Initial plans for a huge rebuild of Clapham Junction station have been shown off, with the rebuilt station sitting underneath a large housing development.
The redevelopment would see more trains able to stop at Clapham Junction, and preparatory works for the underground platforms for Crossrail 2 to arrive.
It also results in around 5,000 additional homes being built in the area, with the goal of not so much burying the railway station, but making the space more permeable so that it’s easier for people to get from one side to the other.
Last year Network Rail took over the operations at Clapham Junction from South Western Railway which had been running the station in order to prepare for the redevelopment. Although the station is the 10th busiest in London overall, it is the busiest for people swapping between trains, using the often overcrowded footbridge and tunnel.
The plans were developed by consultants Mott MacDonald, contractor Laing O’Rourke and architect Hawkins Brown, and is at this early stage more of a concept of how things could look, rather than the final masterplan of what will be built.
The goal is to deliver intervention on a huge scale without causing major disruption on several fronts.
During the phased delivery of the station it is vital that the surrounding community begin to see benefits and improvements at the earliest opportunity. Improving this “meanwhile position” has been a key driver as part of the study. Opportunities have been identified to provide temporary retail units to replace existing amenities, to implement traffic reduction measures as part of the early work phases, and to increase bicycle parking available at the station, encouraging active means of travel to and from the station.
It suggests that the main entrance to the station would move sideways to the corner junction, and also where currently a rather disinterested office block stands, and that would become the new primary entrance to the station. The Falcon pub remains, as an isolated island building in the new concourse.
That also allows the new parts of the station to be built without shutting the old entrances before their replacements are ready.
The tracks and platforms would also be straightened in order to allow more trains through the station. During those works, it’s likely that four additional temporary platforms would be constructed on land that is bought to the south of the current station to keep the trains running.
The current network of narrow corridors that link the platforms would be replaced with a considerably wider concourse and waiting area, and escalators up to the platforms. A large bus stop would be built under the tracks where currently a rather dank road runs, giving bus users weather-proof waiting spaces.
And as can be seen in the diagrams, facilities put in place to allow the future Crossrail 2 station to connect to the mainline railway.
A large concrete raft is then built over the top of the station, and on that the new housing and amenities is built. A development of that scale not only transforming the station, but would be a substantial introduction of high density housing in an area that is largely made up of late Victorian terraces.
If given the go ahead, then the scheme is expected to take around 10 years to complete.
All images from the Clapham Futures presentation
10 years… not even London Bridge took that long. Still, badly needs to be done.
London Bridge station is smaller, and still managed to take 8 years to rebuild.
When and where can we see this
Any provision for the Northern Line extension from Battersea Power Station?
Smaller in terms on platforms but larger in terms of footprint.
A rough calculation of site area shows that London Bridge comes in at 12 acres whereas Clapham Junction is around 23 acres
I see Clapham Junction at around 6.4 acres and London Bridge around 9.8 acres. Sake good order, I’m not including any track space in that calculation. With hindsight, I suspect the architects’ plans include time for construction of the non-railway buildings.
As well as being straightened the platforms need to be raised to match the height of the trains. There might be no gap to mind but step height has always been a concern at some platforms.
As an outsider who has lived in various parts of London, it has always puzzled me why mainline services have to terminate so close to the West End, and in most cases with no intervening suburban stop. Places like Old Oak, Clapham Junction, Stratford and Hither Green have always seemed to me to offer great potential for development of major suburban terminals. I’d be interested in the views of subscribers, since I feel that something like this may alleviate the daily congestion we all hate.
You need to look at the history of the railways, and how far into the centre Parliament would permit the railways to reach (answer: not far enough) to answer that question.
The last thing we need is more termini – what’s needed is more through routes, as central termini reduce the number of trains you can run. You also need as few branches as possible coalescing into the through routes for a number of operational reasons. Crossrail 1 has that right. Thameslink has it stunningly wrong, especially south of the river – and then made it even worse by adding in Rainham as yet another branch.
Another disadvantage of termini is, that trains have to spend a lot more time in them, so that they need an inordinate number of platforms to accommodate them.
Any changes to this station are wildly welcomed!! Travelling to and from this here everyday to Weybridge with it’s narrow tunnel and cramped platforms is beginning to get to me! It’s a welcome sight to see these plans, although, let’s hope it gets finished sooner than their predictions. I’m not the only one who thinks this too, I just talked to my friends at yooodle.co.uk and they all can’t wait!
Wonder if they will consider revamping the Overground tracks and platforms to connect the East London and West London lines into a circle
A cautionary note, sorry. I am hopeful that whoever designs the station platform areas avoids the pinched, dark, somehow trapped inside a toilet roll feeling of every roofed-over station I’ve been to.
Still, even Euston’s ramps down to the less oppressively massed ceilings give me an air of cattle market finality.
So sunlight and free movement of air or more money in the railway kitty (for a couple of days/minutes who knows?)
Hopefully it won’t go down the route of the redevelopments of Birmingham New Street which has become a massive retail outlet attached to a railway. The station is cramped gloomy and oppressive and no sign of sky nor no fresh air.
At least at Clapham one can watch aircraft on finals to Heathrow, a welcome distraction to late arriving trains.
buildings on top of platforms shut out natural light-dreadful idea.Confined spaces are acoustically difficult.Noise levels on parts of the London underground [Jubilee/Central/northern lines] reach 110Db as measured by my sound level meter-enough to cause hearing damage longer term.WHO stipulates no more than 80Db & remember that the Db scale is logarithmic not linear.Clapham Junction is already too noisy & enclosing it will make matters worse.