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Court tube station
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Location: Gliddon Road, London, England, United Kingdom.
Website: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
Barons Court tube station:
Barons Court is a London Underground station in West Kensington, Greater London. This station services the District Line and the Piccadilly Line. The station is located on Gliddon Road, a short distance from Talgarth Road (A4) in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Barons Court is between West Kensington and Hammersmith on the District Line, and between Earl's Court and Hammersmith on the Piccadilly Line. It is in Travelcard Zone 2. East of the station, the Piccadilly line descends into tunnel towards Earl's Court and the District line continues on the surface to West Kensington. The station is the last overground stop for eastbound trains on the Piccadilly line until Arnos Grove and has a cross-platform interchange with the District line.
History of Barons Court tube station:
The tracks through Barons Court were first opened on 9 September 1874 when the Metropolitan District Railway (MDR, now the District Line) opened an extension from Earls Court to Hammersmith. When the line was constructed the area now known as Barons Court was open fields and market gardens to the west of the settlement of North End and there was no call for a station between West Kensington and Hammersmith. By the beginning of the 20th century; however, the area had been developed for housing and, on 10 October 1905, the District Railway (DR) opened the station to serve these new developments and in preparation for the opening of the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly Line), then under construction.
The GNP&BR began operations on 15 December 1906, running between Hammersmith and Finsbury Park. The GNP&BR tracks come to the surface east of Barons Court and the station has two island platforms to provide an interchange between the two lines - the inner pair of tracks is used by the Piccadilly Line and the outer tracks by the District Line.
The station building was constructed to a design by Harry Ford in a style similar to that used at Earl's Court and Hammersmith and is now a Grade II listed building as it retains many of its original features, including terracotta facing and Art Nouveau lettering. The wooden benches on the platform with the station name along the back on enamelled metal panels are a unique feature on the entire London Underground.
