Network Rail continues £15.5m improvement work at Clapham Junction

Credit: Network Rail

Network Rail has started the second phase of a project to give Clapham Junction, one of London’s busiest interchanges, a brighter look with better facilities, more shops and cafes and more space for passengers. During autumn, Network Rail will be carrying out £15.5 million of work to improve passenger flow and reduce congestion at Clapham Junction station. The Brighton Yard entrance, at bridge level off St John’s Hill, is being remodelled to allow for wider gate lines to be installed to improve accessibility and reduce overall congestion.

Clapham junction

“Clapham Junction station is one of London’s busiest interchanges, situated at the heart of South West London and we believe it needs to be given some love to make it a more pleasant and enjoyable experience for passengers who are travelling to and from it,” Adrian Gogay, Senior Sponsor for Network Rail, said. “We welcome the major investment from the Department for Transport and are working closely with our partners to help improve and grow the station to make it more comfortable for passengers when travelling. So far, our teams have completed a series of improvements, including installing and rolling out free passenger WiFi, refurbishing the lifts to improve accessibility, and repainting the overbridge from platform one to six.”

Alongside this, more space for five new retail units will also be built with plans to include new coffee shops and newsagents. Other improvements are also being made to the toilets and baby changing facilities for passengers, including those with restricted mobility. As part of long-term plans, the ticket office at the main entrance (Brighton Yard) will be permanently closed and more ticket machines will be added.

“Clapham Junction is one of the busiest and most important stations on our network, so we very much welcome this significant investment, which will help reduce congestion and make the station more attractive and accessible for customers,” Christian Neill, Customer Experience Director for South Western Railway, said. “It has been fantastic to see the improvements made to date and we look forward to our customers seeing the full results of this £35 million programme of work when it completes.”

Phase three

The third phase of work will continue in December where Network Rail will be replacing and widening the current staircases on platform 13 and 14 to improve safety and allow for a higher volume of people to pass through at once, in turn reducing congestion. These works are all part of the £35 million programme of work, aiming to improve the overall passenger experience at Clapham Junction station.