 The Richmond and West End Railway (R&WER) opened the first station at Richmond on 27 July 1846, as the terminus of its line from , on a site to the south of the present through platforms, which later became a goods yard and where a multi-storey car park now stands.The Windsor, Staines and South Western Railway (WS&SWR) extended the line westward, resiting the station to the west side of The Quadrant, on the extended tracks and slightly west of the present through platforms.Both the R&WER and WS&SWR were subsidiary companies of the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR).