Twickenham railway station

Twickenham railway station is in Twickenham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and is in Travelcard Zone 5. The station and all trains serving it are operated by South West Trains.

History
The original station, built, after the Gothic plan, on the west side of London Road, was opened by the London and Windsor Railway on 22 August 1848.

Preparatory work for rebuilding by the Southern Railway in its "Southern Odeon" style on the east of London Road was halted by the outbreak of the World War II, with most trackwork and the vertical edgings of the five planned through platforms in place. After the war some platforms were made level for rugby spectators' trains which were hand-flagged through the embryonic station. It was not until 28 March 1954 that the present station came into use with three through tracks inconveniently having the two up platforms facing each other. The track at platform 1 is disconnected and like that of platform 2 stops at a causeway which allows rugby crowds to reach platform 3 without entering the cramped station building. The original station was demolished immediately after closure and there are no remains to be seen.

Access avoiding stairs
With staff attendance platform 3 can be reached across the causeway from the car park and platforms 4 and 5 by a stairlift from the road-level footbridge.

Services
The typical off-peak service from the station in trains per hour is:


 * 12 to London Waterloo, of which:
 * 8 run direct via Richmond and Clapham Junction with:
 * 2 calling at Richmond and Clapham Junction only,
 * 2 calling at Richmond, Putney, Clapham Junction and Vauxhall,
 * 4 calling at all stations
 * 2 run circuitously via Kingston and Wimbledon calling at all stations except Queenstown Road
 * 2 run circuitously via Hounslow calling at all stations
 * 2 to Reading, calling at Feltham, Staines and then all stations.
 * 2 to Windsor and Eton Riverside, calling at Whitton, Feltham, Ashford, Staines and then all stations.

Future
The RFU has petitioned the government to improve the station to be ready to handle the increased use during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Network Rail has consented to a plan to improve the station and the rolling stock, but progress has stalled because of disagreement between the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames council and some local residents. A judicial review will be carried out in December 2012 of the planning permission that has been granted.