Joe Keane:
Run the Hammersmith & City more west, and have it take over the branch to
Richmond.

Peter Masson:
Too much has been built over, but the LSWR used to run a service from
Waterloo to Richmond via West London Junction, Addison Road (now
Kensington Olympia), a long-lost curve from south of Shepherds Bush
to South of Goldhawk Road, then parallel with the Hammersmith (H&C)
line, with a spur from it, to the L&SW Hammersmith station, then a
curve to the District west of Hammersmith at Studland Road Junction.

Rather, onto what is now the District. The line to Richmond opened
in 1869 as an LSWR route alone. The District was extended to meet it
in 1877, creating Studland Road Junction. The line remained in LSWR
and then BR ownership until 1950 (although after 1926 it was leased
to the Underground group and its successors); when the District
started building branches off it from Turnham Green, its trains had
to use running rights over the LSWR to access them.

The Metropolitan Railway also began operating to Richmond in 1877,
just as Joe suggests. This service ran until 1906. (But as Peter said,
that doesn't mean it could just be restarted now.)

In 1905 the line was quadrupled between Studland Road Junction and
Turnham Green, the District being given exclusive use of the southern
pair.

Actually 1911. 1905 was the date the subsurface lines electrified.
I believe the two northern tracks were not electrified at that time.
But the LSWR service was moribund, as the District had a straighter
route, and...

After 1916 the northern L&SW pair were left derelict, until 1932,
when the Piccadilly was projected over the centre pair, with the
District taking the outer pair.

At the same time, the section from Barons Court to Hammersmith was
also reconfigured to give the Piccadilly the two middle tracks;
previously it had used the two northern tracks.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable
| from a feature." -- Rich Kulawiec (after Clarke)

My text in this article is in the public domain.