The station was opened on 25 August 1862 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway as Clapham, renamed Clapham & North Stockwell from May 1863. The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway route was authorized by an 1863 Act of Parliament and parallels the original 1862 LCDR route eastwards between Wandsworth Road and Brixton and beyond. Until the 1923 grouping all lines through the station were owned by the LCDR, with two leased to the LBSCR for their sole use. map of lines around Clapham High Street The original 'south' 1862 line was leased to the LBSCR in 1867 and the LCDR used the new 'north' 1867 lines. The existing platforms, together with the Grade II listed 1862 station building, form the original station. These platforms were used by the LCDR from 1862 to 1867, and the LBSCR until the 1923 grouping. The 1867 LCDR platforms were closed on 3 April 1916 and subsequently demolished. The eastbound platform's station building was destroyed by a bomb in 1944. The LCDR 1866 station building was partially demolished in 1924 after the 1916 closure, finally being demolished in the late 1970s. In British Rail days, access to the platforms was via a subway on the north side. The original south 1862 building was sold, being initially used as a furniture warehouse before being redeveloped in 2003 as residential accommodation. It is now Grade II listed. The platform had a full-length canopy that was demolished in the late 1970s. The line between and was electrified at 6600 V AC on the overhead system on 1 December 1909. It was re-electrified in 1928 using third rail 660 V DC and the overhead was dismantled. In 1937 it was renamed Clapham before receiving its current name in 1989 to avoid confusion with Clapham Junction. In 2012 Southern refurbished the eastbound platform, erecting a new fence and repaving the surface. In late 2012, London Overground erected new waiting shelters and station name signs.
Services
The typical off-peak and peak service is four London Overground trains per hour to Clapham Junction and four trains per hour to Dalston Junction via Shoreditch High Street, joining the East London Line at Surrey Quays. Until 8 December 2012, Clapham High Street was served by a twice-hourly Southern service between and. From 9 December 2012, London Overground services began operating between and, completing the orbital route around London. As a result, all Southern services were withdrawn and replaced with London Overground services, with four trains calling per hour.
Parliamentary services
Since 9 December 2012, Southeastern has operated a limited service from. In February 2017, this service was running with one early morning train a day in each direction from Monday to Friday only. Otherwise, Southeastern trains calling at Denmark Hill and Victoria in normal service can pass through the platform lines without stopping, but can be diverted over the non-platform lines when required. Until December 2012, Southern also ran a service from to Clapham High Street but this was later cut back to from Kensington Olympia before being withdrawn completely on 17 June 2013. As a nominal replacement for the former Southern-operated South London line route to/from, a single train in each direction to/from Highbury & Islington was maintained after the December 2012 timetable change. In December 2013 the out of service working between Battersea Park and Dalston Junction was converted to part passenger working running in service weeknights as the 23:09 Battersea Park-Clapham High Street via Wandsworth Road. The train terminated at Clapham High Street before running 'dead' to Dalston Junction and then Silwood Sidings. From May 2016 this service became the 23:03 Battersea Park-Dalston Junction, thereby providing a near complete service from Battersea Park weeknights. As of the December 2019 timetable change, there is one early-morning Southeastern service to Ashford International, departing at 05:59 Monday to Friday, usually formed of a Class 465 Networker unit. There is no return working.
