 Before this line was built, services north from Richmond ran somewhat circuitously via chords at Kew Bridge and Barnes.The Great Western Railway (GWR) briefly (1 June to 31 October 1870) ran a service from to Richmond via the Hammersmith & City Railway (now the Hammersmith & City line) tracks to Grove Road and then over the L&SWR tracks through Turnham Green.On 1 June 1877, the District Railway (DR) linked its then terminus at Hammersmith to the nearby L&SWR tracks east of the present station.