Kensington (Olympia) tube station
District line · Zone 2 · Kensington and Chelsea
About Kensington (Olympia) station
Opened by the West London Railway on 27 May 1844 as plain Kensington, this station lost so much money that it shut that December. Passengers returned in 1862 on the West London Extension Railway, and Underground trains have served it since 1 July 1864. It became Kensington (Addison Road) in 1868 and was a stop on the Middle Circle from 1872. Bombing in 1940 closed it, but it still served as the embarkation point preferred by General Eisenhower when he visited troops before the June 1944 Normandy landings. On 19 December 1946 it reopened as Kensington (Olympia), with an unadvertised peak-hour shuttle to Clapham Junction for Post Office Savings Bank staff, nicknamed the “Kenny Belle”.
Later lives were stranger still. In the 1960s it was earmarked for evacuating civil servants to the “Burlington” bunker in Wiltshire, and from 1966 to 1981 it was London’s main Motorail terminus. Eurostar used it as a reserve terminus before moving to St Pancras in 2007. On the Underground it is now the end of a short District line branch from Earl’s Court; regular weekday trains stopped in December 2011. District train indicators simply call it “Olympia”.
First and last trains from Kensington (Olympia)
| Line and direction | Mon–Thu first – last | Friday first – last | Saturday first – last | Sunday first – last |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District towards High Street Kensington | 05:49 – 20:40 (7 trains all day) | 05:49 – 20:40 (7 trains all day) | 05:49 – 23:49 | 07:36 to Barking – 23:49 |
Times are TfL’s published timetable departures from this station; on Saturday the list follows TfL’s “Saturdays and public holidays” timetable.
At the busiest hour on a weekday there are up to 3 District trains an hour per direction from Kensington (Olympia), counting both directions separately.
Next stations from Kensington (Olympia)
Running times between Kensington (Olympia) and the adjoining stations, from TfL’s timetable.
| Line | Next station | Time |
|---|---|---|
| District | Earl's Court | 3.7 min |
Connections
- Buses: 28, 306 (night buses N28).
- London Overground: Mildmay line.
- National Rail: Southern.
Station facilities
What is near Kensington (Olympia) station
The station runs alongside the Olympia exhibition centre that gives it its name, and its platforms are reached from Russell Road on the east and Olympia Way on the west, linked by a footbridge that lets people cross without passing the ticket barriers. Russell Road Kitchen Garden is about 130 m away, the Blythe House archive and library reading room around 260 m, the British Airways Theatre about 290 m and Marcus Garvey Park roughly 350 m. Overground and Southern trains also call, on platforms 2 and 3.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| Russell Road Kitchen Garden | 130 m |
| Blythe House Archive and Library Reading Room | 260 m |
| British Airways Theatre | 290 m |
| Marcus Garvey Park | 350 m |
Frequently asked questions
The District line shuttle from Earl’s Court ran to a regular daily timetable from 12 May 1986, but Transport for London ended general weekday services in December 2011 despite protests from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Some special weekday trains still run when an exhibition is on at Olympia.
From 19 December 1946 a peak-hour shuttle ran from Kensington (Olympia) to Clapham Junction for workers at the Post Office Savings Bank in Blythe Road. It was nicknamed the Kenny Belle and never advertised. From 1955 to 1986 it was, apart from Motorail, the only British Rail service regularly calling here.