Clapham Junction Railway Station

Clapham Junction railway station is a major railway station and transport hub near St John's Hill in the south-west of Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, a district situated some east-south-east of the station. Routes from London's south and south-west termini, and 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. HistoryBefore the railway came, the area was rural and specialised in growing lavender; the street Lavender Hill is east of the station. The coach road from London to Guildford ran slightly south of the future station site, past The Falcon public house at the crossroads in the valley between St. John's Hill and Lavender Hill. On 21 May 1838 the London and Southampton Railway became the London and South Western Railway (L& SWR), and opened its line from as far as Woking. That was the first railway through the area but it had no station at the present site. 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.

Clapham Junction railway station is a major railway station and transport hub near St John's Hill in the south-west of Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Despite its name, it is not located in Clapham, a district situated some east-south-east of the station. Routes from London's south and south-west termini, and 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. HistoryBefore the railway came, the area was rural and specialised in growing lavender; the street Lavender Hill is east of the station. The coach road from London to Guildford ran slightly south of the future station site, past The Falcon public house at the crossroads in the valley between St. John's Hill and Lavender Hill. On 21 May 1838 the London and Southampton Railway became the London and South Western Railway (L& SWR), and opened its line from as far as Woking. That was the first railway through the area but it had no station at the present site. 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.