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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.
Naming It is named after the Battle of Waterloo in which Napoleon was defeated near Brussels. Somewhat ironically, it is now London's gateway for train passengers from France and Belgium. In 1998, French politician Florent Longuepée wrote to British Prime Minister Tony Blair demanding unsuccessfully that the station be renamed on the grounds that the name is insensitive to French visitors. Waterloo mainline station The original mainline Waterloo Station was opened on 11 July 1848 by the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR). It was first laid out as a through station with the original (unrealised) intention of running mainline trains to the City. The station became increasingly ramshackle and cluttered as the 19th century went on, until 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. It was once possible to walk directly by elevated walkways and footbridges all the way from the concourse of Waterloo to that of Charing Cross railway station on the north side of the River Thames, but the demolition of part of the Waterloo walkway and the reconstruction of the Hungerford Footbridge means that that is no longer possible. 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 - singles, naturally) left from the 'Necropolis Station' just outside the main station. The Necropolis Station was almost completely destroyed during World War II. 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. Left luggage service is available between platforms 11 and 12. The charge per item is six pounds for 24 hours. Waterloo is one of three rail termini in London not to have either a direct connection, or a connection within easy walking distance, to the Circle Line (the others are London Bridge and Marylebone). Waterloo International
Waterloo East Waterloo East is an adjoining station to Waterloo. It is connected via a footbridge and therefore forms as an interchange with trains to the South Coast and Kent. It is however classed as a separate station. It is operated by Southeastern. Waterloo Underground station Waterloo tube station is a London Underground station. It is 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. The first underground station at Waterloo was opened on 8 August 1898 by the Waterloo & City Railway (W&CR) a subsidiary of the L&SWR. By doing so the W&CR, nicknamed "the Drain", achieved in a limited way the L&SWR's original plan of taking its tracks the short distance north-east into the City. The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway (BS&WR, now the Bakerloo Line) started serving Waterloo on 10 March 1906. On 13 September 1926, the extension of the Hampstead and Highgate Line (as the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line was then known) was opened from Embankment to the existing City & South London Railway station Kennington with a new station at Waterloo. The Jubilee Line station opened on 20 November 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extension project. The Jubilee platforms are at the opposite end of the site from those of the Bakerloo and Northern lines, but the two ends are connected by a 140 m (460 ft) moving walkway link - one of only two on the Underground. (The other is at the Waterloo & City Line at Bank.) Waterloo station and the Waterloo Underground station are the setting for the classic Kinks song 'Waterloo Sunset'. Waterloo Pier River services operate from Waterloo Pier next to the London Eye. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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