London Waterloo station

Waterloo
London Waterloo
Aerial view from the south, showing Waterloo station, Waterloo and Hungerford Bridges and the London Eye
Waterloo Location of Waterloo in Central London
Location	Lambeth
Local authority	London Borough of Lambeth
Managed by	Network Rail
Station code	WAT
DfT category	A
Number of platforms	24
Accessible	Yes[1]
Fare zone	1
OSI	Waterloo Waterloo East Embankment Festival Pier London Eye Pier [2]
Cycle parking	Yes – external opposite exit 3
Toilet facilities	Yes
National Rail annual entry and exit
2018–19	94.193 million[3]
– interchange	6.506 million[3]
2019–20	86.904 million[3]
– interchange	6.310 million[3]
2020–21	12.215 million[3]
– interchange	1.375 million[3]
2021–22	41.426 million[3]
– interchange	3.532 million[3]
2022–23	57.790 million[3]
– interchange	4.664 million[3]
Railway companies
Original company	London and South Western Railway
Pre-grouping	London and South Western Railway
Post-grouping	Southern Railway
Key dates
11 July 1848[4]	Opened
21 March 1922	Rebuilt
14 November 1994 – 13 November 2007	Eurostar terminal
Other information
External links	Departures Layout Facilities Buses
Coordinates	51°30′11″N 0°06′48″W / 51.5031°N 0.1132°W / 51.5031; -0.1132
London transport portal

Waterloo station (/ˌwɔːtərˈluː/),^[5][6] also known as London Waterloo, is a major central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of the same name and is adjacent to Waterloo East station on the South Eastern Main Line. The station is the terminus of the South West Main Line to Weymouth via Southampton, the West of England main line to Exeter via Salisbury, the Portsmouth Direct line to Portsmouth Harbour which connects with ferry services to the Isle of Wight, and several commuter services around west and south-west London, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.

The station was opened in 1848 by the London and South Western Railway, and it replaced the earlier Nine Elms as it was closer to the West End. It was never designed to be a terminus, as the original intention was to continue the line towards the City of London, and consequently the station developed in a haphazard fashion, leading to difficulty finding the correct platform. The station was rebuilt in the early 20th century, opening in 1922, and included the Victory Arch over the main entrance, which commemorated World War I. Waterloo was the last London terminus to provide steam-powered services, which ended in 1967. The station was the London terminus for Eurostar international trains from 1994 until 2007, when they were transferred to St. Pancras.

London Waterloo is the third busiest station in the UK, and was formerly the busiest railway station in the UK, handling 57.8 million passengers in the year to March 2023.^[7] It is also the UK's largest station in terms of floor space and has the greatest number of platforms.