Waterloo is Britain’s largest and busiest station.
London Waterloo has always been a place for important arrivals and departures, whether city commuters, holiday makers, Epsom race goers or armed forces.
1838: 21 May, the London & Southampton’s terminus is opened at Nine Elms, with the line as far as Woking. The line from London to Southampton opens throughout in 1840.
1839: The London & Southampton railway becomes part of the London & South Western Railway.
1848: 11 July, the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) extends its line two miles from Nine Elms towards the City and opens its new Waterloo terminus just south of Waterloo Bridge.
1853: more permanent station buildings are built at Waterloo and are later referred to as ‘Central Station’.
1854: October, on the east side of the approach to Waterloo, the private station of the London Necropolis Company is opened to take coffins from central London to its cemetery near Woking.
1860: the ‘Windsor station’ was opened on the north-west side of the original central platforms.
1869: Waterloo Junction station (now known as Waterloo East) is opened by the South Eastern Railway.
1878: two additional platforms are built on the south-east side of central station and known as the ‘south station’.
1885: a further six platforms are added to the station and known as ‘north station’.
1898: 8 August, the Waterloo and City line opens, linking the station quickly with the City of London.
1899: work begins on the compete rebuild of Waterloo Station with the LSWR’s chief engineer designing the concourse, platforms and train shed and J R Scott designing the station frontage and amenities.
1902: the new Necropolis station is opened, replacing the original demolished due to the rebuilding and expansion of Waterloo.
1910: the first five of the 21 new platforms open.
1915: LSWR’s suburban lines electrified using the third rail system.
1922: the reconstructed Waterloo station fully opens with the unveiling of the Victory Arch, designed by J R Scott.
1923: railway grouping brought Waterloo station under the control of the Southern Railway, and becomes the focus for their activities.
1936: new signalling and layouts introduced to improve approaches to station.
1939: Waterloo Station becomes a focal point for army and navy personnel departing for war.
1941: Waterloo’s Necropolis station is destroyed during a bombing raid, and is not rebuilt.
1961: John Schlesinger’s film ‘Terminus’ is filmed at Waterloo Station.
1978: remodelling work takes place on the station’s concourse.
1994: 14 November, the London terminus for Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel is opened at Waterloo International and built on the old ‘Windsor line’ platforms to the east of the station.
1999: Jubilee Line Extension to the London Underground opens with a stop at Waterloo, with access and a ticket office making use of the undercroft at Waterloo Road level.
2007: November, Waterloo International is closed when the high speed main line (HS1) from the Channel Tunnel to St Pancras opens, transferring Eurostar services to St Pancras International.
2012: first floor balcony running along the inside of the main station building opens with new shops, bars and restaurants.
Replacing the first terminus of the London & Southampton Railway at Nine Elms, Waterloo Station was opened in 1848 by the London & South Western Railway as part of extending the line two miles to be nearer the city. This original station, known as ‘central station’, had six platforms.
From its very earliest days the station was popular with race goers travelling to Epsom; the original station opening in 1848 was brought forward a week to enable passengers to travel to the Derby by rail for the first time.
Through the remainder of the 19th century, Waterloo was extended in an ad-hoc way to cope with demand. In 1860 the ‘Windsor station’ was opened on the north-west side of the original central platforms. In 1878 Waterloo gained an additional two platforms on the south-east side for mainline suburban trains in an extension known as the ‘south station’. In 1885 the ‘north’ station was opened, adding a further six platforms bringing the total at Waterloo to eighteen.
It was however a confusing station for passengers with platforms divided between four different sections of the station, unclear platform numbering, four areas which were classed as concourses and poor information displays. There were significant delays to services as the whole station was served by just four approach lines, and difficult ticketing arrangements with rival railway companies such as the South Eastern Railway did not help.
In 1899 London & South Western Railway (as the London & Southampton had become) sought permission to completely rebuild and expand the station. The Company sent its chief engineer J W Jacomb-Hood to America to gather information on termini buildings to assist its redesign.
Over twenty years as building work took place, Waterloo became a spacious station with a large open concourse. With 21 platforms under a huge ridge-and-furrow roof it became light and airy compared to the dark maze it once was. Widely praised for its architecture, the new curved building to the front of the station housed the LSWR’s offices and facilities for passengers including a large booking hall and upstairs dining room which were simple and elegant with Georgian style panelling in the dining room and Edwardian decoration in the bars.
As the station rebuild was drawing to a close, and as a memorial to their staff that died in the First World War, the LSWR commissioned the Victory Arch; designed by J R Scott, their chief architect and made of Portland stone and bronze it depicts War and Peace, with Britannia holding the torch of liberty above. Leading from Station Approach onto the concourse, the Victory Arch forms the main entrance to Waterloo.
Waterloo remained largely unchanged until early 1990s when platforms 20 and 21 were demolished to make way for Waterloo International. Opened in 1994 this was the terminus for Eurostar services running through the new Channel Tunnel. However on completion of the new high speed line in 2007, Eurostar services were taken instead to St Pancras and the international platforms at Waterloo closed.
In July 2012 a first-floor balcony opened at Waterloo to help reduce congestion at the station in time for the London Olympic Games. Space has been created for passengers on the concourse by repositioning shops from the middle of the main concourse onto the balcony. With new escalators and lifts Waterloo station now provides step-free access to its neighbouring station, Waterloo East.
Waterloo provided the terminus of the London Necropolis Company. Opened in 1854, the small, private station was designed to accommodate mourners and hold funeral services before coffins were transported for burial at Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey.
The original station building was demolished in 1902 to make way for the expansion of Waterloo; its successor was destroyed during an air raid in 1941 and never rebuilt.