London Waterloo station

Waterloo
London Waterloo
Aerial view from the south, showing Waterloo station, Waterloo and Hungerford Bridges and the London Eye
Waterloo Location of Waterloo in Central London
Location	Lambeth
Local authority	London Borough of Lambeth
Managed by	Network Rail
Station code	WAT
DfT category	A
Number of platforms	24 (22 in use)
Accessible	Yes [1]
Fare zone	1
OSI	Waterloo tube station [2] Waterloo East Embankment
Cycle parking	Yes – external opposite exit 3
Toilet facilities	Yes
National Rail annual entry and exit
2011–12	94.046 million[3]
– interchange	9.489 million[3]
2012–13	95.937 million[3]
– interchange	9.389 million[3]
2013–14	98.443 million[3]
– interchange	10.017 million[3]
2014–15	99.201 million[3]
– interchange	10.188 million[3]
2015–16	99.148 million[3]
– interchange	6.098 million[3]
Railway companies
Original company	London & South Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London & South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
11 July 1848[4]	Opened
21 March 1922	Rebuilt
14 November 1994 – 13 November 2007	Eurostar terminal
Other information
Lists of stations	DLR Underground National Rail Tramlink
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
WGS84	51°30′11″N 0°06′48″W / 51.5031°N 0.1132°W / 51.5031; -0.1132Coordinates: 51°30′11″N 0°06′48″W / 51.5031°N 0.1132°W / 51.5031; -0.1132
London Transport portal UK Railways portal

Waterloo station (/ˌwɔːtərˈluː/)^[5], also known as London Waterloo^[6] is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, located in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth.^[7] It is connected to a London Underground station of the same name and is adjacent to Waterloo East station on the South Eastern Main Line. The station is the terminus of the South Western Main Line to Weymouth via Southampton, the West of England Main Line to Exeter via Salisbury, the Portsmouth Direct Line to Portsmouth Harbour and the Isle of Wight, and several commuter services around West and South West London, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire. Many services stop at Clapham Junction and Woking.

The station was first opened in 1848 by the London and South Western Railway, and replaced the earlier Nine Elms as it was closer to the West End. It was never designed to be a terminus, as the original intention was to continue the line towards the City of London, and consequently the station developed in a haphazard fashion with a confusing arrangement and platform numbers. In the early 20th century, the station was completely redesigned and rebuilt and re-opened in 1922. The redesigned station included the Victory Arch over the main entrance, which commemorated World War I. Waterloo was the last London terminus to provide steam-powered services, which ended in 1967. The station was the London terminus for Eurostar international trains from 1994 until 2007, when they were transferred to St. Pancras International.^[8]

Waterloo is the busiest railway station in Britain. It's the largest station in the UK by floorspace, and has the largest number of platforms of any UK station – 24. When combined with the Underground and Waterloo East stations, it is the busiest station complex in Europe.

Geography

The station is in the London Borough of Lambeth on the south bank of the River Thames, southeast of Waterloo Bridge and northeast of Westminster Bridge. It is situated to the south of the junction of Waterloo Road and York Road.^[9] It is named after the eponymous bridge, which itself was named after the Battle of Waterloo, a battle that occurred exactly two years prior to the opening ceremony for the bridge.^[10][11]

London bus routes 1, 4, 26, 59, 68, 76, 77, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 211, 243, 341, 381, 507, 521, RV1, X68 and night buses N1, N68, N76, N171, N343 and N381 all stop at Waterloo.^[12] Some buses call at stops by the side of the station on Waterloo Road, others at Tenison Way, a short distance from the Victory Arch.^[13]

History

Background

Waterloo was built as a through station for the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR). It replaced the earlier Nine Elms, which had opened on 21 May 1838 and connected London to Southampton since 11 May 1840.^[14] By the mid-1840s, commuter services to Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Kingston, Ditton Marsh and Weybridge had become an important part of L&SWR traffic, so the company began to look for a terminus closer to Central London and the West End. An Act of Parliament was granted in 1845 to extended the line towards a site on York Road, close to Waterloo Bridge. The extension past Nine Elms involved demolishing 700 houses, and most of it was carried on a brick viaduct to minimise disruption. The longest bridge was 90 feet (27 m) long and took the line over Westminster Bridge Road.^[15] The approach to the new station carried four tracks, with the expectation that other companies would use it.^[16]

The station was opened on 11 July 1848 as "Waterloo Bridge Station" and designed by William Tite.^[4] Nine Elms closed for regular services at the same time, but Queen Victoria was fond of the privacy afforded by the old station, so it was kept open for her, and a replacement private station built on Wandsworth Road in 1854. Waterloo Bridge was originally laid out as a through station, as it was expected that services would eventually continue towards the City of London. The L&SWR purchased several properties along the route, before the plans were cancelled owing to the financial crisis following the Panic of 1847.^[4] In October 1882, Waterloo Bridge station was officially renamed Waterloo, reflecting long-standing common usage, even in some L&SWR timetables.^[4]

Expansion

The L&SWR's aim throughout much of the 19th century was to extend its main line eastward beyond Waterloo into the City of London. Given this, it was reluctant to construct a dedicated grand terminus at Waterloo.^[4] Consequently, there were no adequate buildings that befitted a full terminus at Waterloo until 1853, when a small block was built on the far east side of the station. In 1854, the London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company opened a private station inside Waterloo that provided services to Brookwood Cemetery.^[17] The station was demolished and replaced with a dedicated building in 1902, as part of the reconstruction of Waterloo in the early 20th century.^[18]

Traffic and passenger usage continued to grow in Waterloo throughout the century, and Waterloo was extended in an ad-hoc manner to accommodate this. In 1860, new platforms were added on the northwest side of the station; these were known as the Windsor Station after its intended destination. An additional dock siding of the main station opened on 17 March 1869.^[17] A 5-chain (330 ft; 100 m) link to the South Eastern Railway (SER) line from London Bridge to Charing Cross opened in July 1865. It was diverted from London Bridge to Cannon Street on 1 February 1867, before being withdrawn the following year.^[19] The SER opened Waterloo Junction station on 1 January 1869 as a replacement, that allowed LSWR passengers to change and access services to Cannon Street. A further extension on the southeastern side of Waterloo, to provide more services, opened on 16 December 1878. A further extension to the north, beyond the Windsor Station, opened in November 1885.^[20]

For each extension, the long-term plan was that the expansion was 'temporary' until Waterloo became through-station, and therefore these additions were simply added alongside and around the existing structure rather than as part of an overall architectural plan. This resulted in the station becoming increasingly ramshackle. The platform numbering had grown in an ad-hoc manner, resulting in the confusing situation of No. 1 being in the middle of the station complex, where it had been since 1848.^[21] The original station became known as the 'Central Station' as other platforms were added. The new platform sets were known by nicknames – the two platforms added for suburban services in 1878 were the 'Cyprus Station', whilst the six built in 1885 for use by trains on the Windsor line became the 'Khartoum Station'.^[22] Each of these stations-within-a-station had its own booking office, taxi stand and public entrances from the street, as well as often poorly marked and confusing access to the rest of the station.^[21]

By 1899 Waterloo had 16 platform roads but only 10 platform numbers due to platforms in different sections of the station or on different levels sometimes duplicating the number of a platform elsewhere.^[23] This complexity and confusion became the butt of jokes by writers and music hall comics for many years in the late 19th century, including Jerome K. Jerome in Three Men in a Boat.^[21] It was criticised and satirised in several Punch cartoons.^[24]

Rebuilding

The L&SWR spent the 1880s and 90s trying to finalise plans to continue the line beyond Waterloo and City. An overhead line was proposed in 1882, and again in 1891, but both times was rejected to cost. Instead, an Act passed in 1893 authorising a tube railway. On 8 August 1898, the company opened the Waterloo & City line, a 'tube' underground railway that ran directly between Waterloo and Bank–Monument station in the City.^[25] This gave the company the direct commuter service it had long desired (albeit with the need to change from surface to underground lines at Waterloo).^[25] With Waterloo now destined to remain a terminus station, and with the old station becoming a source of increasingly bad will and publicity amongst the travelling public, the L&SWR decided on total rebuilding, in a project they called the "Great Transformation"^[26][27]

Legal powers to carry out the work were granted in 1899 and 1900. About 6.5 acres (2.6 ha) of land was purchased to accommodate the new building, which included six streets (and part of two others), along with All Saints' Church. The L&SWR built six blocks of flats to home around 1,750 people as compensation for those displaced. Extensive groundwork and slum clearance were carried out before construction on the terminus proper began, including several rundown buildings that had been extensively used for prostitution.^[26] By 1903, the land had been cleared for work to start.^[27]

The new station was opened in stages. It was partially ready in 1909, with the main booking hall opening on 11 June 1911.^[18] A vehicular roadway to the station opened on 18 December 1911.^[28] The connection to Waterloo Junction was taken up in March that year, but a branch siding remained until 3 May 1925, when it was removed. The bridge remained in place and was used as a walkway between the two stations.^[29] Construction of the main continued sporadically throughout World War I, and the new station finally opened in 1922, with 21 platforms^[30] and a 700-foot (210 m) long concourse.^[29] The roof and platforms were initially designed by J. W. Jacomb-Hood, who travelled to the US to look at station designs for inspiration.^[31] followed by Alfred Weeks Szlumper after Jacomb-Hood's death in 1914.^[26] It was built in an Imperial Baroque style out of Portland Stone.^[31] James Robb Scott designed the office range. The new station included a large stained glass window depicting the L&SWR's company crest over the main road entrance, surrounded by a frieze listing the counties served by the railway (the latter still survives today). These features were retained in the design, despite the fact that, by the time the station opened, the 1921 Railway Act had been passed, which spelt the end of the L&SWR as an independent concern.^[32]

Waterloo was a major terminal station for soldiers in World War I, and for sailors travelling to Southampton for the British Expeditionary Force. It also handled ambulance trains and mail from overseas. A free buffet operated at the station between December 1915 and April 1920. The station itself saw little damage, except for an explosion on one of the lines on 29 September 1917.^[33]

The rebuilt station was formally opened on 21 March 1922 by Queen Mary.^[34] The main pedestrian entrance, the Victory Arch (known as Exit 5), was designed by Scott and is a memorial to company staff who were killed during the two world wars. Upon opening, it marked 585 employees who had been killed in World War I. It was flanked by two sculptures featuring Roman goddesses; "1914" with Bellona in armour with a sword and torch, and "1918" showing Peace sitting on Earth.^[35]

Southern Railway

The LSWR began to look at electrification of suburban services during the 1910s, using a 600 volt DC third rail mechanism. The first such service to Wimbledon via East Putney opened on 25 October 1915, with services to Shepperton following on 30 January 1916, the Hounslow loop on 12 March and Hampton Court on 18 June.^[33] Ownership of Waterloo underwent a succession, broadly typical of many British stations. Under the 1923 Grouping it passed to the Southern Railway (SR). The SR continued the third-electrification of lines from Waterloo, including a full service to Guildford on 12 July 1925, and to Windsor on 6 July 1830.^[36]

A loudspeaker tannoy system first ran in Waterloo on 9 March 1932, and by the following decade was regularly broadcasting music around the station.^[37] In 1934, the SR planned to invest £500,000 to improve the signalling and track layout to allow better use of all platforms.^[38] A full electric service to Woking, Guildford and Portsmouth Harbour (for the Isle of Wight) opened on 4 July 1937, as did connecting services to Aldershot and Alton. On 1 January, an electric service opened between Waterloo and Reading, with a branch to Camberley and Aldershot, which was designed equally for the anticipated increase in military traffic in the area as well as commuters.^[37]

Waterloo was bombed several times during World War II. On 7 September 1940, the John Street viaduct immediately outside the station was destroyed by a bomb, which prevented any services running for 12 days. Full services did not resume until 1 October, with significant delays to mail traffic, with over 5,000 unsorted bags piling up on the station platform. Waterloo was closed again after bombing on 29 December 1940. It re-opened on 5 January 1941, on the same day that station offices on York Road were destroyed by bombing. The station took heavy damage again after an overnight raid on 10–11 May 1941, with fires lasting for four days.^[39] One 2,000-pound (910 kg) bomb was not discovered until it was uncovered during building work along York Road in 1959.^[40]

British Rail and Privatisation

Following nationalisation in 1948, ownership of the station transferred to British Railways. Under British Rail, the station was part of the Southern Region. During the time of the Southern Region, more electrification of the network took place, and boat train traffic declined in favour of air travel. Waterloo was the last London terminus to run steam-hauled trains. The final journey took place on 9 July 1967, and featured a large group of rail enthusiasts with cameras and recording equipment, attempting to capture the departure of the final steam service to Bournemouth. The electrified service began the next day.^[41]

The station was managed by Network SouthEast also under BR. Following the privatisation of British Rail, ownership and management passed to Railtrack in April 1994^[42] and finally, in 2002, to Network Rail.^[43]

Eurostar

In 1994, platforms 20 and 21 were lost to the Waterloo International railway station site, which was the London terminus of Eurostar international trains to Paris and Brussels. An inaugural service left Waterloo on 6 May for a joint opening ceremony with Queen Elizabeth II and the French president François Mitterrand. Regular services began on 14 November.^[44][45] Construction necessitated the removal of decorative masonry forming two arches from that side of the station, bearing the legend "Southern Railway". This was re-erected at the private Fawley Hill Museum of Sir William McAlpine, whose company built Waterloo International.^[46]

Waterloo International closed on 13 November 2007 when the Eurostar service transferred to the new St Pancras railway station with the opening of the second phase of High Speed 1, also known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). Ownership of the former Waterloo International terminal then passed to BRB (Residuary) Ltd.^[45][47]

Accidents and incidents

• On 21 August 1896, an engine leaving the locomotive yard overran beyond its clearance point, colliding with a departing passenger train. Five passengers were injured.^[48]
• On 5 May 1904, a linesman accidentally stepped on a signal wire. This gave a false clear signal to a goods van, which collided with a passenger train, killing one.^[49]
• On 25 October 1913, a collision between two passenger trains at Waterloo Junction killed three people.^[50]
• On 3 June 1960, an empty stock train formed of two 4COR electric multiple units overran signals and was in a sidelong collision with a steam-hauled passenger train that was departing for Weymouth, Dorset. A few people suffered slight injuries.^[51]
• On 11 April 1961, an electric multiple unit overran signals and was in a head-on collision with a steam locomotive. One person was killed and fifteen were injured.^[52]
• On 10 March 2000, a passenger train collided with an empty stock train in platform 5 due to driver error. Thirty-five people were injured.^[53]

Station facilities

The major transport interchange at Waterloo comprises London Waterloo, Waterloo East, Waterloo tube station, and several bus stops. There are over 130 automated ticket gates on the station concourse, plus another 27 in the subway below.^[54]

A large four-faced clock hangs in the middle of the main concourse. Meeting "under the clock at Waterloo" is a traditional rendezvous.^[55][56]

Retail balcony

Network Rail has constructed a balcony along almost the whole width of the concourse at the first-floor level. The project's aims were to provide 18 new retail spaces and a champagne bar, reduce congestion on the concourse, and improve access to Waterloo East station by providing additional escalators leading to the high-level walkway between Waterloo and Waterloo East. Retail and catering outlets have been removed from the concourse to make more circulation space. First-floor offices have been converted into replacement and additional retail and catering spaces. Work was completed in July 2012, at a cost of £25 million.^[57][58]

Police station

For many years there was a British Transport Police police station at Waterloo by the Victory Arch, with a custody suite of three cells. Although relatively cramped, until the late 1990s it served over 40 police officers.^[59] Following the closure of the Eurostar Terminal at Waterloo, the police station shut in February 2009,^[60][61] and the railway station is now policed from a new Inner London Police Station a few yards from Waterloo at Holmes Terrace.^[62] Until July 2010, the Neighbourhood Policing Team for Waterloo consisted of an Inspector, a Sergeant, two Constables, Special Constables, and 13 PCSOs^[63] – this establishment was significantly increased by the introduction of the 'Neighbourhood Hub Team' at Waterloo, involving police officers responsible for policing London Underground.

Services

Mainline railways around the South Bank
Charing Cross Hungerford Bridge over River Thames South Western Main Line to Weymouth Waterloo Waterloo East Blackfriars Road (1864–1868) Elephant & Castle (1) 1 3 (3) Blackfriars Thameslink to Sutton, Sevenoaks and Brighton Thameslink to MML & ECML (1864–1885) Blackfriars Bridge (2) 2 4 (4) City Thameslink Cannon Street London Bridge River Thames Brighton Main Line to Brighton South Eastern Main Line to SE London and Kent

South West Trains

The main part of the railway station complex is known as "Waterloo Main" or simply Waterloo. This is the London terminus for services towards the south coast and the south-west of England. All regular trains are operated by South West Trains.^[64] Waterloo main line station is one of nineteen in the country that are managed by Network Rail^[65] and the station complex is in fare zone 1.^[66]

With just under 100 million National Rail passenger entries/exits in 2015/16, Waterloo is Britain's busiest railway station by patronage.^[67] Waterloo railway station alone is the 91st-busiest in the world.^[68] However, including National Rail interchanges, the Underground station, and Waterloo East, the complex handled a total of 211 million arrivals and departures in the 2015/2016 financial year (not including interchanges on the Underground). It is therefore the busiest transport hub in Europe.^[69] It has more platforms and a greater floor area than any other station in the UK (though Clapham Junction, just under 4 miles (6 km) down the line, sees the most changes).^[70]

The following off-peak daytime services are available:

• 6 trains per hour (tph) to Basingstoke via Clapham Junction and Woking (fast service)^[71]
• 16 tph to Woking via Clapham Junction

• 2 tph to Basingstoke (stopping)
• 2 tph to Alton (stopping) on the Alton Line^[72]
• 1 tph to Exeter St Davids via Basingstoke, Salisbury and Yeovil on the West of England Main Line^[73]
• 2 tph to Weymouth via Basingstoke, Southampton Central and Bournemouth on the South Western Main Line^[74]
• 1 tph to Portsmouth Harbour via Basingstoke and Eastleigh^[75]
• 4 tph to Guildford via Woking^[76]
• 4 tph to Haslemere via Guildford
  • 2tph to Portsmouth Harbour via Guildford and Haslemere, on the Portsmouth Direct Line^[77]

• 2tph to Reading via Ascot^[78]
• 4tph to Guildford via Effingham Junction, on the New Guildford line^[79]
• 2tph to Dorking via Epsom, on the Sutton and Mole Valley lines
• 2tph to Chessington South^[80]
• 2tph to Hampton Court^[81]
• 2tph to Windsor & Eton Riverside
• 4tph to Teddington

• 2tph to Shepperton, on the Kingston loop line^[82]

• 6tph to Hounslow

• 4tph via Brentford
• 2tph via Twickenham, both on the Hounslow Loop Line^[83]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		South West Trains Waterloo to Woking Reading and Windsor Lines Mole Valley Line Kingston Loop Line Hounslow Loop Line Hampton Court Line New Guildford Line		Vauxhall or Clapham Junction
		South West Trains Waterloo to Basingstoke Alton Line		Clapham Junction or Surbiton
		South West Trains South Western Main Line Portsmouth Direct Line West of England Main Line		Clapham Junction or Woking

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Terminus		Eurostar		Ashford International

Southeastern

Adjacent to the main station is Waterloo East, the last stop on the South Eastern Main Line towards London before the terminus at Charing Cross. Waterloo East has four platforms, which are lettered A-D rather than numbered to avoid confusion with the numbered platforms in the main station by staff who work at both stations.^[84] Waterloo East is managed and branded separately from the main station. Trains go to southeast London, Kent and parts of East Sussex. All regular services are operated by Southeastern.^[85]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
London Charing Cross		Southeastern South Eastern Main Line		London Bridge

River

London River Services operate boats from nearby London Eye Pier (also known as the Waterloo Millennium Pier) and Festival Pier, and run to the City and Greenwich.^[86] The piers also provide access to corporate and leisure services.^[87]

London Underground

There had been plans to connect Waterloo to the West End via an underground railway since the 1860s. The Waterloo & Whitehall Railway began construction of a line towards Whitehall, but it was abandoned in 1868 owing to financial difficulties.^[25] The first underground line to be opened at Waterloo was the Waterloo & City Railway to Bank, colloquially known as "The Drain". It opened on 8 August 1898, and was part-owned by the L&SWR, who took over full ownership in 1907. It is primarily designed for commuters and is not normally open on Sundays.^[25]

The Baker Street & Waterloo Railway (now part of the Bakerloo line) opened on 10 March 1906, and was initially accessed from Waterloo by lifts at the York Road end of the station.^[21] The Northern line's station at Waterloo opened on 13 September 1926, as part of the overall extension from Charing Cross to Kennington.^[36] The Jubilee line station opened on 24 September 1999 as part of the eastward extension to Stratford.^[88]

Preceding station		London Underground		Following station
Embankment towards Harrow & Wealdstone		Bakerloo line		Lambeth North towards Elephant & Castle
Embankment towards Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet		Northern line		Kennington towards Morden or Kennington
Westminster towards Stanmore		Jubilee line		Southwark towards Stratford
Terminus		Waterloo & City line		Bank Terminus

Future

Platform lengthening project

To increase capacity on South West Trains' overcrowded suburban services into Waterloo, there have, for several years, been plans to increase train lengths from eight cars to ten. This would require the lengthening of platforms and in particular platforms 1 to 4, which will be a technically complex operation, as it will entail a substantial repositioning of track-work and points. SWT also says it would need to have access to at least three of the currently disused international platforms 20 to 24 (see below). Further progress depends on decisions by the Government, and SWT says that until then it cannot proceed with ordering longer trains.^[89] In May 2016, it was announced that in August 2017, platforms 1 to 4 would be lengthened to allow new ten-car Class 707 trains to run.^[90] Work started on 5 August, and is scheduled for completion on 28 August.^[91]

Former international platforms

Since the transfer of Eurostar services from Waterloo, the former Eurostar platforms 20–24 of Waterloo International have remained unused. Waterloo suffers significant capacity problems, and proposals have been put in place to convert the former international station to domestic use. In December 2008 preparatory work was carried out to enable platform 20 to be used by South West Trains suburban services, including the removal of equipment such as customs control facilities, at an estimated cost of between £50,000 and £100,000.^[92] However, the conversion of the remaining platforms was delayed as it would require further alterations to the station infrastructure.

The project has been criticised for its delayed completion date;^[93] in 2009 the Department for Transport confirmed that Network Rail was developing High Level Output Specification options for the station, with an estimated date for the re-opening of the platforms of 2014, seven years after their closure.^[94] The cost of maintaining the disused platforms up to late 2010 was found via a Freedom of Information request to have been £4.1 million.^[89]

In December 2011, South West Trains confirmed that platform 20 would be brought back into use in 2014, hosting certain services to and from Reading, Windsor, Staines and Hounslow. These would be 10-car trains newly formed from refurbished SWT and former Gatwick Express rolling stock.^[95] Platform 20 reopened in May 2014, with access via platform 19, and platforms 21 and 22 in October 2014 after steps were constructed over the former Eurostar entrance to access the platforms.^[96][97]

From 4 July 2010 to 2 January 2011, two of the disused platforms hosted a theatrical performance of The Railway Children by E. Nesbit. The audience was seated either side of the actual railway track. The show included the use of a steam locomotive coupled to one of the original carriages from the 1970s film (propelled by a diesel locomotive). The performance moved to London after two acclaimed summer runs at the National Railway Museum in York.^[98]

In 2016, Network Rail announced that platforms 20–24 would be fully refurbished in order to increase capacity at Waterloo by 30%. Communications manager Kevin Parker stressed that the international platforms were only designed to cope with six trains per hour, well below the expected capacity for commuter services. The platforms are expected to close in September 2017 for the works, with a revised timetable to be published in 2018.^[99]

Heathrow Airport links

Waterloo station was to be the central London terminus for the proposed Heathrow Airtrack rail service. This project, promoted by BAA, envisaged the construction of a spur, from Staines on the Waterloo to Reading Line, to Heathrow Airport, creating direct rail links from the airport to Waterloo, Woking and Guildford. Airtrack was planned to open in 2015, but was abandoned by BAA during 2011.^[100] However, in October 2011, Wandsworth Council proposed a revised plan called Airtrack-Lite, which would provide trains from Waterloo to Heathrow, via the same proposed spur from Staines to Heathrow, but, by diverting or splitting current services, the frequency of trains over the existing level crossings would not increase. BAA's earlier plan had controversially proposed more trains over the level crossings, leading to concerns that they would be closed to motorists and pedestrians for too long.^[101]

Crossrail 3

Crossrail 3, backed by former London Mayors Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson would include a 2-mile (4 km) underground section in new tunnels connecting London Euston station and Waterloo, connecting the West Coast Main Line corridor with services to the south.^[102]

Southern Crossrail Proposal

In late April 2016 there was a private proposal to reinstate the link from London Bridge to Waterloo.^[103][104]

Cultural references

In the 1990s, after Waterloo station was chosen as the British terminus for the Eurostar train service, Florent Longuepée, a municipal councillor in Paris, wrote to the British Prime Minister requesting that the station be renamed because he said it was upsetting for the French to be reminded of Napoleon's defeat when they arrived in London by Eurostar.^[105] There is a name counterpart in Paris: the Gare d'Austerlitz is named after the Battle of Austerlitz, one of Napoleon's greatest victories (over the Russians and Austrians).

The clock at Waterloo has been cited as one of the most romantic spots for a couple to meet,^[106] and fictional examples include Derek "Del Boy" Trotter meeting Raquel in the British sit-com Only Fools and Horses^[107] and Jack meeting Nancy in the film Man Up.^[108]

Waterloo has appeared in fiction several times. In Jerome K Jerome's 1889 comic novel, Three Men in a Boat, the protagonists spend some time in the station, trying to find their train to Kingston upon Thames. After being given contradictory information by every railway employee they speak to, they eventually bribe a train driver to take his train to their destination.^[109] In Robert Louis Stevenson & Lloyd Osbourne's 1889 novel The Wrong Box, much of the farcical plot revolves around the misdelivery of two boxes at Waterloo station, and the attempts by the various protagonists to retrieve them. In H. G. Wells' 1897 science fiction novel, the War of the Worlds, the little used, and long since vanished, connecting track across the station concourse to Waterloo East station makes an appearance.^[110]

The station is the subject of John Schlesinger's 1961 documentary film Terminus,^[111] while the 1970 British Transport film Rush Hour includes several scenes filmed in the station.^[112] The underground scenes in the 1998 romantic comedy Sliding Doors were partly shot at Waterloo tube station.^[113]

Two well-received images of the station are the two Southern Railway posters "Waterloo Station – War" and "Waterloo Station – Peace", painted by Helen McKie for the 1948 centenary of the station. The two pictures show hundreds of busy travellers all in exactly the same positions and poses, but with altered clothing and roles. The preparatory sketches for these were drawn between 1939 and 1942.^[114] In 1981, Shell UK ran a competition a work of art to be exhibited above Waterloo's Shell exit. The winner, Jane Boyd, went on to be Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge.^[115] Other paintings of the station include the huge 1967 work by Terence Cuneo, in the collection of the National Railway Museum.^[116] A statue of Terence Cuneo by Philip Jackson was installed on the concourse in 2004.^[117]

Waterloo and Waterloo Underground are the setting for the Kinks' song "Waterloo Sunset", recorded in 1967. It was originally titled "Liverpool Sunset" but changed as the band decided there were too many songs about that city.^[55] Its lyric describes two people (Terry and Julie) meeting at Waterloo Station and crossing the river, and was also inspired by the 1951 Festival of Britain. The band's biographer, Nick Hasted said the song "has made millions contemplatively pause around Waterloo, a busy urban area the record gives a sacred glow."^[118]

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading

• Fareham, J., 2013. The History of Waterloo Station, Bretwalda Books. ISBN 1909099724

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to London Waterloo station.

• Station information for Waterloo from Network Rail
• Waterloo photo gallery on Flickr
• London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
  • Waterloo Underground Station Bakerloo line entrance to station in 1925
  • Waterloo Underground Station building in 1964 after rebuilding
  • Waterloo in 1925
• Waterloo Station Central Telephone Enquiry Bureau (CTEB) History
• New Signalbox 1937 (post-electrification); article and photo
• Ticket barriers to be installed at Waterloo