Calling at... British railway stations: Earl's Court (ZET)

Earl's Court is a London Underground station in Central London served by the District and Piccadilly Lines. On the Piccadilly Line the station is between Barons Court and Gloucester Road. On the District the station is a major junction between West Brompton, Kensington Olympia or West Kensington and High Street Kensington or Gloucester Road.

A District Line S7 train departs

Information
Type:	Transport for London (District & Piccadilly Lines)
Station code:	ZET
Opened:	1871
Platforms:	6

The station was opened in 1871 by the District Railway which had extended South West from Gloucester Road to West Brompton a couple of years before. This original station was located to the East of the current station. It was damaged by fire in 1875 [1] and replaced by a new larger station in 1878.

Earl's Court quickly became the hub of the District Line with extensions and links to lines to Kensington Olympia and Hammersmith opened in the early 1870s. The Midland Railway also served Earl's Court between 1878 and 1880 with services from London St Pancras though these were not a success. District Railway services through Earl's Court were electrified in 1905.

In 1906 the Great Northern, Piccadilly & Brompton Railway opened a deep-level tube line between Hammersmith and Finsbury Park via Earl's Court. This later became the Piccadilly Line.

The first escalators on (what became) the London Underground were opened at Earl's Court in 1911. The station building was replaced in 1915. Despite many changes to the station over the following decades the station retains it's old style train describers with illuminated arrows. These are Grade II listed like the rest of the station.