, with 36.6 million passengers during that period, and was placed between Stratford and London St Pancras International . However, as a result of the opening of
5060-410: The later nineteenth century, and in the 1930s extended and remodelled it within and without under the direction of their architect Percy Emerson Culverhouse . Norah, Lady Docker , the notorious socialite and spendthrift of the 1940s and 1950s, died in the hotel on 11 December 1983. In accordance with Government policies on privatisation of British Rail , it was sold to the private sector in 1983. It
5152-410: The line. A carriage was derailed and a luggage van was wrecked. On 23 November 1983, a sleeper train hauled by Class 50 locomotive 50 041 Bulwark was derailed on the approach to Paddington after speeding through a crossover. Three of the seventy passengers were injured. Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster , in central London, England. A medieval parish then
5244-399: The lines between what is now platform 5 and 7 was removed, in order that the latter could be moved to a more southerly position. Aside from the June 1878 work, Brunel's original roof structure remained untouched throughout the improvements. The GWR began experimenting with the electric lighting in 1880, leading to Paddington being decorated with Christmas lights that year. Although the system
5336-462: The main façade of the station, closing off the end of the train shed at the head of the terminal platforms. It was built by Messrs Holland Hannen & Cubitts, the building firm founded by Thomas Cubitt . At Paddington, Hardwick pioneered the Second Empire style for buildings of this type in England. In its original form, the hotel was extensively ornamented inside and outside, and there is
5428-519: The main station building. Coinciding with this project, a new taxi rank and pick up point was built north of the main station, as well as comprehensive upgrades to Paddington tube station . The underground platforms opened as the Elizabeth line on 24 May 2022. The station had historically been criticised for very poor air quality inside the train shed; however, the replacement of diesel InterCity 125 trains by bi-mode Class 800 and 802 trains in
5520-423: The main stations for military movement during the war, Paddington was used for some of this traffic. On Armistice Day 1922, a memorial to the employees of the GWR who died during the war was unveiled by Viscount Churchill . The bronze memorial, depicting a soldier reading a letter, was sculpted by Charles Sargeant Jagger and stands on platform 1. The GWR was the only railway company that continued through
5612-517: The mid-19th century. During the period, several Victorian churches were demolished owing to structural decay. Victorian housing developed into slums, giving the area an unsavoury reputation. However, in the 1930s massive rebuilding and improvements projects were made. However, even as late as the 1950s Paddington was a byword for overcrowding, poverty and vice. Between the 1960s and 1980s, the area would see vast improvements and redevelopments in city planning. The southeast section of Tyburnia used to be
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#17327871916915704-414: The north of the railway as it enters Paddington station, and to the south of the Westway flyover and with the canal to the east the former railway goods yard has been developed into a modern complex with wellbeing, leisure, retail and leisure facilities. The public area from the canal to Sheldon Square with the amphitheatre hosts leisure facilities and special events. A green space and conservation area in
5796-498: The older temporary station was demolished the following year. The Great Western Hotel was built on Praed Street in front of the station from 1851 to 1854 by architect Philip Charles Hardwick , son of Philip Hardwick (designer of the Euston Arch ) in a classical and French-chateau design. It opened on 9 June 1854, and had 103 bedrooms and 15 sitting rooms. Each corner contained a tower containing two additional floors beyond
5888-484: 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
5980-527: The place in Surrey and "homestead of Padda's people" for the place in Middlesex. That both place names would refer to the same individual or ancient family, is pure speculation. A lord named Padda is named in the Domesday Book, associated with Brampton, Suffolk . An 18th-century dictionary gives "Paddington Fair Day. An execution day, Tyburn being in the parish or neighbourhood of Paddington. To dance
6072-441: The pocket timetables it publishes, and its services to Bath, Bristol, Weston-super-Mare and South Wales are in timetable number 1. With the building of the Elizabeth line Paddington gained two more low level platforms numbered A and B. These are located underground in the Elizabeth line section of the station directly to the south west of the main concourse. The concourse stretches across the heads of platforms 1 to 12, underneath
6164-485: The project. The hotel was built on Praed Street in the early 1850s and opened on 9 June 1854 by H.R.H. The Prince Albert, Prince Consort , having taken 14 months to build. The hotel was designed by architect Philip Charles Hardwick , costing approximately £60,000 including all furnishing and fittings - a building which was 'to rival the facilities of the great hotels on the Continent'. The building effectively forms
6256-590: The rebuilding of Westbourne Park station. The work was halted because of World War I but resumed in 1926, to be completed the following year. Three new platforms were added; platform 12 in November 1913, platform 11 in December 1915, and platform 10 the following year. The roof was completely reconstructed between 1922 and 1924, replacing Brunel's original cast-iron columns with steel replicas. Unlike several other London termini, Paddington saw no damage during World War I . Although Victoria and Charing Cross were
6348-410: The residential district of Tyburnia as "the elegant, the prosperous, the polite Tyburnia, the most respectable district of the habitable globe." Derivation of the name is uncertain. Speculative explanations include Padre-ing-tun (explained as "father's meadow village"), Pad-ing-tun ("pack-horse meadow village"), and Pæding-tun ("village of the race of Pæd") the last being the cited suggestion of
6440-407: 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
6532-465: The site of the goods depot. Brunel did not consider that anything less than a grand terminus dedicated to the GWR would be acceptable, and consequently this was approved in February 1853. The main station between Bishop's Bridge Road and Praed Street was designed by Brunel, who was enthusiastic at the idea of being able to design a railway station himself, although much of the architectural detailing
6624-403: The south lie the conjoined parks of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens . The narrow busy section of the incoming main railway line between Ladbroke Grove and Paddington station is known as Paddington Throat among some engineers. 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
6716-517: The south of Paddington. Both routes operate 24 hours, daily, supplemented by route N207 at nights. Several key routes pass through or around the Paddington area, including: Cycling infrastructure is provided in Paddington by Transport for London (TfL) and the Canal & River Trust . Several cycle routes pass through the area, including: Sustrans also propose that National Cycle Route 6 (NCR 6) will begin at Paddington and run northwest along
6808-446: The station directly to Heathrow Airport . From 1999 until 2003, Express Baggage check-in facilities for airline passengers were provided in the Lawn, however these were progressively replaced by retail units. 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
6900-477: The station near the Paddington Basin (to the north of platform 12). Trains from this station link the area directly to Hammersmith via Shepherd's Bush to the west. Eastbound trains pass through Baker Street, King's Cross St Pancras , Liverpool Street in the City , Whitechapel and Barking . Lancaster Gate tube station is also in the area, served by Central line trains. Paddington station
6992-464: 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
7084-441: The village scene of Paddington. This population increase would go from 1,881 to 46,305 between 1801 and 1851 respectively; with 10,000 new inhabitants added every decade thereafter. Paddington station first opened in 1838, with the first underground line in 1863 ( Metropolitan ). Paddington was one of the few districts in London that had a migrant majority population by 1881. With a thriving Greek and Jewish community present in
7176-545: Was built 1881, and by the 20th century over 3,000 churns were being handled at the station every day. Other goods such as meat, fish, horses and flowers were also transported through Paddington. Passenger traffic continued to improve as well. In March 1906, the goods depot at Westbourne Park was moved to Old Oak Common . The main departure platform was extended in 1908 and used for milk and parcels. In 1911, work began to separate light and empty carriage traffic from running trains between Paddington to Old Oak Common, which involved
7268-491: Was by his associate Matthew Digby Wyatt . He took inspiration from Joseph Paxton 's Crystal Palace and the München Hauptbahnhof . The glazed roof is supported by wrought iron arches in three spans, respectively spanning 68 feet (21 m), 102 feet (31 m) and 70 feet (21 m). The roof is 699 feet (210 m) long, and the original roof spans had two transepts connecting the three spans. It
7360-473: 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 it, which was successfully contested by Save Britain's Heritage . In the mid 2010s, construction began on an underground station as part of the Crossrail project, located south west of
7452-474: 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
7544-649: Was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel . The permanent building opened in 1854. Paddington Bear was also named after the station; in Michael Bond 's 1958 book A Bear Called Paddington , Paddington is found at the station by the Brown family. He is lost, having just arrived in London from "darkest Peru ." London Buses 7 , 23 , 27 , 36 , 46 , 205 and 332 , and night buses N7 and N205 serve Paddington station. Buses 23, 27 and 36 operate 24 hours, daily. Routes 94 and 148 serve Lancaster Gate station to
7636-411: 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
7728-600: Was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington , the headquarters of which was at Paddington Town Hall , until 1965 when the area became part of the enlarged City of Westminster . A lagoon created in the 1810s at the convergence of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal , the Regent's Canal and the Paddington Basin . It is an important focal point of the Little Venice area. It
7820-588: 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
7912-557: Was refurbished and reopened under its present name, as part of the Hilton Hotels chain, in 2001. 51°30′57″N 0°10′33″W / 51.51583°N 0.17583°W / 51.51583; -0.17583 Paddington Station Paddington , also known as London Paddington , is a London railway station and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been
8004-435: Was rejected as a long-term solution by Brunel as he was concerned it would also allow Liverpool to compete as a port with Bristol if the railway from Birmingham was extended. The first station was a temporary terminus for the GWR on the west side of Bishop's Bridge Road, opened on 4 June 1838. The first GWR service from London to Taplow, near Maidenhead, ran from Paddington in 1838. After the main station opened, this became
8096-471: 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 . In the mid 1990s, the Great Western Main Line approaches and platforms were electrified as part of the Heathrow Express project. Opening in 1998, the airport rail link connects
8188-456: 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
8280-495: Was said to have performed in taverns along Edgware Road. In the later Elizabethan and early Stuart era, the rectory, manor and associated estate houses were occupied by the Small (or Smale) family. Nicholas Small was a clothworker who was sufficiently well connected to have Holbein paint a portrait of his wife, Jane Small . Nicholas died in 1565 and his wife married again, to Nicholas Parkinson of Paddington who became master of
8372-515: 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. As with other major British railway termini, Paddington is owned and managed by Network Rail . Train services were privatised in 1996, initially to Great Western Trains and Thames Trains . The former company
8464-406: Was unreliable, it spurred the GWR on to a more ambitious lighting scheme in 1886, in which a 145V AC supply could light the terminus, office, goods yard and Royal Oak and Westbourne Park stations. It was praised for its scale and showing that electricity could compete with gas lighting on the same scale. Paddington became an important milk depot towards the end of the 19th century. A milk dock
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