Clapham Junction break of journey

[Class800]

I'm considering doing a break of journey at Clapham Junction on a Cranbrook to Plumstead ticket. Off-peak period return. There's no restriction code issue with break of journey that I can see. However, I've heard from people that there's been a lot of issues here - anyone got any recent positive examples? If I can't, I would probably have to walk back from the next station!

 

[fandroid]

I cannot give full assurance but I recently stopped short at Clapham Junction on an eticket to Waterloo and the gates opened with no problem. I returned via Waterloo so don't know if the gates would have let me back in.

 

[bakerstreet]

I have successfully exited Clapham Junction midway through a through ticket to break a journey.

I wanted to then touch in on Oyster to pop into London.

There didn’t seem to be a problem.

There sometimes appears to be a mixture of SWR staff and contract staff on duty.

There are 3 exits so this may improve your chances. One at the platform 1/2 end of the lower walkway. One at the opposite end of the lower walkway (by the main ticket office / Sainsbury’s) and one at the end of the upper walkway near the toilets around beyond the highest number platforms.

If you’re worried, there are ‘station facilities’ you can ask to use

 

[Joe Paxton]

I have successfully exited Clapham Junction midway through a through ticket to break a journey.

I wanted to then touch in on Oyster to pop into London.

There didn’t seem to be a problem.
[...]

I've not had a problem breaking a journey at Clapham Junction, using paper tickets and asking the gateline staff.

However if at Clapham Junction you do just want to touch-in or touch-out using Oyster or contactless, there are standalone Oyster/contactless readers at both ends of platform 17 - both near the stairs at the bottom of the overbridge, and also near the stairs up from the subway. I think there's also a reader at the bottom (subway end) of the stairs from platform 17.

There is also a couple of standalone Oyster/contactless readers that always seems to be switched on next to a normally closed overflow exit door (in the subway at the St John's Hill end, very close to the gateline. (However if there were RPIs nearby monitoring the gateline, using them might be the sort of thing that might attract the RPIs unneccesary attention - not because you are doing anything wrong, but understandably it could be interpreted as slightly suspicious.)

Lastly, it's not officially documented (well, I guess it is via FOI released documentation!), but it's currently possible to start (i.e. touch-in) an Oyster/contactless journey by using a pink reader (which are located on the Overground platforms, that's platforms 1 and 2) - but note you cannot end (i.e. touch-out) an Oyster/contactless journey using a pink reader. (Several years ago it was possible to do both, but then TfL changed the logic - of course it's possible the logic could be changed again, so perhaps it's best not to rely on it!)

Perhaps easiest to just head to platform 17.

 

[davews]

I have broke my journey at Clapham Junction, both inbound and outbound, several times with no issues. The gateline has usually accepted my paper ticket without a murmur.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I've never had an issue there either - I believe the person who did was on an Advance.

Generally I've found it lets me out but I have to ask to be let back in.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I have broke my journey at Clapham Junction, both inbound and outbound, several times with no issues. The gateline has usually accepted my paper ticket without a murmur.

An aside - and hardly an original one I'm sure - but the lingo of 'breaking a journey' will be foreign to so many people, and I can well imagine that if you questioned many people on it (including traibn travellers), they'd assume it was something to do with a journey that had gone wrong - i.e. the journey was broken, because a train had broken down, or more generally the railway was broken!