London Waterloo station

Waterloo

London Waterloo
The Victory Arch - the main entrance to Waterloo station
Location	South Bank
Local authority	London Borough of Lambeth
Managed by	Network Rail
Station code	WAT
Platforms in use	20
Fare zone	1
NR 2004/5 usage	62.389 million[1]
NR 2005/6 usage	61.036 million[1]
NR 2006/7 usage	83.993 million[1]
NR 2007/8 usage	100.307 million[1]
NR 2006/7 interchanges	4.227 million[1]
13 July 1848	Opened
List of stations	Underground · National Rail
External links	Departures • Facilities
London Transport Portal
UK Railways Portal

Coordinates: 51°30′11″N 0°06′48″W / 51.5031°N 0.1132°W / 51.5031; -0.1132

Waterloo station,^[2] also known as London Waterloo,^[3] is a major railway terminus in London, England owned and operated by Network Rail. It is near the South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth, and in Travelcard Zone 1. In the financial year from 2007/8 (during which Eurostar services stopped using it) the Waterloo complex including the Underground and Waterloo East handled some 187.236 million passengers (not counting interchanges on the underground), comparable to the Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris and only behind the Gare du Nord in Europe.^[4] It has more platforms and a greater floor area than any other railway station in the UK. (Clapham Junction, just under four miles down the line, has the highest number of trains.) It is the terminus of a network of railway lines in South West England and the suburbs of London.

History

The London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened the station on 11 July 1848 as 'Waterloo Bridge Station' (from the nearby crossing over the Thames) when its main line was extended from Nine Elms. Designed by William Tite, it was raised above marshy ground on a series of arches.^[5] The unfulfilled intention was for a through station with services to the City. In 1886 it officially became 'Waterloo Station', reflecting the long-standing common usage, even in some L&SWR timetables.

As the station grew it became increasingly ramshackle: a little-used railway line crossed the main concourse on the level and passed through an archway in the station building to connect to the South Eastern Railway's smaller station, now Waterloo East, whose tracks lie perpendicular to those of Waterloo. Passengers were confused by the layout and by the two adjacent stations called 'Waterloo'. This complexity and confusion became the butt of jokes by writers and music hall comics. In Jerome K. Jerome's book Three Men in a Boat no one at Waterloo knows the wanted train's platform, departure time or destination.

Extensive reconstruction between 1900 and 1922 gave 21 platforms and a concourse nearly 800 feet (250 m) long. The main pedestrian entrance, the Victory Arch (known as Exit 5) is a memorial to company staff who were killed during the two world wars. Damage to the station in World War II required considerable repair but entailed no significant changes to the layout.

A past curiosity of Waterloo was that a spur led to the adjoining dedicated station of the London Necropolis Company from which funeral trains, at one time daily, ran to Brookwood Cemetery bearing coffins at 2/6 each. This station was destroyed during World War II.^[6]

v • d • e Railways around the South Bank
Legend Charing Cross River Thames Waterloo International Waterloo Waterloo East South Western Main Line Thameslink City Thameslink Blackfriars River Thames Elephant & Castle Thameslink and Sevenoaks Cannon Street River Thames London Bridge Brighton Main Line and South Eastern Main Line

Ownership of Waterloo underwent a succession, broadly typical of many British stations. Under the 1923 Grouping it passed to the Southern Railway (SR), then in the 1948 nationalisation to British Railways and following the privatisation of British Rail ownership and management passed to Railtrack in April 1994 and finally in 2002 to Network Rail.

Platforms 20 and 21 were lost to the Waterloo International railway station site, which from 1994 until 13 November 2007 was the London terminus of Eurostar international trains. 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. Waterloo International closed when the Eurostar service transferred to the new St Pancras railway station with the opening of the second phase of "HS1", High Speed route 1, also known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link or CTRL. Ownership of the former Waterloo International terminal then passed to BRB (Residuary) Ltd.

Station facilities

The major transport interchange at Waterloo comprises London Waterloo, Waterloo East, the Underground station (which includes the Waterloo and City line to Bank, affectionately known as 'the drain') and an amorphous bus station.

Waterloo station connects to Waterloo East, across Waterloo Road, by a high-level walkway constructed mostly above the bridge of the former little-used connecting curve.

Waterloo station clock

River services operate from nearby Waterloo Pier next to the London Eye.

A large four-faced clock hangs in the middle of the main concourse. Meeting "under the clock at Waterloo" is a traditional rendezvous.^[7]

Police station

For many years until February 2009 there was a British Transport Police police station at Waterloo by the Victory Arch, with a custody suite of three cells. Although until the late 1990s it was relatively cramped, over 40 police officers operated from it.^[8] Following the closure of the Eurostar Terminal at Waterloo,^[9] the police station at Waterloo finally closed in February 2009,^[10] and the railway station is now policed from a new Inner London Police Station a few yards from Waterloo at Holmes Terrace.^[11] The Neighbourhood Policing Team for Waterloo consists of an Inspector, Sergeant, two Constables, Special Constables, and 13 PCSOs.^[12]

Services

Waterloo has 20 terminal platforms, making it the biggest station in the UK in terms of platform numbers. The station is managed by Network Rail, and all trains are operated by South West Trains.

Waterloo International

Farewell message from Eurostar to the erstwhile International station, viewed from western side of main concourse, December 2007

Waterloo International was the terminus for Eurostar international trains from 1994 until 2007 when they transferred to new international platforms at St. Pancras. Waterloo International's five platforms were numbered 20 to 24.

Waterloo East

Waterloo East is a through station, the last stop on the South Eastern Main Line before the terminus at Charing Cross.

Waterloo Underground station

Waterloo is served by the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern (Charing Cross branch) and Waterloo & City lines. It is one of only two London Terminals without a close connection to the Circle Line the other being London Bridge

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 Kennington or Morden
Westminster towards Stanmore		Jubilee line		Southwark towards Stratford
Terminus		Waterloo & City line		Bank Terminus

Future

The disused international platforms of Waterloo, seen from the London Eye

Since the departure of Eurostar from Waterloo, the former Eurostar platforms 20-24 of Waterloo International have remained disused. Waterloo suffers from significant capacity problems, and proposals exist 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 SouthWest Trains suburban services, including the removal of equipment such as customs control facilities, at an estimated cost of between £50,000 and £100,000.^[13] However, the conversion of the remaining platforms has been delayed as it would require further alterations to the station infrastructure; the former Eurostar lines would now conflict with the Windsor line services, and it is proposed to build a flyover.^[14] The re-opening of the Eurostar platforms is also linked to a separate project to acquire new rolling stock (possibly 15-car Siemens Desiro trainsets) to run longer trains. The annual cost of maintaining the disused platforms has been estimated at £500,000.^[13]

The project has been criticised for its delayed completion date;^[15] in 2009 the Department for Transport confirmed that National 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.^[16]

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.^[17] There is a name counterpart in Paris: the Gare d'Austerlitz is named after the Battle of Austerlitz, one of Napolean's greatest victories. However, this station is less important than most other stations in the city.

Film

• The station is the subject of John Schlesinger's documentary film Terminus
• Several scenes in The Bourne Ultimatum, starring Matt Damon, were filmed with British actor Paddy Considine at Waterloo between October 2006 and April 2007
• Bollywood film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom was filmed extensively within Waterloo and the storyline was set around two people awaiting passengers arriving at the station
• Scenes for Incendiary were filmed at the station during April and May 2007
• The station has been used to shoot scenes for films including London to Brighton, Russian Dolls, Franklyn, Breaking and Entering and Outlaw

Television

• In the Only Fools and Horses episode "Dates", Del meets Raquel for the first time at Waterloo
• BBC Top Gear presenters James May and Richard Hammond are filmed at Waterloo outside the Eurostar terminus as they race Jeremy Clarkson, who is in an Aston Martin DB9, to Monte Carlo. They are also filmed when forced to land at Lille and take the Eurostar to London to beat Jeremy to the NatWest Tower
• Waterloo frequently appears in television productions, including Waking the Dead, The Commander, Spooks, The Apprentice and The Bill

Music

• Waterloo and Waterloo Underground are the setting for the Kinks' song "Waterloo Sunset", written by Ray Davies and recorded in 1967. Its lyric describes two people (Terry and Julie, sometimes taken to refer to sixties icons Terence Stamp and Julie Christie^[18][19] ) meeting at Waterloo Station and crossing the river (via Waterloo Bridge, as Davies has confirmed^{[citation needed]}). The song has been recorded by Cathy Dennis and Def Leppard: other acts, such as David Bowie and Elliott Smith, have covered the song in live performances
• Adrian Evans wrote the song "London Waterloo", which is dedicated wholly to the station
• The lyrics in the 1979 song "Rendezvous 6:02" by British progressive band U.K. describe a meeting at Waterloo
• The lyrics to "Torn On The Platform" by Jack Penate refer to the station ("train leaves at two, platform 3, Waterloo")
• Carl Barat's band Dirty Pretty Things' debut album is called Waterloo to Anywhere
• The booklet accompanying The Who's album Quadrophenia includes a photo of the album's protagonist on the steps of Waterloo, depicting a moment from the song 5:15
• The music video to 'West End Girls' by the Pet Shop Boys was part filmed at Waterloo in the mid 1980s
• Abba held a press photo shoot at Waterloo on 11 April 1974, the day after their first appearance on Top of the Pops, in celebration of their 'Waterloo' winning the Eurovision Song Contest five days before

Gallery

A 1948 poster showing the main concourse	Detail of the Victory Arch	Waterloo concourse	Platforms 15 and 16 looking west
Waterloo from the London Eye with Waterloo International on its western flank	A 1914 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Waterloo - note the connecting line between Waterloo and Waterloo East

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Waterloo station, London

• 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
• http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/3164