![waterloo big clock waterloo big clock](https://www.spc.noaa.gov/products/watch/ww0521_overview_big.gif)
The main pedestrian entrance, the Victory Arch (known as Exit 5), is a memorial to company staff who were killed during the two world wars. These features were retained in the design despite the fact that by the time the station opened the 1921 Railway Act had been passed which spelt the end of the L&SWR as an independent concern. The new station included a large stained glass window depicting the L&SWR's company crest over the main road entrance, surrounded by a frieze listing the counties served by the railway (the latter survives today). Construction continued sporadically throughout the First World War, and the new station finally opened in 1922 with 21 platforms and a concourse nearly 800 feet (250 m) long. The new station was opened in stages, the first five new platforms opening in 1910. Legal powers were granted that year, and extensive groundwork and slum clearance were carried out until 1904, when construction on the terminus proper began. In 1899 the L&SWR decided on a total rebuilding. Jerome's book Three Men in a Boat no one at Waterloo knows the wanted train's platform, departure time or destination. This complexity and confusion became the butt of jokes by writers and music hall comics for many years in the late 19th century. By 1897 there were also three separate (and separately-owned) Underground stations named 'Waterloo' under or close by the station, as well as the adjacent Necropolis Company station.
![waterloo big clock waterloo big clock](https://a.deviantart.net/avatars-big/e/r/erikhillenburg.jpg)
Passengers were, not surprisingly, confused by the layout and by the two adjacent stations called 'Waterloo'. A little-used railway line even crossed the main concourse on the level and passed through an archway in the station building to connect to the South Eastern Railway's smaller station, now Waterloo East, whose tracks lie perpendicular to those of Waterloo. By 1899 Waterloo had 16 platform roads but only 10 platform numbers due to platforms in different sections of the station or on different levels sometimes duplicating the number of a platform elsewhere. Each of these stations-within-a-station had its own booking office, Taxi stand and public entrances from the street, as well as often poorly marked and confusing access to the rest of the station. The new platform sets were known by nicknames - the two platforms added for suburban services in 1878 were the 'Cyprus Station', whilst the six built in 1885 for use by trains on the Windsor line became the 'Khartoum Station'. The original 1848 station became known as the 'Central Station' as other platforms were added. In 1886 it officially became 'Waterloo Station', reflecting long-standing common usage, even in some L&SWR timetables.Īs the station grew, it became increasingly ramshackle. The unfulfilled intention was for a through station with services to the City.
#Waterloo big clock series#
Designed by William Tite, it was raised above marshy ground on a series of arches. The London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) opened the station on 11 July 1848 as 'Waterloo Bridge Station' (from the nearby crossing over the Thames) when its main line was extended from Nine Elms. While most of Waterloo's traffic is essentially local or suburban in character, there are also regular "main line" express services to longer-distance destinations, the most important of which are Portsmouth, Southampton, and Bournemouth, all on the south coast. It is the terminus of a network of railway lines in Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire, South West England, and the south-western suburbs of London. It has more platforms and a greater floor area than any other station in the UK (but Clapham Junction, just under four miles down the line, has the largest number of trains).
![waterloo big clock waterloo big clock](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/big-clock-entrance-hall-waterloo-station-london-london-england-september-big-clock-entrance-hall-waterloo-100545786.jpg)
The Waterloo complex is one of the busiest passenger terminals in Europe, comparable to the Gare Saint-Lazare and second only to the Gare du Nord in Paris. The total number of people passing through the station is considerably greater, as this figure is based on ticket sales for London Waterloo alone and does not include usage data for the Underground and Waterloo East. With some 88 million passengers a year, Waterloo is easily Britain's busiest railway station in terms of passenger throughput. It is in the London Borough of Lambeth, near the South Bank, and in Travelcard Zone 1. Google Maps Click Here Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a major railway terminus in central London, owned and operated by Network Rail.