On the Underground it is the terminus of a short District line branch from Earl's Court, originally built as part of the Middle Circle.

The main-line station was revitalised later in the decade as a terminus for national Motorail, and upgraded again in 1986 to serve a wider range of InterCity destinations.

With around 2.30 million passenger journeys recorded in 2023, Kensington (Olympia) is the 204th busiest station on the entire Underground network.

[11][a] On the automated announcements and the dot matrix indicators on District line trains, the station is shown as simply Olympia.

[18] A station called Kensington was opened by the West London Railway as its southern terminus on 27 May 1844, located just south of Hammersmith Road.

[19][20] The line was re-opened to passengers on 2 June 1862 as part of the West London Extension Railway with a new station, also called Kensington, to the north of Hammersmith Road, providing services to Willesden and Clapham Junction.

It was served by milk trains running from the Great Western Railway at Old Oak Common to a siding adjacent to the station.

[29] Due to its ability to access all lines radiating from London, its close location to SHAEF headquarters and its relative quietness compared to the main London termini, it was the preferred embarkation point for US Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower when he visited troops in Wales preparing for the June 1944 Normandy landings.

[36] Kensington (Olympia) was included in 1960s Cold War plans to ensure continuity of government in the event of hostilities.

[42] In 1966 Kensington (Olympia) became the main London terminus for British Rail Motorail trains, which carried passengers and vehicles across Britain.

[43] In the London Midland Region timetable for 1970–71, services are shown to Perth, Stirling, Carlisle, St Austell, Totnes, Newton Abbot and Fishguard (connecting with the ferry for Rosslare).

[53] Before the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was proposed in 1996, Kensington (Olympia) was planned to be expanded to accommodate a car terminal for international services including Regional Eurostar.

[56][57] In June 2011, Transport for London (TfL) announced that the District line shuttle between Kensington (Olympia) and Earl's Court would close on weekdays at the end of the year.

[58][59] The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea unsuccessfully protested against the closure, and general weekday services ceased in December 2011.

[60] In 2012 TfL announced plans to introduce ticket gates at the station to combat fare dodgers, which would remove access to the footbridge used by local residents for years.

The London Underground District line operates a shuttle service to and from High Street Kensington every 20 minutes on weekends and public holidays or occasionally when an event takes place at the Olympia Exhibition Centre.