Discover

(Redirected from Waterloo Station)

'London Waterloo' is a major railway station and transport interchange complex in London, England. It is located in the London Borough of Lambeth, near to the South Bank. The complex comprises four linked railway stations and a bus station. The whole complex is within Travelcard Zone 1. The adjoining 'Waterloo International' station is the current London terminus of Eurostar Channel Tunnel passenger trains. Waterloo East and Waterloo Tube Station also adjoin.
According to the station usage figures for 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, London Waterloo is the busiest station in the UK (in terms of passenger numbers). This is thought to be due to the Eurostar connections and is likely to drop in 2007 when High Speed 1 is fully open.

Contents

Waterloo mainline station

Waterloo International

Waterloo East

Waterloo Underground stations

Waterloo Pier

Cultural references

Footnotes

References

Waterloo mainline station

The original mainline 'Waterloo Station' was opened 11 July 1848 by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) as 'Waterloo Bridge Station'. It was first laid out as a through station with the intention, never realised, of running mainline trains to the City.
The station became increasingly ramshackle and cluttered as the 19th century went on. Not only was there confusion on the part of the passengers because there were three separate but very close stations named 'Waterloo'. They were the L&SWR station, a much smaller station built by the South Eastern Railway, now called Waterloo East and a station for the Necropolis Railway. Furthermore the complex series of junctions, signals and elevated sections on the approach to the station often caused confusion on the part of railway staff.
The L&SWR's station was especially complex and rambling, and included a railway line running across the main concourse and out through an archway in the station building for infrequent connecting services to the South Eastern's station. The complexity and confusion at Waterloo became the subject of many jokes by writers and music hall comics - the best known probably being the incident in Jerome K. Jerome's book ''Three Men in a Boat'' when no one at Waterloo knows where the train the characters need is to be found, or when it leaves or where it goes.

Finally the decision was taken to tear the whole thing down and begin again. Construction began on the new station in 1900 and continued until 1922, with the new station boasting 21 platforms and a concourse nearly 800 feet (244 m) long. However, it was badly damaged during World War II and required considerable reconstruction thereafter.
Following the privatisation of British Rail in the 1990s, ownership and management of Waterloo was transferred to Railtrack, and subsequently to Network Rail. Trains run to the south-west of England and are mostly operated by South West Trains.

The station is linked to the South Bank by an elevated walkway. The demolition of part of the Waterloo walkway and the reconstruction of the Hungerford Footbridge removed access that had allowed pedestrians to walk directly by elevated walkways and footbridges from the concourse of Waterloo to that of Charing Cross railway station on the north side of the River Thames.

One now-vanished curiosity of Waterloo is that it was originally the terminus for London's daily funeral express to Brookwood Cemetery. Funerary trains bearing coffins (at 2/6 each for a single) left from the 'Necropolis Station' just outside the main station. The Necropolis Station was almost completely destroyed during World War II.^[1]
There is a large, four-faced clock hanging in the middle of the main concourse. Meeting "under the clock at Waterloo station" was a traditional rendezvous for people planning to travel together or arriving from separate locations.^[2]


Left luggage services are available: there is one between platforms 11 and 12 (charge per item was six pounds for 24 hours in early 2007). Another is in the basement near the entrance to the Waterloo and City line (charge is 12 pounds for up to 30 kilos per day). Waterloo has an excellent Lost Property [1] service with courteous staff and an efficient online form and contact service, with a minimal charge.
 

Waterloo International

'Waterloo International' station adjoins Waterloo mainline station and has its own two-level concourse and train shed. It is the current London terminus for Eurostar trains to Belgium and France. The station is managed by Eurostar.
It was built in the early 1990s at a cost of £130 million^[3] to a design by the architects Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners. The station was widely praised for its architecture, and won a variety of awards on its opening in 1994. Its most impressive feature is a 400 m-long glass canopy consisting of 37 prismatic, three-pinned bowstring arches of varying spans, designed by Anthony Hunt Associates.
Upon the scheduled 14 November 2007 completion of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (High Speed 1), Eurostar trains will terminate at St Pancras station rather than Waterloo. It will then revert to the ownership of the Department for Transport.
The options for its reuse is currently unclear, but it is likely that it would be converted for domestic use by South West Trains.^[4] The domestic use, however would involve considerable remodelling and reconstruction of the rail approaches to the station, and while South West Trains supports in principle the use of the terminal for its own services after Eurostar has left it, the costs associated with this option are a significant deterrent.^[5] A previous option that it would be converted for retail was rejected.^[4]
Some French politicians have complained about the name "Waterloo" for the destination of trains from Paris because it derives, albeit indirectly, from the 1815 battle where a British-led alliance defeated Napoleon's army. In 1998, French politician Florent Longuepée wrote to the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair demanding, without success, that the allegedly offensive name be changed.^[7][8]
 

Waterloo East

Main articles: Waterloo East railway station

Waterloo East station is a railway station alongside the main Waterloo station and is connected by a footbridge across Waterloo Road. It is on the South Eastern Main Line from South East and Southern London, East Sussex and Kent to Charing Cross. Waterloo East is managed by Southeastern, but there are also services from Southern.

Waterloo Underground stations

Main articles: Waterloo tube station

'Waterloo tube stations' are two London Underground stations, the main and the Waterloo & City Line station. They are on the Bakerloo Line between Lambeth North and Embankment, the Jubilee Line between Westminster and Southwark, the Northern Line between Kennington and Embankment, and the Waterloo & City Line leading to Bank.

Waterloo Pier

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

Cultural references

★ Waterloo station and the Waterloo Underground station are the setting for the Kinks song "Waterloo Sunset", written by Ray Davies and recorded in 1967. Its lyrics describe two people meeting at Waterloo Station and crossing over the river (via Waterloo Bridge, as Davies has confirmed). The song has been recorded by Cathy Dennis and Def Leppard, whilst other acts (like David Bowie and Elliott Smith) have covered the song in live performances.

★ The station is also the subject of John Schlesinger's documentary film ''Terminus''.

★ ''The Bourne Ultimatum'', staring Matt Damon, was filmed at Waterloo Station during mid-April 2007

★ The lyrics in the 1979 song "Rendezvous 6:02" by British progressive band U.K. describe a meeting at Waterloo Station.

★ The lyrics to "Torn On The Platform" by Jack Penate refer to the station ("train leaves at two, platform 3, Waterloo").

Footnotes

1. HistoryPlace.com
2. ''http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/66/a7989466.shtml''
3.
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6146690.stm
5. BBC
6. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6146690.stm
7. ''The Times''
8. Waterloo insult to French visitors

References

★ Station information for Waterloo station from Network Rail

★ Train times and station information for Waterloo station from National Rail (Station code: WAT)

★ London's Transport Museum Photographic Archive

★
★

★
★

★
★

★ Waterloo Station Central Telephone Enquiry Bureau (CTEB) History