Clapham Junction: the station, its history and the streets around it

Clapham Junction is Britain's busiest interchange station, in Network Rail's own words, and it is not in Clapham: it is in Battersea, SW11. Around 2,000 trains pass through every day. Step outside and you are at the foot of St John's Hill, Lavender Hill and Northcote Road, with the Grand, Battersea Arts Centre and some of the best shopping in south London a few minutes' walk away. Here is the station, its story, and the neighbourhood around it.

The station

Network Rail runs the station, and the numbers are big: 17 platforms, 10 lifts and space for 294 bikes, but no car park at all. There are two step-free entrances, Grant Road and Brighton Yard, and the Brighton Yard entrance lets cars drop off directly from St John's Road.

• Ticket office: 6.15am to 9.30pm Monday to Saturday, 7.15am to 9.30pm on Sunday.
• Staff help: 4.30am to 1.30am Monday to Thursday, and around the clock from Friday to Sunday.
• Quieter times: weekdays between 10am and 4pm and after 7pm, and all day at weekends.
• Waiting rooms: on platforms 1, 9 and 10, and 13 and 14.

There is no left luggage, so if you are dropping bags before a night at the Grand, plan around it.

Busiest by what?

Locals love to say the Junction is the busiest station in Britain. The precise version: Network Rail calls it Britain's busiest interchange station, and the Junction's business district says some 28 million passengers change trains here every year. The London Museum puts it at around 2,000 trains a day, and notes that at various times its rail traffic has made it the busiest in Britain, Europe and even the world. By daily footfall, Network Rail says it is one of the busiest stations in Britain. The title it holds outright is for changing trains.

A short history

The station opened on 2 March 1863, when three railway companies finally came together to build a station at the junction of their lines. Why Clapham? According to the London Museum, the owners reportedly chose the name because it sounded more respectable than Battersea. The name stuck, and so did the confusion.

The neighbourhood grew up around the trains. The Junction's history pages tell the story: the department store Arding & Hobbs opened on the corner of St John's Road and Lavender Hill in 1884, was destroyed by fire on 20 December 1909, and was rebuilt. The Grand opened on St John's Hill in 1900 as the New Grand, successor to the Grand Hall of Varieties. The Falcon pub by the station was rebuilt in 1887. Northcote Road became a shopping street a little later than the streets around the station. And Lavender Hill was a dividing line: clerks lived to the south, workers to the north, a pattern already well established more than a century ago.

The neighbourhood

St John's Hill

Walk up St John's Hill to The Clapham Grand at 21-25 St John's Hill, London's palace of variety since 1900. Club nights, gigs, comedy, cabaret, drag, Bongo's Bingo and family shows all happen here. Book ahead: the big nights sell out.

Lavender Hill

Walk along Lavender Hill for Battersea Arts Centre, the theatre and arts centre, with a cafe and a year-round programme including family shows. Just off Lavender Hill, The Thieves at 51 Lavender Gardens is a multi-level bar with karaoke, live music and a quiz night.

Northcote Road

Cross over for Northcote Road, with its street market, cheesemonger, gallery and antiques market. At the station end, Northcote Records at 8-10 Northcote Road has live music most nights and a garden.

Staying near the station

Travelodge London Clapham Junction is at 155 Falcon Road, SW11, a short walk from the station, with check-in from 3pm and parking at the St John's Hill car park nearby. Its own page has flagged building work, so check the latest before you book.

Getting around from here

• Overground: the Windrush line runs from here through Wandsworth Road and Clapham High Street towards New Cross, Crystal Palace and West Croydon, and the Mildmay line starts here too.
• By bike: there are 294 cycle spaces at the station, so cycling in and locking up is easy.

How to use the Junction like a local

Use the Brighton Yard entrance for drop-offs from St John's Road, and if you can choose, travel in the quieter windows Network Rail suggests: weekdays between 10am and 4pm, after 7pm, or at the weekend. And when someone tells you it is the busiest station in Britain, smile and add "for interchanges". Then go and get a drink on Northcote Road.