Initial plans for a huge rebuild of Clapham Junction station have been shown off, with the rebuilt station sitting underneath a large housing development.

The redevelopment would see more trains able to stop at Clapham Junction, and preparatory works for the underground platforms for Crossrail 2 to arrive.

It also results in around 5,000 additional homes being built in the area, with the goal of not so much burying the railway station, but making the space more permeable so that it’s easier for people to get from one side to the other.

Last year Network Rail took over the operations at Clapham Junction from South Western Railway which had been running the station in order to prepare for the redevelopment. Although the station is the 10th busiest in London overall, it is the busiest for people swapping between trains, using the often overcrowded footbridge and tunnel.

The plans were developed by consultants Mott MacDonald, contractor Laing O’Rourke and architect Hawkins Brown, and is at this early stage more of a concept of how things could look, rather than the final masterplan of what will be built.

The goal is to deliver intervention on a huge scale without causing major disruption on several fronts.

During the phased delivery of the station it is vital that the surrounding community begin to see benefits and improvements at the earliest opportunity. Improving this “meanwhile position” has been a key driver as part of the study. Opportunities have been identified to provide temporary retail units to replace existing amenities, to implement traffic reduction measures as part of the early work phases, and to increase bicycle parking available at the station, encouraging active means of travel to and from the station.

It suggests that the main entrance to the station would move sideways to the corner junction, and also where currently a rather disinterested office block stands, and that would become the new primary entrance to the station. The Falcon pub remains, as an isolated island building in the new concourse.

That also allows the new parts of the station to be built without shutting the old entrances before their replacements are ready.

The tracks and platforms would also be straightened in order to allow more trains through the station. During those works, it’s likely that four additional temporary platforms would be constructed on land that is bought to the south of the current station to keep the trains running.

The current network of narrow corridors that link the platforms would be replaced with a considerably wider concourse and waiting area, and escalators up to the platforms. A large bus stop would be built under the tracks where currently a rather dank road runs, giving bus users weather-proof waiting spaces.

And as can be seen in the diagrams, facilities put in place to allow the future Crossrail 2 station to connect to the mainline railway.

A large concrete raft is then built over the top of the station, and on that the new housing and amenities is built. A development of that scale not only transforming the station, but would be a substantial introduction of high density housing in an area that is largely made up of late Victorian terraces.

If given the go ahead, then the scheme is expected to take around 10 years to complete.

All images from the Clapham Futures presentation