Waterloo station

Waterloo Station

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Waterloo station

London Waterloo (often "Waterloo") is a major railway terminus in London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, England

England

Network Rail

Network Rail is a United Kingdom "not for dividend" company limited by guarantee whose principal asset is Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, a company limited by shares....
. It is in the London Borough of Lambeth

London Borough of Lambeth

The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Inner London....
near the South Bank

South Bank

The South Bank is the area in London on the southern bank of the River Thames near Waterloo station that houses a number of important cultural buildings/institutions....
, in Travelcard Zone 1

Travelcard Zone 1

Travelcard Zone 1 is the central zone of Transport for London's zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated inter-modal Travelcard fares within London....
, and houses a British Transport Police

British Transport Police

The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services....
station. In the financial year 2006/07, the most recent with statistics published and the year before Eurostar

Eurostar

Eurostar is a high-speed train service in Western Europe connecting London and Kent in the United Kingdom, with Paris and Lille in France, and Brussels in Belgium....
services ceased using it, the Waterloo complex including the Underground and Waterloo East handled some 170 million passengers (not including interchanges on the underground), more than any other station in the United Kingdom and third only to Paris Gare du Nord

Gare du Nord

The Gare du Nord is one of the six large terminus train stations of the SNCF's main line network in Paris. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines ....
and Gare Saint-Lazare

Gare Saint-Lazare

Gare Saint-Lazare is one of the six large terminus train stations of Paris. It is the second busiest in Europe, behind the Gare du Nord, handling 450,000 passengers each day, including the metro station , and serves several lines to Normandy....
in Europe.

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Encyclopedia

London Waterloo (often "Waterloo") is a major railway terminus in London

London

England

Network Rail

London Borough of Lambeth

The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in South London, England and forms part of Inner London....
near the South Bank

South Bank

The South Bank is the area in London on the southern bank of the River Thames near Waterloo station that houses a number of important cultural buildings/institutions....
, in Travelcard Zone 1

Travelcard Zone 1

British Transport Police

Eurostar

Gare du Nord

The Gare du Nord is one of the six large terminus train stations of the SNCF's main line network in Paris. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines ....
and Gare Saint-Lazare

Gare Saint-Lazare

Clapham Junction railway station

Clapham Junction railway station is near St John's Hill in the south-west of Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is not in Clapham but the area, influenced by the station, is commonly known as Clapham Junction....
, further down the line, has more trains). It is the terminus of a network of railway lines in South West England

South West England

South West England is one of the regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area, and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly....
and the suburbs of London.

History

The London and South Western Railway

London and South Western Railway

The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth, Dorset....
(L&SWR) opened the station on 11 July 1848 when its main line was extended from Nine Elms

Nine Elms railway station

Nine Elms Railway Station in the London district of Battersea was opened on 21 May 1838 as the London terminus of the London & Southampton Railway which on the same day became the London and South Western Railway....
. Designed by William Tite

William Tite

Sir William Tite, Order of the Bath was an England architect who served as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was particularly associated with various London buildings, with railway stations and cemetery projects....
, it was raised above marshy ground on a series of arches. The unfulfilled intention was for a through station with services to the City

City of London

The City of London is a geographically small city status in the United Kingdom within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew....
. The name on opening was 'Waterloo Bridge Station', from the nearby Waterloo Bridge

Waterloo Bridge

Waterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge....
across the Thames. In 1886 it officially became 'Waterloo Station', reflecting the long-standing common usage, and that of 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

South Eastern Railway (UK)

South Eastern Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom, which linked London with Kent.The company was formed from the London and Greenwich Railway and the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway ....
's smaller station, now Waterloo East

Waterloo East railway station

Waterloo East station is a railway station in London. A walkway across Waterloo Road connects it to the larger, terminal, station London Waterloo station....
, 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

Music hall

Music hall is a form of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to# A particular form of variety show entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and #Speciality Acts....
comics. In Jerome K. Jerome

Jerome K. Jerome

Jerome Klapka Jerome was an England writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat.Jerome was born in Caldmore, Walsall, England, where there is now a museum in his honour, and was brought up in poverty in London....
's book Three Men in a Boat
Three Men in a Boat

Three Men in a Boat , published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the River Thames between Kingston upon Thames and Oxford....
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, is a memorial to company staff who were killed during the two world wars. Damage in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
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

London Necropolis railway station

The London Necropolis railway station was a special railway station constructed by the London Necropolis Company for funeral trains, specifically to serve their Brookwood Cemetery....
of the London Necropolis Company

London Necropolis Company

The London Necropolis Company, also London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company, was set up in 1850, and established by Act of Parliament in 1852....
from which funerary trains, at one time daily, ran to Brookwood Cemetery

Brookwood Cemetery

Brookwood Cemetery is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in western Europe....
bearing coffins at 2/6

Half a crown

The phrase "half a crown" was used before currency decimalisation in the United Kingdom to express the value of two shilling and sixpence as in, for example, "That will cost you half a crown." The phrases "half a crown" and "two and six" were commonly used in preference to the more formal "two shillings and sixpence"....
each. This station was destroyed during World War II

World War II

Privatisation of British Rail

The privatisation of British Rail was the result of the Railways Act 1993 introduced by John Major's Conservative Party government. The operations of the British Railways Board were broken up and sold off....
in the 1990s, ownership and management of Waterloo passed to Railtrack

Railtrack

Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the railroad, Railway signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the train station of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom from its formation in April 1994 until 2002....
, and subsequently to Network Rail

Network Rail

Waterloo International railway station

Waterloo International station was the London terminus of the Eurostar international rail service from its opening on 14 November 1994 until 13 November 2007....
site, which from 1994 until 13 November 2007 was the London terminus of Eurostar

Eurostar

Eurostar is a high-speed train service in Western Europe connecting London and Kent in the United Kingdom, with Paris and Lille in France, and Brussels in Belgium....
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 all Eurostar services transferred to the new St Pancras railway station

St Pancras railway station

St Pancras railway station is a major railway station situated in the St Pancras, London area of central London between the British Library and London King's Cross railway station....
with the opening of the second phase of "HS1", High Speed route 1, formerly known as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link or CTRL. Platform 20 is being returned to use by domestic services but the substantial track and signal work required at the station neck to bring the other international platforms into domestic use is currently considered incommensurate with the benefit.

In February 2008 a £20 million project to install 170 automatic barriers to all the main line platforms was announced. The barriers came into operation in January 2009. This is the longest line of ticket barriers in the UK.

Station Facilities

The major transport interchange at Waterloo comprises London Waterloo, Waterloo East

Waterloo East railway station

Waterloo East station is a railway station in London. A walkway across Waterloo Road connects it to the larger, terminal, station London Waterloo station....
, the Underground

Waterloo tube station

Waterloo tube station is a London Underground station located at Waterloo station. It is the second busiest station on the network and is served by the Bakerloo line, Jubilee line, Northern line and the Waterloo & City line lines....
station, 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.

River services

London River Services

London River Services is a division of Transport for London , which manages passenger transport on the River Thames in London, United Kingdom. They do not own or operate any boats but license the services of other operators....
operate from nearby Waterloo Pier

Waterloo Millennium Pier

Waterloo Millennium Pier is a pier on South Bank of the River Thames in Central London, United Kingdom, located directly in front of the London Eye....
next to the London Eye

London Eye

The London Eye at a height of , is the biggest Ferris wheel in Europe, and has become the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3 million people a year....
.

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

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

South West Trains

South West Trains is a List of companies operating trains in the United Kingdom operating in the United Kingdom, providing train services to the south-west of London, chiefly in Greater London and the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight ....
.

Waterloo International

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 prior to the terminus at Charing Cross

Charing Cross station

Charing Cross station may refer to:In London, England:*Charing Cross railway station*Charing Cross tube station **Embankment tube station was previously named Charing Cross...
.

Waterloo Underground station

Waterloo is the second-busiest station on the Underground network

London Underground

The London Underground is a metro system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK....
, after Kings Cross St Pancras, served by the Bakerloo

Bakerloo Line

The Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from the Elephant and Castle in south-east to Wealdstone in north-west of London....
, Jubilee

Jubilee Line

The Jubilee line is a line on the London Underground , in the United Kingdom. It was built in two major sections - initially to Charing Cross tube station in Central London, and Jubilee Line Extension in 1999 to Stratford station in East London, England....
, Northern

Northern Line

The Northern line is a deep-level tube line on the London Underground, coloured black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground line; 206,734,000 passengers per annum....
(Charing Cross branch) and Waterloo & City

Waterloo & City Line

The Waterloo & City line is a short underground railway line in London, which formally opened on 11 July 1898. It has only two stations, London Waterloo station and Bank and Monument stations ....
lines.

Cultural references

In the 1990s, after Waterloo station was chosen as the British terminus for the Eurostar

Eurostar

Eurostar is a high-speed train service in Western Europe connecting London and Kent in the United Kingdom, with Paris and Lille in France, and Brussels in Belgium....
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. There is a name counterpart in Paris

Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
: the Gare d'Austerlitz

Gare d'Austerlitz

The Gare d'Austerlitz is one of the six large terminus railway station in Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine in the southeastern part of the city, in the XIIIe arrondissement....
is named after the Battle of Austerlitz

Battle of Austerlitz

The Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon I of France greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the First French Empire....
, one of Napolean's greatest victories. However, this station is less important than most other stations in the city and Eurostar trains run to the Gare du Nord

Gare du Nord

The Gare du Nord is one of the six large terminus train stations of the SNCF's main line network in Paris. It offers connections with several urban transportation lines ....
.

Film

The station is the subject of John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger

John Richard Schlesinger, Order of the British Empire was an England film director....
's documentary film Terminus
Terminus (film)

Terminus was a "fly-on-the-wall" Documentary film directed by John Schlesinger about an ordinary day at Waterloo Station in London. It was produced by British Transport Films....
.
Several scenes in The Bourne Ultimatum
The Bourne Ultimatum (film)

The Bourne Ultimatum is a 2007 spy film directed by Paul Greengrass and loosely based on the Robert Ludlum The Bourne Ultimatum. The film is a sequel to The Bourne Supremacy and the third film of the Bourne ....
, starring Matt Damon
Matt Damon

Matthew Paige Damon is an American actor and philanthropist. He won the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for his screenwriting in Good Will Hunting, and was nominated for his lead performance in the same film....
, were filmed with British actor Paddy Considine
Paddy Considine

Patrick "Paddy" Considine is an England actor, director, screenwriter and frequent collaborator with Shane Meadows. To international audiences, he may be more familiar for his roles in In America, The Bourne Ultimatum , 24 Hour Party People, My Summer of Love and Hot Fuzz....
at Waterloo between October 2006 and April 2007.
Bollywood film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom is a Bollywood films of 2007 Bollywood film starring Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol and Lara Dutta. It is directed by Shaad Ali....
was filmed extensively within Waterloo and the storyline was set around two people awaiting passengers arriving at the station.
Scenes for Incendiary
Incendiary (film)

Incendiary is a 2008 British drama film portraying the aftermath of a terrorist attack at a soccer match. It is directed by Sharon Maguire and stars Michelle Williams as a young mother, Ewan McGregor as Jasper, and Matthew Macfadyen as Terence....
were filmed at the station during April and May 2007
The station has been used to shoot scenes for films including London to Brighton
London to Brighton

London to Brighton is a 2006 award-winning British film. The film was directed by Paul Andrew Williams....
, Russian Dolls, Franklyn
Franklyn

Franklyn is a British film written and directed by Gerald McMorrow in his feature debut. Produced by Jeremy Thomas, the film stars Ryan Phillippe, Eva Green and Sam Riley....
, Breaking and Entering
Breaking and Entering (film)

'Breaking and Entering', is a United Kingdom 2006 in film romantic drama film, was Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay film director Anthony Minghella's first original screenplay since his 1991 in film feature debut, Truly, Madly, Deeply....
and Outlaw
Outlaw (2007 film)

Outlaw is a 2007 in film film by director Nick Love, starring Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Bob Hoskins, Lennie James, Rupert Friend and Sean Harris....
.

Television

In the Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses

Only Fools and Horses is a United Kingdom television situation comedy, created and written by John Sullivan , and made and broadcast by the BBC....
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
Lille

Lille is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Urban Community of Lille M?tropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille....
and take the Eurostar to London to beat Jeremy to the NatWest Tower.
Waterloo frequently appears in television productions, including Waking the Dead
Waking the Dead (TV series)

Waking the Dead is a British television crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a team of Criminal Investigation Department police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic science....
, The Commander, Spooks, The Apprentice and The Bill
The Bill

The Bill is a long-running United Kingdom television police procedural, named after a List of slang terms for police officers. It was first broadcast on 16 August, 1983 as a pilot episode, and as a regular series from 16 October, 1984 and transmitted on ITV, at 20:00 on Thursdays and most Wednesdays....
.

Music

Waterloo and Waterloo Underground are the setting for the Kinks'
The Kinks

The Kinks are an England rock music group formed in 1963, and categorised in the US as a British Invasion band. The Kinks have been cited as one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time....
song "Waterloo Sunset
Waterloo Sunset

"Waterloo Sunset" is a song released as a single by The Kinks in 1967, and featured on their album Something Else by the Kinks. It was composed and produced by The Kinks lead singer and songwriter Ray Davies and is one of the band's best known and most acclaimed songs....
", written by Ray Davies
Ray Davies

Ray Davies, Order of the British Empire is an English Rock music musician, best known as lead singer and songwriter for The Kinks - one of the most prolific and long-lived British Invasion bands - which he led with his younger brother, Dave Davies....
and recorded in 1967. Its lyric describes two people (Terry and Julie) meeting at Waterloo Station and crossing the river (via Waterloo Bridge, as Davies has confirmed). The song has been recorded by Cathy Dennis
Cathy Dennis

Cathy Dennis is a Grammy Awards award-winning dance-pop singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. After a moderately successful international solo career, Dennis has latterly achieved great success as a writer of pop songs, scoring seven UK number 1s and winning five Ivor Novello Awards....
and Def Leppard
Def Leppard

Def Leppard are an England Rock music band from Sheffield, who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Largely on the strength of their albums Pyromania and Hysteria , Def Leppard became one of the List of best-selling music artists rock bands throughout the 1980s, selling over 65 million albums worldw...
: other acts, such as David Bowie
David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and Arrangement. Active in five decades of rock music and frequently reinventing his music and image, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s....
and Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith

Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, Oregon, where he first gained popularity....
, 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
Carl Barât

Carl Ashley Raphael Bar?t is an England musician and most recently, actor. He was the Lead vocalist and lead guitarist of Dirty Pretty Things and the co-frontman with Pete Doherty of the indie rock band The Libertines....
's band Dirty Pretty Things
Dirty Pretty Things (band)

Dirty Pretty Things were an England band fronted by Carl Bar?t, a former member of The Libertines. The formation of the band was announced in September 2005, after a dispute between Bar?t and Pete Doherty led to the breakup of The Libertines in 2004....
' debut album is called Waterloo to Anywhere
Waterloo to Anywhere

Waterloo to Anywhere is the debut album by England Indie rock rock band Dirty Pretty Things , fronted by former The Libertines Carl Bar?t. The album was produced by Dave Sardy and Tony Doogan, and released on May 8 2006 in the United Kingdom where it debuted at #3 in the UK Albums Chart ....
.
The booklet accompanying The Who's
The Who

The Who are an England Rock music band formed in 1964. The primary lineup was guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon....
album Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia

Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by the English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973, Quadrophenia is a double album, and the group's second rock opera....
includes a photo of the album's protagonist on the steps of Waterloo, depicting a moment from the song 5:15
5:15

"5:15" is a song written by Pete Townshend of United Kingdom rock music band The Who from their second rock opera, Quadrophenia . The song reached number twenty on the UK Singles Chart, while the 1979 re-release reached number seventy-nine on the Billboard Hot 100....
.
The music video to 'West End Girls
West End Girls

"West End Girls" is a song by British pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the song was released twice as a single. It is a synthpop song, influenced by hip hop music....
' by the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys are an English people electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main Singing, Keyboard instruments and occasionally guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards and occasionally on vocals....
was part filmed at Waterloo in the mid 1980s.
Abba
ABBA

ABBA were a Sweden pop music group. The band consisted of Agnetha F?ltskog, Benny Andersson, Bj?rn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad . They topped the charts worldwide from the mid-1970s in music to the early 1980s in music....
held a press photo shoot at Waterloo on 11 April 1974, the day after their first appearance on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops

Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a long-running United Kingdom UK Singles Chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006....
, in celebration of their 'Waterloo
Waterloo (song)

"Waterloo", first called "Honey Pie", was the first single from Swedish pop group ABBA's second album Waterloo , their first for Epic Records & Atlantic Records....
' winning the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition....
five days before.

Gallery

External links

for Waterloo from Network Rail
Network Rail

Network Rail is a United Kingdom "not for dividend" company limited by guarantee whose principal asset is Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, a company limited by shares....
on Flickr
Flickr

Flickr is an and video hosting service website, web services suite, and online community platform. In addition to being a popular Web site for users to share personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers as a photo repository....
London Transport Museum Photographic Archive

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