Battersea Park is a suburban railway station in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest London. It is at the junction of the South London line and the Brighton Main Line (although the physical connection between the lines has been removed), measured from . It is close to Battersea Park, and not far from Battersea Power Station.
The station has an out-of-station interchange with Battersea Power Station tube station on the newly opened Northern line extension to Battersea, part of the London Underground. It is also a short walking distance from Queenstown Road station. Additionally, Battersea Park receives a limited service on the Windrush line of the London Overground, with a small number of early morning and late evening services terminating here instead of at Clapham Junction.
Description
The station has a polychrome brick Venetian Gothic facade. It is a Grade II listed building designed by Charles Henry Driver.
History
thumb|left|View from platform 4 in 1961
The first station to carry the name "Battersea Park" was opened by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) as "Battersea" on 1 October 1860 and was located at the southern end of what is now Grosvenor Bridge. It was named "Battersea Park" on 1 July 1862 but was sometimes called "Battersea Park and Steamboat Pier". It closed on 1 November 1870 concurrently with the opening of Grosvenor Road station situated at the north end of Grosvenor Bridge.
The LB&SCR opened a high-level line between Pouparts Junction and Battersea Pier Junction on 1 May 1867 as a means of reducing congestion at Stewarts Lane. York Road (Battersea) station opened at this time.
The station was renamed Battersea Park and York Road 1 January 1877 and Battersea Park on 1 June 1885.
The South London line through the station to London Bridge was electrified on 1 December 1909 'Elevated Electric' overhead system. and to Crystal Palace on 12 May 1911, on the LB&SCR 'Elevated Electric' overhead system.
Services
thumb|[[Southern (train operating company)|Southern southbound at Battersea Park in 2018]]
Most services at Battersea Park are operated by Southern using EMUs.
The typical off peak service in trains per hour is:
- 6 tph to
- 2 tph to via
- 2 tph to via
- 2 tph to via
Additional services towards Sutton via Norbury call at the station twice per hour during the peak hours.
The station is also served by a very limited service on the Windrush line of the London Overground, consisting of two trains per day to and one train per day from via , operated using EMUs. London Overground can also use Battersea Park if for whatever reason they are unable to serve Clapham Junction.
Accidents
1881 crash
On 24 December 1881, a train hauled by LBSC Terrier No.70 Poplar collided with the rear of the 11:35pm from London Bridge owing to a fogman's error.
1937 crash
On 2 April 1937, two electric passenger trains collided just south of the station; ten people were killed and 17 seriously injured. The signalman at Battersea Park, believing there to be a fault with his equipment, overrode the electrical interlocking and allowed the second train into the occupied section.
1985 crash
On 31 May 1985, 1D91 09:20 Gatwick Airport to Victoria Gatwick express formed of GLV, 8301, 8203, 8313, 73117 collided with 2L51 08:51 East Grinstead to Victoria formed of DEMU 1113 and 1309 travelling along the up fast main line from Clapham Junction. Train 1D91 was following 2L51 along the Up Fast line, through Clapham Junction station, at which the latter train had made a scheduled stop and beyond towards Battersea Park. 1D91 had closed sufficiently on 2L51 that the former passed a series of signals displaying a 'single yellow' caution aspect, at which the driver cancelled the AWS warning and continued, as he was entitled to, at a speed of around . Train 2L51 was then stopped for 1–2 minutes at signal VC552 displaying a red aspect. When that signal cleared, 2L51 was accelerating past it when it was struck from behind by 1D91 which had passed the protecting signal, VC564, at Danger.
A consensus of evidence suggests that at the moment of collision 2L51 had reached a speed of between , whilst 1D91 was still travelling at between , so that the net collision speed was about . After the collision the trains separated and came to rest apart. There was no derailment but the shock of collision passing down each train caused damage throughout the length of both. Only one vehicle sustained severe structural damage; this was the leading passenger coach of 1D91, running immediately behind the GLV. This coach sustained a small degree of telescoping at underframe level, and hinging down of its trailing end, so that the saloon floor buckled upwards by about with consequent displacement of seats in one bay. One window each side was broken when this deformation occurred through the window opening, but the general integrity of the vehicles could be judged by the fact that these were the only external windows broken throughout the two trains.
The London Brighton and South Coast Railway built a roundhouse a few yards north of the station on the lower level in 1869, extended with a second adjoining roundhouse in 1870 and a third in 1889. It closed 15 July 1934, but remained in use as a road transport depot until demolished in 1986.
Connections
London Buses routes 44, 137, 156, 211, 344, 436, 452 and night routes N44 and N137 serve the station.