The Paddington train station comprises of underground and regular railway tracks. It is located on the Praed Street in the Paddington area and houses the London station of the Great Western Railway and the owners after that since 1838. It was Isambard Kingdom Brunel who designed the Paddington train station in 1863 for the Metropolitan Railway. At present, Circle, Hammersmith and City Lines, Bakerloo and District provide services for the Paddington station.
Services at the Paddington train station
The Great Western Main Line uses the Paddington station as its London terminus. The railway line provides passenger services regionally to West London and the Thames Valley. It also provides long-distance intercity services to South West England and South Wales. Heathrow Express, as well as Heathrow Connect railway lines too, run through the Paddington Railway station. The Network Rail manages the Paddington under its fare zone 1 apart from the Network Rail’s other 19 railway stations.
Paddington train station – The past
The station originally opened to the public in 1838. In that year, the GWR first ran from London city to Taplow via Paddington. In the beginning, the station was at Bishop’s Bridge which later turned into a goods storage for the newly built central station. Brunel, whose statue stands on the main terminus today, designed the central station which lies between Bishop’s Bridge Road and Praed Street. But it is said that his subordinate Matthew Digby Wyatt did half of the designing. The new station opened on May 29, 1854.
Paddington train station and the Great Western Hotel
In 1851, the construction of the Great Western Hotel in front of the station commenced. Architect Philip Charles Hardwick designed the hotel. The Paddington was extended in 1906 and finished in 1915, and later 109 feet was added to it. In 1922, a memorial was built to commemorate the GWR employees who died in World War I, declared opened by Viscount Churchill. Charles Sargeant Jagger designed the memorial which depicts a soldier holding a letter.
Accidents at Paddington train station
Many accidents were reported at the Paddington Railway Station as well. On February 19, 1840, a mail train near Paddington was said to have derailed. On November 15, 1840, a train collided with the rear end of another injuring six passengers. On July 21, 1874, a train collided with a buffer stop injuring several passengers and on August 9, 1920, two people were injured when a passenger train crashed into the buffers. On September 12, 1921, a passenger train ran on to a platform and crashed into three luggage vehicles. No one was injured. On November 23, 1983, a class 50 locomotive called 50 041 Bulwark travelling and hauling a sleeper train derailed at Paddington injuring three. On May 25, 2014, multiple unit trains derailed as it entered the station due to technical faults. On June 16, 2016, a Class 165 diesel with multiple units derailed at the station.
Paddington train station at Present
Today the Paddington station boasts 13 platforms. The platforms 15 and 16 take the London Undergrounds, Circle and Hammersmith & City underground services. The platforms 6 and seven houses trains of the Heathrow Express, and local services starts from the platforms numbered 13 and 14. The rear part of the station behind the Great Western Hotel is called the Lawn. It comprises a part of the first concourse of the station. The Lawn has a range of shops and cafes.
