Of all the stations that a London Overground fan would want to visit, Battersea Park is probably the hardest, but on New Year’s Eve it becomes very much easier to get to.
At the moment, the normal timetable sees a London Overground train start/stop at Battersea Park only at the very start and end of the day. On Monday to Saturdays, one London Overground train leaves Battersea Park at 6:33am, and one terminates there at 10:48pm, and one service leaves at 7:47am on Sundays only.
So for track bashers and people who want to catch a train to an unusual destination, it’s possible, but not convenient to add Battersea Park to the list.
However, Friday 31st December will be your chance.
Because the track between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Road stations will be closed all day for engineering works, all trains to/from Clapham Junction will start/stop at Battersea Park.
All day – well, until 6:15pm anyway, when trains will resume their usual service to Clapham Junction.
So this is your chance to see London Overground trains at Battersea Park station during the daytime.
Battersea Park station is also an “out of station interchange” with Battersea Power Station tube station on the Northern line extension if you fancy adding an OSI to your trip.
London Overground train at Battersea Park – Credit Aubrey
(if you’re a normal passenger wanting to get to Clapham Junction, there will be Southern trains connecting Battersea Park to Clapham Junction)
I was always more impressed by the one-train-a-day that went from the Barking to Gospel Oak line all the way to Willesden Junction (not calling at Gospel Oak).
And that train that goes, once on a Saturday, from Liverpool Street to Seven Sisters though South Tottenham!
I’m not sure if they still both run?
The 0530 Liverpool Street to Enfield Town still runs through South Tottenham (without stopping) on Saturdays only.
I don’t think the through train to Willesden runs anymore. Certainly can’t find any reference to it lately!
Got to love these quirks.
The ‘Pixie train’ (as it was called), to Willesden Junction hasn’t run for years. It was an additional service to help with crowding during the days of the 2 car class 172s.
710s are now able to provide a service with no additional trains in the peak.
One thing to be aware of is if you travel to or from Battersea Park using the Overground you will be charged National Rail fares which if you use PAYG and not the lower fares for TfL Overground services.
I found this out a couple of months back by using the parliamentary Overground train from Battersea Park and queried it with Tfl because potentially it’s a bit unfair as it’s still a zone 2 station so travelling from Clapham Junction to Wandsworth Road costs less than Battersea Park to Wandsworth Road but it’s because there is no regular service so fares are set as National Rail.
This helpfully serves to prove the point of adding Wandsworth Road – Battersea Park to the Tube map, precisely because in spells of un-planned disruption it’s a bolt-hole for Overground services and a perfectly acceptable route for most passengers to / from Clapham Junction.
Can you check about Southern trains calling at Battersea park, the Southern website states you have to go from Victoria to Battersea park via Waterloo and walk from Battersea queen’s road
The TfL website (linked to in the article) says to catch Southern trains.
Quite right, Mick.
The ONLY trains at Battersea Park on 31st Dec are London Overground.
There are NO Southern trains to London Victoria from 26th to 31st Dec. See
https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/service-updates
TfL’s website does, as Ian states, say “Battersea Park for Southern connections to Clapham Junction.”
This is another example of poor information from TfL … just rolling out standard text without any thought for its accuracy.