Waterloo Station Through Time

The first Waterloo Station opened in 1848 and the current building was built in 1922, after a huge rebuilding program started in 1899. Primarily catering for suburban traffic, Waterloo is also the major station for trains to Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth.

Now Britain’s busiest and largest station, Waterloo once served the famous boat trains, including the ones for the Titanic in April 1912. Owned by the London & South Western railway originally and first known as Waterloo Bridge Station, the name officially became the more simple Waterloo in 1886. The redevelopment was badly needed and some slum clearance took place to fit the required platforms into the new station. Close by was the London necropolis Railway station, which took coffins to Brookwood Cemetery.

For a time, the station was the base for Eurostar trains and a new Crossrail project may see Waterloo connected with Euston at some point in the future.

John Christopher tells the story of Waterloo, from its early beginnings when the LSWR extended its route from Nine Elms to the present day, using a mixture of old and new images.