A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Clapham Junction   | |
|---|---|
 South West (Brighton Yard) entrance | |
  Clapham Junction Location of Clapham Junction in Greater London | |
| Location | Battersea |
| Local authority | London Borough of Wandsworth |
| Managed by | Network Rail |
| Station code | CLJ |
| DfT category | B |
| Number of platforms | 17 (16 in use) |
| Accessible | Yes[1] |
| Fare zone | 2 |
| Cycle parking | Yes – external |
| Toilet facilities | Yes – behind gateline |
| National Rail annual entry and exit | |
| 2018–19 |  29.520 million[2] |
| – interchange |  29.324 million[2] |
| 2019–20 | 28.892 million[2] |
| – interchange | 26.903 million[2] |
| 2020–21 | 8.371 million[2] |
| – interchange | 6.824 million[2] |
| 2021–22 | 17.397 million[2] |
| – interchange | 14.794 million[2] |
| 2022–23 | 20.790 million[2] |
| – interchange | 19.091 million[2] |
| Key dates | |
| 2 March 1863 | Opened |
| Other information | |
| External links | |
| Coordinates | 51°27′53″N 0°10′14″W / 51.4646°N 0.1705°W |
 London transport portal | |
Clapham Junction railway station (/ˈklæpəm ˈdʒʌŋkʃən/[3]) is a major railway station and transport hub near St John's Hill in southwest Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is 2 miles 57 chains (2.71 mi; 4.37 km) from London Victoria and 3 miles 74 chains (3.93 mi; 6.32 km) from London Waterloo;[4] it is on both the South West Main Line and Brighton Main Line as well as numerous other routes and branch lines passing through or diverging from the main lines at this station. Despite its name, Clapham Junction is not located in Clapham, a district situated approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) to the southeast and is instead sited in Battersea.
Routes from London's south and southwest termini, Victoria and Waterloo, funnel through the station, making it the busiest in Europe[5][better source needed] 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,[6] as well as the only railway station in Great Britain with more interchanges than entries or exits.[7]
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.[9]
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.[10][11]
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Legend
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Discontinued proposalsedit
A £39.5 million planning application from Metro Shopping Fund was withdrawn before governmental planning committee consideration on 20 May 2009.[n 1]
A 'Heathrow Airtrack' to reduce the 95-minute journey by tube and Gatwick Express to Gatwick 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.[12]
Incidents and accidentsedit
Clapham rail disasteredit
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.[13][14]
Track bombingedit
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.[15]
The Junctionedit
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:
- Falcon Junction at the south end of the station, where the West London Line (WLL) joins the Brighton Slow Lines[16]
- Ludgate Junction at the eastern end of the Windsor Line platforms to the WLL[17]
- Latchmere SW Junction connecting the WLL to the Windsor lines at Ludgate Junction.[16]
- Latchmere Main Junction connecting the WLL to the Brighton Line at Falcon Junction.[16]
- West London Extension Junction and Junction for Waterloo, relaid for Eurostar empty-stock moves from the Windsor Lines to the WLL.[16]
- Pouparts Junction where the low-level and high-level approaches to Victoria split.[18]
The station todayedit
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2015) |
