Whitton railway station is in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in southwest London, within Travelcard Zone 5. It is down the line from. The station and all trains serving it are operated bySouth Western Railway. The station was extensively refurbished and its main buildings replaced 2015—2016. The footbridge was replaced so as to incorporate optional lifts to the platforms. Whitton station has a ticket office above the up platform containing a coffee shop, a taxi office, ticket machines and a disabled toilet. To allow unmanned service the calling point lacks ticket barriers. South West trains has operated on a majority of weekday services since 2014 its air-conditioned ten-coach trains. The platforms were extended at the eastern ends in February 2012. A coffee shop opened following a two-year hiatus in 2011. Whitton is the closest station to the Twickenham Stooprugby union stadium, home of Harlequins.
History
The line through Whitton was opened by the Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway when the WS&SWR extended its line from Richmond to Datchet on 22 August 1848. In July 1850 the WS&SWR was absorbed into the London and South Western Railway. On 1 January 1883 the LSWR opened a curve enabling down trains from Twickenham to pass the site of what was to become Whitton station and access the Hounslow Loop. On 1 January 1923 the LSWR amalgamated with other railways to form the Southern Railway. In the late 1920s the Southern was planning to extend its third rail electric train system from London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton. As part of that plan new development in what was once rural areas were to receive new stations. So, from 6 July 1930 the Windsor Lines became electrified and a new station was opened called Whitton. As today Whitton is a classic Southern structure with steel canopies and pre-cast concrete platforms. Whitton Station survived the war unscathed and three years after the war ended, on 1 January 1948, the station and line passed into the ownership of British Railways. In the 1980s and 1990s the station became part of Network South East and that changed due to the privatisation of the railways. Ever since the mid-1990s the franchise serving Whitton has been South West Trains. In February 2015 the station started to be rebuilt. This was done in two phases - the first prior to the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and the second after that and completing in 2016. The renovation works were pencilled for completion in time for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but completed late 2016.
