Tube Spotting Dan: 16/270 - Wimbledon Park

Wimbledon Park roundel,
13th May 2017

Situated on the branch of the District line heading south from Earl's Court to Wimbledon, Wimbledon Park is the least used London Underground station south of the river Thames. Wimbledon Park is also the second least used London Underground station to end in 'Park', with Moor Park on the Metropolitan line being the least used to end in 'Park' with just over 900,000 annual passengers.

Wimbledon Park station,
13th May 2017

Wimbledon Park opened in June 1889 as the District Railway extended south from Putney Bridge, over the river, to Wimbledon. A month later, in July 1889, the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) started operating their own services. It was actually the L&SWR who built the extension that the District Railway uses. The section of the line from Putney Bridge to Wimbledon began running electric services in August 1905, previous to this it was operated by steam. Main line railway services were ended in May 1941, but British Rail still owned the station until 1994.

Although 1.89 million people used Wimbledon Park in 2016, the station is in fact the least used south of the river. A study of the figures would actually say Lambeth North is the least used station south of the river as the station was closed in 2016, but in 2015 received 3.29 annual users.

Wimbledon Park station
exterior,
13th May 2017

The station building at Wimbledon Park is a lovely brick building, similar to Southfields station. It was initially thought that Wimbledon Park would be a proposed station on Crossrail 2, however, this would more than likely replace District line services at the station. The latest proposed plans for Crossrail 2 would see a new service added to Wimbledon, not Wimbledon Park.