Wandsworth Common station is a busy commuter station and the first out of Clapham Junction on the main line to East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Brighton. It's on the northern edge of the Common itself, and is thus surrounded by trees and grass, giving it a pleasant and leafy aspect.
The line itself was opened from Norwood northwards via Crystal Palace in stages from 1851, reaching the new Victoria terminus in 1860, although the station itself was not opened until 1869. The line through here came into the form as we know it now in 1862, when the Balham-Norwood direct line was opened, and was quadrupled in 1895.
The station now benefits from a frequent service of local trains from Victoria via Clapham Junction, as well as an hourly train from Watford Junction (recently extended to Milton Keynes). Southbound, trains go to West Croydon, East Croydon, Caterham, Epsom, Epsom Downs, Sutton and London Bridge via Crystal Palace. Passengers for further south must change at East Croydon.
All stopping trains use platforms 1 and 2, as platforms 3 and 4 are on the fast lines to Brighton and the South Coast. A small number of trains also go through on the slow lines without stopping, with Balham as the first stop.
The main London-bound platform (2) still has its traditional brick buildings and canopies; the attractive brick building on platform 1 has been denuded of its canopy, as has platform 3. There are exits both to the Common (and thence to St James's Drive and Trinity Road) and Nightingale Lane.
A feature of the station now is the plentiful supply of covered bicycle racks. read more