Paddington — Attraction in London

A nice station with good facilities and great connections to London and the UK.

Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the main line station dates from 1854 and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Paddington is the London terminus of the Great Western Main Line; passenger services are primarily operated by Great Western Railway, which provides commuter and regional passenger services to west London and the Thames Valley region, as well as long-distance intercity services to South West England and South Wales. The station is also the eastern terminus for Heathrow Express and the western terminus for Elizabeth line services from Shenfield. Elizabeth line services also run through Paddington westwards to Reading, Heathrow Terminal 5, and Heathrow Terminal 4, and eastwards to Abbey Wood.9] Situated in fare zone 1, it has two separate tube stations providing connections to the Bakerloo, Circle, District, and Hammersmith & City lines. It is one of 11 London stations managed directly by Network Rail.

The station has been perennially popular for passengers and goods, particularly milk and parcels. Major upgrades took place in the 1870s, the 1910s and the 1960s, each trying to add additional platforms and space while trying to preserve the existing services and architecture as much as possible. Paddington was first served by London Underground trains in 1863, as the original western terminus of the Metropolitan Railway, the world's first underground railway. In the 20th century, suburban and commuter services appeared at Paddington as the urban sprawl of London moved westwards. Despite the numerous upgrades and rebuilding, plus damage sustained in particular during World War II, Brunel's original design is still recognisable.

The National Rail station is officially named London Paddington, a name commonly used outside London but rarely by Londoners, who call it just Paddington, as on the London Underground map. This same practice applies to all the London mainline rail termini, except London Bridge. Parts of the station, including the main train shed, date from 1854, when it was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel as the London terminus for the Great Western Railway (GWR). It is one of eleven stations in London managed by Network Rail.[15

After several false starts, Brunel announced the construction of a railway from Bristol to London on 30 July 1833. This became the GWR, and he intended it to be the best railway in the country.[16] The GWR had originally planned to terminate London services at Euston as this allowed them to use part of the London and Birmingham Railway's track into the station, which would have been cost effective.[17] This received government approval in 1835, but was rejected as a long-term solution by Brunel as he was concerned it would also allow Liverpool to compete as a port with Bristol if the railway from Birmingham was extended.[17

The first station was a temporary terminus for the GWR on the west side of Bishop's Bridge Road, opened on 4 June 1838. The first GWR service from London to Taplow, near Maidenhead, ran from Paddington in 1838. After the main station opened, this became the site of the goods depot.19 Brunel did not consider that anything less than a grand terminus dedicated to the GWR would be acceptable, and consequently this was approved in February 1853.[21]

The Great Western Hotel was built on Praed Street in front of the station from 1851 to 1854 by architect Philip Charles Hardwick, son of Philip Hardwick (designer of the Euston Arch) in a classical and French-chateau design. It opened...

Paddington Station isn't one of London's more grand train stations, but there is a pretty big reason you'll want to make a point to stop here: its adorable blue-coated, red-booted bear namesake: Paddington! If you were a fan of author Michael Bond's bear as a kid (or even now), you will love this. He is, after all, one of the most beloved British fictional characters of all time.

This is a very busy, bustling train station. Lots of connections come through here, including the traveler-friendly Heathrow Express train with direct service to the airport. A (very outdated) Hilton hotel is attached, which is especially convenient if you have a very early train to catch.

Since a ton of trains serve the station (including a very convenient link to the Tube), there is a very busy board of train delays! Luckily, there are plenty of quick service restaurants and shops (including two grocery markets) to keep you busy. Any train traveler will find just about all they could possibly need to make their journey more comfortable.

There's also a fantastic official Paddington store that sells all sorts of bear-related goods. The prices are a little high, but they have a terrific inventory. This is the place for great souvenirs for the folks back home.

Of course, don't forget the real reason you're here: to see Paddington! Head on over to Platform 1 for a terrific photo opportunity with a bronze statue of the famouse bear! He's sitting with his suitcase, waiting to greet delighted visitors. It's such a joy to watch as kids and adults alike get big smiles and run up to hug the statue. Be sure to tip your hat and tell Paddington 'hello' for me!

You can visit Paddington 24/7, but here's a word of advice (and caution). Note that many of the services and even entrances are closed late at night, because this station can sometimes attract a more unsavory element. It's not unsafe, but please be aware of pickpockets and other...

We have been to London Paddington underground and train station several times over the years. This time we were going to Bristol and we needed to change from the underground to the train station.

18.01 was our train to Bristol Temple Meads and we arrived with just an hour to go so there was plenty of time and so we decided to pop by WHSMITH to get a few bits and pieces ready for the train.

When we were ready we were impressed there was a British sign language relay system to allow deaf people like myself to understand when the next train was. The speed of the signs was good and i understood them well.

However, there was a bit of a wait without much information and as i happened to glance behind me on the screen it stated my train had been cancelled due to heavy rainfall and flooding.

I wasn't sure what to do and the information desk was full of people so there wasn't much else i could do until i had the idea of going to the passenger assistance office and asking them for support especially since we had effectively no way of getting out of this situation ourselves.

There were about three people behind the desk and when i tried to explain the situation to them they told me that i needed to go to the information desk until i turned around to relay the information to my partner using British Sign Language. We were then told to sit and wait for more information.

We waited about an hour with not so much of a glance from the staff as we weren't sure what was going on or what we needed to do. Thankfully there was alternative transportation arranged by the people who booked my ticket and i was on my way otherwise i do not think I'd have had much luck with them.

Quite a disappointing experience and not sure why today out of all days was bad but it was and I felt frustrated with how the issues...