London's transport network in 2025 is staggeringly extensive and complex, with buses, taxis, Underground and Overground trains, boats, and more all criss-crossing the city on meticulously planned routes and lines.
It's hardly surprising, then, that within this seemingly well-organised chaos, there are a few oddities and anomalies that can leave you puzzled.
From phantom stations and idle trains to secret railway lines and stations, if you can imagine it, London likely has it somewhere - and this particular station remains somewhat of a mystery even to those who may travel on its line every day.
Battersea Park train station, situated southeast of - surprise, surprise - Battersea Park, is typically only served by Southern Railway trains which come and go or whizz past throughout the day.
But thrice daily, if you time it right, you can hop on London Overground services on the Highbury and Islington to Clapham Junction route.
On every day except Saturday, when no Overground trains pass through at all, you can catch one in the morning and two in the evening, all of which will take you up to Highbury via Canada Water and Shoreditch. On this route, Battersea Park should slot into the diagrams between Wandsworth Road and Clapham Junction as a small branch line.
But if you were to hop on the train now, neither the overhead diagrams nor the combined Overground and Underground maps above the doors would show any trace of a Battersea Park Overground station.
The only place you can find any recognition of the station by London Overground is if you dig deep into the TfL website.
So if you're ever heading home to Clapham Junction with tired eyes after a long day, be cautious because your train might just take a detour to Battersea Park - despite the station not even being marked on the maps in front of you.
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