An area, known as "le Rudyng" (indicating a woodland clearing) in the mid-13th century, had by 1534 come to be called West End. It was then a freehold estate belonging to Kilburn Priory, and was so called because it was at the west end of another, larger estate. At the beginning of the 19th century, there were three main large houses around the hamlet of West End: West End House, West End Hall and Lauriston Lodge which were later sold off for redevelopment with the arrival of the railways, which led to the transformation of the area from farmland into housing estates. The station was opened on 30 June 1879 by the Metropolitan Railway (now the Metropolitan line) when it extended its tracks from Swiss Cottage. The station acted as the temporary terminus of the branch until it was further extended to Willesden Green on 24 November 1879.
On 20 November 1939 stopping services were transferred to the Bakerloo line when it took over operations on the Stanmore branch; at this time the platform was rebuilt in the Underground's standard style, but the station building was retained. Stopping services were transferred to the Jubilee line on 1 May 1979. Metropolitan line services run through the station without stopping. It is on West End Lane between Broadhurst Gardens and Blackburn Road and is in Travelcard Zone 2. It lies between Kilburn and Finchley Road tube stations. It is 100m from West Hampstead station on the London Overground North London Line and 200m from West Hampstead Thameslink station. Most maps show the three stations as connections. Through ticketing is allowed. The station is not accessible by wheelchair. Facilities include an automatic ticket machine, two quick ticket machines, a ticket booth, countdown timers, a waiting room, wi-fi, help points, payphones and both male and female toilets.
Connections: London Buses routes 139, 328 and C11 serve the station.