600th video on this channel was my 4th visit to Clapham Junction on the South Western Main Line, Brighton Main Line, Windsor Lines and London Overground East and North London Lines.
Featuring services from South Western Railway, Southern, Gatwick Express and London Overground plus some Freight
Clapham Junction station is actually not in Clapham itself in fact it's located nearer to Battersea
17 platforms in total including the South Western Main Line, Brighton Main Line, Windsor Lines, London Overground and Southern services via Shepherds Bush to Watford Junction with the carriage sidings for South Western Railway Trains located between Platforms 6 and 7.
It's one of the busiest rail junctions in Europe with an average between 120 and 180 trains per hour passing through here with the latter occurring mostly during peak times.
In 1838 the former London & South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened its line from Nine Elms to Woking which 10 years later in 1848 was eventually extended to Waterloo Bridge now todays London Waterloo. The Brighton Main Line was next to open in 1860 however it wasn’t until October 2nd 1863 when Clapham Junction first opened.
Gatwick Express running services every 30 minutes today operated by Class 387s which run 2 trains per hour to Brighton via Gatwick Airport.
London Overground took over the North London Line from Silverlink in 2007 now run services 2 trains per hour to Stratford however since December 2012 East London Line services began running from Surrey Quays via Clapham High Street although most Clapham services mostly terminate at Dalston Junction.
Management of the station originally was managed by British Rail before privatisation, then South West Trains now South Western Railway however since April 2018 the station is nowadays managed by Network Rail.
A fatal accident occurred on the fast lines of the SWML on the morning of Monday December 12th 1988 when a service from Poole collided with the rear of a stationary Basingstoke stopper which then hit empty stock movement bound for Haslemere as it was passing in the opposite direction.
The cause of the collision was because Signal WF37 wasn’t rewired properly when it was replaced 2 weeks before the accident which on the morning of December 12th one of the wires would short circuit.
The Basingstoke train ended up passing a red light although wasn't able to slow down any faster.
Before in cab radio’s the drivers had to contact the controller via line side telephones and eventually the driver was cleared by the controller in the signal box to proceed into the station.
Unfortunately whilst the Basingstoke train was just beginning to proceed into the station, the following train from Poole was approaching had been given clear signals instead of 2 yellows and a Red and as it rounded the curve despite the driver’s best efforts sadly wasn't able to stop his train in time.
35 People died and 484 were injured
The inquiry also found that practices by British Rail had breached Health and Safety guidelines and in the report highlighted that Radio systems needed to be introduced as a matter of urgency.
One recommendation in the Clapham Junction Accident Report was to install ATP (Automatic Train Protection) across the entire British rail network however was controversially vetoed in 1997 due to high costs.
The Class 455s on South Western Railway on borrowed time which are due to be replaced by Class 701s in the coming months although 4 years late due to ongoing problems with the trains Train Management Control system incompatibility and delays in building the trains due to the recent coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
The Class 458s were due to be replaced but instead with be refurbished and overhauled for use on the SWML for Portsmouth and Bournemouth including being regeared from 75mph to 100mph and reverting back to 4 car 458/4 formations with works being carried out at Longsight depot in Widnes.
Class 707s were in the process of being moved to Southeastern however it wasn't until 2 months after filming when all 30 Class 707s were moved to Southeastern.
Although a lot has changed over the years however one thing at Clapham Junction that stands out is that for any rail enthusiast whether your old or young it's not hardly surprising whatever time of day that the activity of trains through the station doesn't quieten down
Whilst it's a challenge for anyone to keep up with constant movement of trains passing or stopping however it's that alone that gives the station its reputation of being one of the busiest junctions in both Britain and Europe.
Music used:
JJD - Adventure
Music provided by NCS
Video link:
NoCopyrightSounds
• JJD - Adventure | Glit...
Filmed on iPhone 14 Pro on Thursday August 17th 2023 and edited on iMovie
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