build a railway long to Hammersmith was granted on 7 July 1873, the independent Hammersmith Extension Railway having been formed to raise the necessary capital. The new line started from a junction on the curve to Addison Road and also allowed easier access to Lillie Bridge Depot. It opened on 9 September 1874 with one intermediate station at North End (Fulham) (renamed West Kensington in 1877) and a terminus at Hammersmith, and was served by through trains to Mansion House. West Brompton was now served by a shuttle to Earl's Court. Earl's Court station burnt down in 1875 and a larger replacement with four tracks and two island platforms opened on 1 February 1878. This was sited to the west of the original station; to the east of the station a flying junction was built to separate traffic to Kensington (High Street) and from Gloucester Road. In December 1876, six trains per hour ran on the inner circle between Mansion House and Aldgate. The District operated four trains per hour from Mansion House to Hammersmith. Also leaving every hour from Mansion House were two GWR middle circle services to Aldgate via Addison Road and two L&NWR services to Broad Street via Willesden Junction. Three services an hour travelled between West Brompton and Earl's Court. In 1864 the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) had obtained permission for the Kensington and Richmond line. The route headed north from Addison Road on the West London Railway before curving round to serve Hammersmith at a station at (linked to the Hammersmith & City Railway station by footbridge), Turnham Green, Brentford Road (Gunnersbury from 1871) and Kew Gardens and Richmond. The line opened on 1 January 1869, the L&SWR running services from Waterloo and Ludgate Hill via Addison Road, and the L&NWR running services from Broad Street to Richmond from a link at Brentford Road to the North London Line at South Acton. Stations opened on the line at Shaftesbury Road (Ravenscourt Park from 1888) and Shepherds Bush on 1 May 1874. In 1875 permission was given for a link from the District station at Hammersmith to a junction just east of Ravenscourt Park. As the L&SWR line was on a viaduct and the District line in a cutting, the line rose steeply. On 1 June 1877, the Hammersmith branch was extended to Richmond, initially with a service of one train an hour to