Waterloo

Live status — lines serving Waterloo

Live departures from Waterloo

Waterloo is the busiest passenger railway station in the United Kingdom and the southern gateway to the City and the West End. Above ground it is a Victorian terminus serving the South Western network — Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, the Channel ports and Reading. Below ground, four Underground lines converge in a deep cavern of tunnels and ticket halls, including the Waterloo & City line — a peculiar two-stop shuttle that only commuters use, running from here straight under the Thames to Bank.

If Waterloo is closed

• Going on the Jubilee? Walk 8 minutes north over Hungerford Bridge to Embankment for Bakerloo, Northern and District/Circle, or stay on the south side and walk 10 minutes east to Southwark.
• Going on the Northern (Charing Cross branch)? Walk 8 minutes over Westminster Bridge to Westminster (Jubilee, Circle, District) and change.
• Going on the Northern (Bank branch)? Walk 12 minutes east to Borough for the next Bank-branch stop south of Waterloo.
• Going on the Bakerloo? Walk 5 minutes south to Lambeth North.
• Need to get to the City? When the Waterloo & City isn't running, take the Jubilee from Southwark to London Bridge, or any Thameslink train northbound from Waterloo East.
• Mainline (South Western Railway) alternative — most SWR services also stop at Vauxhall (10 min from Waterloo by Victoria line), which is rarely affected when Waterloo itself is.

About the station

The Underground station at Waterloo is really four stations stitched together. The Waterloo & City line opened in 1898 as a private commuter shuttle to the City of London, dug independently of the rest of the Tube network and run by a mainline railway company until the 1990s. The Bakerloo arrived in 1906, the Northern (then the City & South London Railway) in 1926, and the Jubilee — the most recent and the only one with proper lifts — in 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extension to Stratford and the Millennium Dome.

The result is a station with two completely separate ticket halls, four sets of deep-tube platforms at different levels, and a Waterloo & City "Drain" platform that's signed almost like an afterthought. Above ground, the mainline station — first opened in 1848 and rebuilt in 1922 in the grand Victorian style we see today — handles more than 80 million passengers per year, and its main concourse is one of the largest in Europe.

Lines that serve Waterloo

• Jubilee line — north to Westminster, Green Park, Bond Street, Baker Street, Wembley Park and Stanmore; east to Southwark, London Bridge, Canary Wharf, Stratford. Step-free.
• Northern line — both branches stop here: Bank branch via Borough and London Bridge; Charing Cross branch via Embankment and Charing Cross.
• Bakerloo line — north to Embankment, Charing Cross, Oxford Circus, Paddington and Harrow & Wealdstone; south to Lambeth North and Elephant & Castle.
• Waterloo & City line — the unique two-stop shuttle to Bank, the fastest way into the City for South Western commuters. Weekdays only.

Step-free access — partial

Waterloo has step-free access for the Jubilee line and the Waterloo & City line only. Lifts connect the main concourse to those platforms. The Bakerloo line and Northern line deep-tube platforms are reached only by escalators and stairs — there is no lift access. This is one of the more frustrating accessibility gaps on the network, given Waterloo's importance as an interchange.

For step-free access to the Bakerloo line, the nearest alternative is Lambeth North (5 minutes' walk south on Westminster Bridge Road) — but be aware Lambeth North itself is only step-free at street level, not to platform. For the Northern line, the nearest fully step-free station southbound is Borough (one stop on the Bank branch), and northbound Embankment (one stop on the Charing Cross branch).

See the full step-free Tube stations guide for what step-free actually covers and how to plan an accessible journey.

Exits and what is nearby

• Main concourse (Cab Road) — the principal exit, opens directly into the mainline station concourse. Closest to South Western Railway services and the IMAX cinema roundabout.
• Victory Arch (Station Approach) — the ceremonial main entrance, fronting onto the bus station and York Road. Closest to the BFI IMAX, the South Bank cultural quarter and the London Eye (10 min walk).
• South Bank exit (York Road) — direct route to the National Theatre, Royal Festival Hall, BFI Southbank and the Thames riverside path.
• Lower Marsh / Mepham Street — south-west exit, closest to Lower Marsh market, the cafés of The Cut, and the Old Vic Theatre.
• Waterloo East — connected concourse to the separate Waterloo East mainline station (Southeastern services to Greenwich, Dartford, Hastings).

A bit of history

The Waterloo & City Railway opened on 8 August 1898 as a private commuter line, owned and operated by the London & South Western Railway. It was independent of the rest of the Underground until 1994, when it was transferred to London Underground from British Rail privatisation. The line still has only two stations — Waterloo and Bank — and famously runs only on weekdays.

The Bakerloo line followed in 1906, the Northern in 1926. The Eurostar terminal at Waterloo International opened in 1994 and operated for 13 years before services transferred to St Pancras International in November 2007. The former Eurostar platforms (20–24) were converted to additional South Western Railway capacity in stages, with the full conversion completed in 2018 — a project that finally relieved decades of mainline platform crowding.

Common quirks

• The Waterloo & City line doesn't run on weekends. No Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday service. If you are heading to Bank from Waterloo at the weekend, use the Jubilee to London Bridge and change to the Northern (one stop), or take the Northern Bank branch directly.
• Both Northern line branches stop here. Most central stations only see one branch — Waterloo, London Bridge and Kennington are the exceptions on the southern half. Check the platform indicator for "Bank" or "Charing Cross" before boarding.
• The Bakerloo and Northern platforms are a long way down. Allow 5–7 minutes between trains if interchanging onto or off these lines — there are two long escalator banks plus connecting passageways.
• The IMAX cinema roundabout sits directly above the Bakerloo platforms. It is a useful navigation landmark when emerging from any exit.

Frequently asked questions

Which lines serve Waterloo?

Four Underground lines: the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern (both Bank and Charing Cross branches stop here) and Waterloo & City. It is also the UK's busiest National Rail station.

Is Waterloo step-free?

Partially. The Jubilee line and Waterloo & City line are fully step-free street to train. The Bakerloo and Northern line platforms are escalator-and-stairs only — no lift access.

What zone is Waterloo in?

Zone 1, for both Underground and National Rail.

Does the Waterloo & City line run on weekends?

No. The line — known as "The Drain" — runs Monday to Friday only, with no Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday service. Weekday hours are roughly 06:15 to 21:30 (shorter on Fridays).

Does Eurostar still run from Waterloo?

No. Eurostar moved from Waterloo International to St Pancras International in November 2007. The former platforms have been absorbed back into the South Western Railway network.

Lines serving this station

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