Britain’s busiest railway station, Clapham Junction, is in line for multi-million pound make over after it was uncovered as the second worst station in the country.

The historic but decrepit station, which first opened in 1863 and has 40m passengers going through it annually, was singled out as one of 10 stations nationally in need of an urgent upgrade in a rail report.

It finished second worst for customer satisfaction in the Better Rail Stations report, which was released on Tuesday - the same day Transport Secretary, Lord Andrew Adonis, announced it would get a portion of a £50m redevelopment pot.

The report said Clapham Junction (CJ) would be given “priority funding” to upgrade the intererchange, including new entrances and more retail.

The Wandsworth community has long campaigned for an upgrade and top of the shopping list for the station are new entrances, longer platform canopies, better waiting rooms, more ticket offices and escalators to bridges above platforms.

The announcement is timely. The £75m extension of the East London Line, connecting the station to the Tube, will be complete by 2012 and there are provisional plans for a rail link from CJ to Heathrow Airport.

Battersea MP Martin Linton said while the Government was already installing lifts and building the Tube, CJ was still “overcrowded, old-fashioned station that is in urgent need of better facilities for travellers”.

He said: “The new entrance opening soon at the top of St John’s Hill will give direct access to the lifts and this will be a huge bonus for the public as well as for people with wheelchairs, buggies, bikes or heavy luggage.

“But my top priority is to give access to the lifts from the Grant Road side of the station as well.”

He said he and others would press for a bigger main entrance, more ticketing facilities and escalators from the concourse to the overbridge to relieve tunnel overcrowding.

Cyril Richert, of the Clapham Junction Action Group, said: “It is good news. We know that there are certainly a lot of things happening at the station, the lifts, the Brighton Yard entrance. Now we are hopeful we are talking about £5m or £10m. It means, with the Tube and the Heathrow link, in five or 10 years time Clapham Junction will be very different.”

The report said Manchester Victoria was most in need of improvement, followed by CJ, Crewe, Warrington, Barking and Luton.

CJ, Manchester and Crewe, are expected to take the lion’s share of the £50m.

The report said stations should have a minimum standard of facilities, based on size and use.

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