Waterloo International railway station

Waterloo International

Location

Place

South Bank

History

Platforms

5 (no. 20-24)

Key dates

Opened 1994
Closed 2007

Replaced by

St Pancras International

London Transport portal

Waterloo International station was the London terminus of the Eurostar international rail service from its opening on 14 November 1994 until 13 November 2007. It stands on the western side of Waterloo railway station, London. It was managed and branded separately from the mainline station.

Designed by the architectural firm Grimshaw Architects over five years, it cost £135 million and was completed in May 1993, in time for the scheduled completion of the Channel Tunnel. Construction of the Tunnel was delayed however, and the station did not open until November 1994, when it won the Royal Institute of British Architects' Building of the Year award.^[1]

Waterloo International has five platforms, numbered 20 to 24, one (20) taken from the mainline station, and four new ones, all covered by a new 400 m long glass and steel vault of 37 arches forming a prismatic structure, conceived by Anthony Hunt Associates. A two-level reception area fronts the main station concourse. The first Eurostar departure, on 14 November 1994, was formed of Eurostar units 373004/373003 ^[2] and the last service left at 18.12 GMT on 13 November 2007 for Brussels. From the next day Eurostar services used their new London terminus of St Pancras International.^[3]

Mainline railways around the South Bank

Legend

If display breaks, try Hide/Show.

Charing Cross

Hungerford Bridge across River Thames

Waterloo International (1994-2007)

◄ SWML &c. Waterloo

Waterloo East

Blackfriars Road (1864-1868)

◄ Thameslink and to Sevenoaks

Elephant & Castle

♦ / B'friars / City Tlk. TLK ►

(♦, above, was B'friars Bdg [1864-85])

Cannon Street

London Bridge

River Thames

Brighton and SE Main Lines

Ownership of Waterloo International station passed to BRB (Residuary) Ltd.. Future use of all the Eurostar platforms is unclear.^[4] Some reports had suggested that they might be used for shops,^[5] but a parliamentary written answer of 4 June 2008 stated platform 20 was to be used by some South West Trains services from December 2008.^[6] Network Rail has no immediate plans to use the other four former international platforms for domestic use ^[7] and the platforms have not been used since November 2007.^[8]

1 The Railway Children
2 See also
3 Gallery
4 In film
5 References

The Railway Children

From 4 July 2010^[9] to 2 January 2011^[10] two of the disused platforms hosted theatrical performances of E. Nesbit's The Railway Children. The audience was seated either side of the actual railway track. The show includes the use of a steam engine, coupled to one of the original carriages from the 1970s film, being shunted in and out of the theatre area as required by a Class 08 shunter. The performance moved to London after two sell out and critically acclaimed summer runs at the National Railway Museum in York.^[11]

Gallery

Eurostar route map
(before Channel Tunnel rail link)

Legend