Clapham Junction railway station

Clapham Junction railway station is a major railway station and transportation hub near St John's Hill in the Battersea in London Borough of Wandsworth. It is 4.4km away from Victoria and 6.3km from Waterloo, which is on the South Western Main Line as well as numerous other routes and branch lines passing through or diverging from the main line at this station.

Routes from the London's south and south western 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 five trains after midnight. The station is also the busiest UK station for interchanges between services.

Discontinued proposals
A $39.5 million planning application from the Metro Shopping Fund was withdrawn before the government planning committee consideration on 20 May 2009.

A 'Heathrow Airtrack' to reduce the 95-minute journey on the Tube and the Gatwick Express to Gatwick and unite the Great Western Main Line to Heathrow, Gatwick and the South Western Main Line was cancelled in 2011 following the improvements of the 2005-built Heathrow Connect to Hayes & Harlington and practical improvements, such as the 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 be at Clapham Junction.

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:
 * Falcon Junction, at the southern end of the station, where the West London Line (WLL) joins the Brighton Slow Lines
 * Ludgate Junction at the eastern end of the Windsor Line platforms to the WLL.
 * Latchmere SW Junction connecting the WLL to the Windsor Lines at Ludgate Junction.
 * Latchmere Main Junction connecting the WLL to the Brighton Line at Falcon Junction.
 * West London Extension Junction and Junction for Waterloo, relaid for Eurostar empty stock moves from the Windsor Lines to the WLL.
 * Pouparts Junction where the low-level and high-level approaches to Victoria split.

The station today
Each day, about 2,000 trains, over half of them stopping, pass through the station, more than through any other station in Europe. At peak times, 180 trains per hour pass through of which 117 stop. It is not the busiest station by the amount of passengers, most of whom (about 430,000 on a weekday, of which 135,000 are at rush hours) pass through. Interchanges makes 40% of the activity and on the basis too, it is the busiest in the UK.

In 2011, the station have three entrances, all with staffed ticket offices, through only the southeastern entrance is opened 24 hours throughout the day. The most heavily used of the three, this leads from St John's Hill via a small indoor shopping centre into a subway some 15 ft (4.6 m) wide, that connects to the eastern ends of all platforms.

The north entrance, which has restricted opening hours, leads from Grant Road to the same subway. The subway is crowded during rush hours, with the ticket barriers at the ends being pitch points.

The southwest entrance, also known as the Brighton Yard entrance, as the buildings still bear the same signage as London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, is more of the traditional appearance, with a Victorian station building set at the back of the large forecourt. This entrance leads to a very wide covered footbridge, which joins the western ends of all platforms. This entrance includes cycle parking and taxi rank. It was reopened in May 2011 as part of the wider programme of access improvements that involved installing lifts to the platforms.

There are public and disabled toilets at the south western end of entrance. There are refreshment kiosks in the subway, on the footbridge, and on some platforms, a small shopping centre, including a small branch of Sainsbury's supermarket, in the southeast entrance.

British Transport Police maintains a small policing presence, whereas the Metropolitan Police Service and the Transport for London funded Safer Transport Command has provided a police presence outside the station.

9 December 2012 saw the opening of the new platform of the East London Line, creating an orbital railway around inner London.

Overcrowding is the 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.

Platforms
The station has 17 platforms, 1 to 17:
 * Platforms 1 and 2 are northeast-facing bay platforms, used by the London Overground services to and from Highbury & Islington. Usually, platform 1 is served by trains via Willesden Junction, while platform 2 is used by services via Canada Water, although this usage can be reversed.
 * Platforms 3 to 6 are through platforms used by South Western Railway services going to or from Putney and beyond.

Sidings leading into railway sheds at the west of the station are located between platforms 6 and 7.


 * Platforms 7 to 11 are through platforms used by South Western Railway services going to or from Wimbledon and beyond. Some long-distance services (from places such as Portsmouth Harbour or Weymouth) that do not call at the station also pass through these platforms.
 * Platforms 12 to 15 are through platforms used by Southern services that start or terminate at London Victoria. The non-stopping Gatwick Express services also pass through these platforms.
 * Platforms 16 and 17 are through platforms used by Southern services on the West London Line (to or from Watford Junction or Milton Keynes Central). During emergency engineering works, these platforms can also be used by some London Overground services to and from Willesden Junction.

Services
All South Western Railway trains from Waterloo pass through this station, as do Southern and Gatwick Express trains from Victoria. The West London Line and East London Line services of London Overground have Clapham Junction as one of the termini.

The typical service of more than 120 trains an hour comprises: During peak hours on weekdays express trains along the South Western Main Line and other suburban services to Alton and Basingstoke typically do not stop at this station.
 * 35 to Waterloo
 * 22 to Victoria
 * 1 to Alton
 * 1 to Basingstoke (slow)
 * 2 to Brighton
 * 2 to Caterham via Norbury
 * 2 to Chessington South
 * 1 to Dorking via Sutton
 * 2 to Dorking via Wimbledon
 * 1 to East Croydon via Norbury
 * 2 to East Grinstead via Oxted
 * 1 to Epsom Downs
 * 2 to Epsom via Hackbridge
 * 1 to Epsom via Norbury
 * 1 to Exeter St Davids via Salisbury
 * 2 to Guildford via Cobham
 * 2 to Guildford via Epsom and Leatherhead
 * 2 to Hampton Court via Surbiton
 * 1 to Haslemere
 * 4 to Highbury & Islington via Denmark Hill
 * 1 to Horsham via Sutton and Dorking
 * 1 to Littlehampton and Eastbourne, dividing at Haywards Heath
 * 2 to London Bridge via Crystal Palace
 * 2 to London Waterloo via Hounslow Loop (Brentford, Hounslow and Richmond)
 * 2 to London Waterloo via Hounslow Loop (Richmond, Hounslow and Brentford)
 * 2 to London Waterloo via Kingston Loop (Wimbledon, Kingston and Richmond)
 * 2 to London Waterloo via Kingston Loop (Richmond, Kingston and Wimbledon)
 * 1 to Milton Keynes Central via Kensington (Olympia) and Watford Junction
 * 1 to Ore and Littlehampton, dividing at Haywards Heath
 * 1 to Poole (slow)
 * 1 to Portsmouth and Southsea via Haslemere
 * 1 to Portsmouth Harbour and Bognor Regis, dividing at Horsham
 * 2 to Reading via Wokingham
 * 1 to Reigate
 * 2 to Shepperton via Wimbledon
 * 1 to Southampton Harbour and Bognor Regis, dividing at Horsham
 * 2 to Sutton via Norbury
 * 1 to Tonbridge via Redhill
 * 2 to Weybridge via Brentford, Hounslow and Staines
 * 1 to Weymouth
 * 4 to Willesden Junction of which 2 goes to Stratford
 * 2 to Windsor & Eton Riverside
 * 2 to Woking

Future Proposals
In 2007 the alignment of one of the two variants of Crossrail 2, that via the station rather than Putney and Wimbledon, was safeguarded. The Department for Transport and Transport for London continue to discuss proposal for a Clapham Junction Northern Line extension and its London Underground alignment has been legally reserved through Battersea Park, and would connect Clapham Junction to the London Underground for the first time.

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, it is proposed that platform 0 could reopen for 8 car operations on the West London Line.