Royal Oak tube station

Royal Oak is a London Underground station on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines. It stands between Westbourne Park and Paddington stations on Lord Hill’s Bridge in the City of Westminster. The station lies in London fare zone two and is close to the elevated Westway section of the A40 road. It was named after the nearby public house, The Royal Oak, which later became The Railway Tap and now The Porchester. The station opened in 1871, replacing an earlier arrangement that had begun with the Hammersmith and City Railway in 1864. The station is worth noting for its role in the annual Notting Hill Carnival, when it becomes extremely busy. It was originally built with three platform faces but was reduced to two during the quadrupling of the Great Western Main Line in 1878. The station suffered bomb damage during the 1940–41 Blitz, with track and a nearby main-line train hit. A small locomotive depot, Ranelagh Bridge, operated opposite the station from 1907 until 1980. The area has also been considered for a coach station, though this proposal was later abandoned. Visitors find a local station with no step-free access to the platform. The surroundings include the busy Westway elevated road and the historic bridge that gives the station its name. The nearby public house, once called The Royal Oak, reflects the area’s long-standing connection to the name. Trains on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines pass through regularly, linking the station to central London and beyond. The station remains a modest but important part of the city’s transport network.