Clapham Junction is a major railway station near St John's Hill in south-west Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth, England, 2 mi from London Victoria and 3 mi from London Waterloo. Despite its name, Clapham Junction is not in Clapham, a district 1 mi to the south-east. A major transport hub, Clapham Junction station is on both the South West Main Line and Brighton Main Line, as well as numerous other routes and branch lines which pass through or diverge from the main lines at this station. It serves as a southern terminus of both the Mildmay and Windrush lines of the London Overground. Routes from London's south and south-west termini, Victoria and Waterloo, funnel through the station, making it the busiest in Europe by number of trains using it: between 100 and 180 per hour, except for the five hours after midnight. The station is also the busiest UK station for interchanges between services, as well as the only railway station in Great Britain with more interchanges than entries or exits.

History

On 21 May 1838, the London and Southampton Railway became the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR), and opened its line from Nine Elms as far as Woking. The second line, initially from Nine Elms to Richmond, opened on 27 July 1846. Nine Elms was replaced in 1848 as the terminus by Waterloo Bridge station, now Waterloo. The line to Victoria opened by 1860. Clapham Junction opened on 2 March 1863, a joint venture of the L&SWR, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) and the West London Extension Railway (WLER) as an interchange station for their lines. The railway companies, to attract a middle- and upper-class clientele, seized the nonindustrial parish calculating that being upon the slopes of Clapham's plateau would only reinforce this distinction, leading to a long-lasting misunderstanding that the station is in Clapham.

Discontinued proposals

A £39.5 million planning application from Metro Shopping Fund was withdrawn before governmental planning committee consideration on 20 May 2009. A 'Heathrow Airtrack' to reduce the 95-minute journey by tube and Gatwick Express to Gatwick Airport and unite the Great Western Main Line with Heathrow, Gatwick and the South West Main Line was cancelled in 2011 following improvements to the 2005-built Heathrow Connect track from Hayes and Harlington and practical impediments, such as pressure for continued high-frequency services on the three deemed-'entrenched' semi-fast and slow services between Clapham Junction and Staines. Overground, the change would have been at Clapham Junction.

Incidents and accidents

Clapham rail disaster

On the morning of 12 December 1988, two collisions involving three commuter trains occurred slightly south-west of the station due to a defective signal. 35 people died and 484 were injured.

Track bombing

On the morning of 16 December 1991, a bomb ripped through tracks on one of the station's platforms, causing major disruption to the rail network. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility.

The Junction

The station is named Clapham Junction because it is at the junction of several rail lines. The name is not given to any rail junction near the station which, without end-on intercompany junctions, are:

The station today

Each day more than 2,000 trains, over half of them stopping, pass through the station, more than through any other station in Europe. At peak times up to 200 trains per hour pass through of which 122 stop. It is not the busiest station by number of passengers, most of whom (about 430,000 on a weekday, of which 135,000 are at rush hours) pass through. Interchanges make some 40% of the activity and on that basis too it is the busiest station in the UK. In 2011, the station had three entrances, all with staffed ticket offices: There are public and disabled toilets at the south-west entrance. There are refreshment kiosks in the subway, on the footbridge and on some platforms; and a small shopping centre, including a small branch of Sainsbury's supermarket, in the south-east entrance. British Transport Police maintain a neighbourhood policing presence, whereas the Metropolitan Police Service and the part-Transport for London funded Safer Transport Command provides a police presence in the area outside the station. On 9 December 2012, a new platform for the East London line opened, creating an orbital railway around inner London. Overcrowding is most frequent in the often convenient but narrow cross-platform subway. Using this rather than the wide, elegant flying concourse for interchange, a visitors' eyes assessment of fabric and environment listed Clapham Junction in the most needy 10% of Department for Transport category B stations. In an attempt to reduce overcrowding, a staircase to platforms 13 and 14 was replaced with a new wider staircase in April 2023.

Platforms

The station has seventeen platforms, numbered 1 to 17. In general, platforms 1 and 2 are used by London Overground trains, platforms 3–11 by South Western Railway trains and platforms 12–17 by Southern trains. Non-stop Gatwick Express trains pass through platforms 12 and 13. Sidings leading into railway sheds at the west of the station are located between platforms 6 and 7. Platform 8 must not be used for stopping trains, unless in an emergency, because the platform gap is too wide.

Services

All South Western Railway services from Waterloo pass through the station, as do Southern and Gatwick Express trains from Victoria. The Mildmay and Windrush lines of the London Overground have Clapham Junction as one of their termini. The typical off-peak service of 104 trains an hour (tph) comprises: South Western Railway: Southern: London Overground: During peak hours on weekdays express services on the South West Main Line and outer suburban services to Alton and Basingstoke typically do not stop at the station.

Future proposals

In the 2010s, a Clapham Junction station was proposed as part of the Crossrail 2 project. A large underground station dug underneath the existing station was proposed to serve Crossrail 2 service. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was indefinitely postponed in 2020, although the route has been safeguarded. The Northern line extension to Battersea Power Station was criticised for not extending to Clapham Junction. During the public inquiry into the extension in 2014, it was noted that although an extension to Clapham would be desirable, it was unnecessary to meet the needs of the Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea regeneration area. Additionally, it was noted that a further extension could overwhelm the extension, due to the high demand. However, provision has been made for a future extension of the line to the station, with a reserved course underneath Battersea Park. Government and Network Rail funding for in the early 2010s of £50 million of improvements was granted. This comprised an upgrade to the main interchange: new entrances and more retail. In a Network Rail study in 2015, it was proposed that platform 0 could reopen for 8-car operations of the West London Line.

Connections

London Buses routes 35, 37, 39, 49, 77, 87, 156, 170, 219, 295, 319, 337, 344, 345, 639, 670, C3 and G1 and night routes N19, N31 and N87 serve the station.

Notes and references