Chelsea & Fulham was a railway station in Walham Green in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. It was situated between the King's Road and Fulham Road, on the present-day West London line. The station was opened in 1863 by the West London Railway, and was closed in 1940 having sustained damage during the Blitz of World War II.

History

thumb|left|A 1912 [[Railway Clearing House map of lines around Chelsea & Fulham]]

thumb|left|Aerial photo of [[Stamford Bridge (stadium)|Stamford Bridge Athletic Ground, Chelsea, in 1909. Chelsea & Fulham is to the right]]

Chelsea was one of the original stations on the West London Railway (WLR) and opened at the same time as the line, on 2 March 1863. The station was located in a cutting between two road bridges over Fulham Road and the King's Road, with entrances on both sides. In 1882 a new booking office and subsequently a footbridge were added at the south end of the station. It was renamed Chelsea & Fulham on 25 November 1902.

After a period of heavy passenger usage, it began to dwindle in popularity as competition from the new deep-level Underground railways and electric tramways took away custom by offering more direct routes into central London. With the onset of World War II, the West London Railway was badly hit in some parts by enemy action during the Blitz and the demise of the line was hastened by the wartime bombing. In 1940, London, Midland and Scottish Railway steam trains from to Kensington ceased on 20 October and Willesden-Edgware Road electric services ceased on the same day. Other stations on the line such as were more severely damaged than Chelsea & Fulham, and although the damage to Chelsea & Fulham was minimal, it never reopened. The station buildings remained intact after the war and were used by railway maintenance staff, although the footbridge and southbound platform building were removed. In the mid-1950s the main station building was demolished.

The site today

thumb|left|The station site on Fulham Road in 1986

Today the site of the former station is occupied by a block of flats. Parts of the northbound platform riser walls and some platform nosings remain.

The West London line continued in use mainly as a freight route until its reopening as a passenger line under British Rail. Since the revival of the line as part of the London Overground network, service frequencies on the line have increased, and although Chelsea & Fulham station was never re-opened, a new station called was opened in 2009 approximately to the south, close to Chelsea Harbour.

Chelsea FC had proposed reopening the station to serve the stadium during match days but this was rejected on grounds that it would be too overcrowded on match days.

The local MP, Greg Hands, suggested reopening a station at the site in 2016.

References

  • London's Abandoned Stations –Chelsea & Fulham
  • Chelsea & Fulham, SubBrit disused stations projects
  • The parish of Chelsea: Communications: Railways, A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 12: Chelsea (2004), pp. 2–13. (Victoria County History series).