Waterloo East
An early decision
taken by the joint managing committee of the SE&CR was to improve capacity
between London Bridge and Charing Cross. This involved the laborious and costly
task of widening the viaduct to accept a fourth track: this was formally
completed on 2nd June 1901. As part of the works, Waterloo Junction was
enlarged. The island platform had been rebuilt as a wider surface and was graced
with pleasing red brick offices and waiting facilities, demonstrating the same
architecture which had earlier appeared at Ashford, Tonbridge and Shornecliffe
(Folkestone West), to name but a few. To accommodate the increased island width,
a fourth track, and a fourth platform face, the adjacent row of houses on
‘’Wootton Street’’ (on the station’s southern elevation) were demolished. All
platform surfaces were treated to ornate pitched-roof canopies, demonstrating
the same valance pattern which was in use at nearby London Bridge (and still in
existence at Maidstone West). The track foot crossings were superseded; a
covered lattice footbridge, positioned at the western extremity of the site,
linked all platforms and provided a direct walkway to the LSWR’s terminus. This
was at least of greater convenience to those passengers interchanging between
the two sites. Located just west of the footbridge was a signal box controlling
the Charing Cross approaches and the junction with the LSWR: this was suspended
across the tracks, in a similar fashion to the cabin still in evidence at
Canterbury West. The SER establishment had not been totally swept away, however
– the extensive clapboard structures on the northern most platform remained,
this side of the station avoiding the major engineering works in connection with
the widening. Indeed, the platform even retained a signal cabin at its eastern
end during the improvements.
Under the Southern Railway, the station became ‘’Waterloo Eastern’’, this coming
into effect on 7th July 1935. The single-track link with what was the LSWR had
gone out of use on 26th March 1911, during the rebuilding of the terminus, thus
the ex-SER station was no longer a Junction. It was under the SR’s ownership
when the platforms of the Eastern station acquired letters (A – D), to
differentiate them from the numbers of the terminus station, also then under the
control of the same company. Occurring in 1926 was the re-signalling of the area: this saw Waterloo Eastern's
signalling functions transfer to a new cabin at Charing Cross. Interestingly,
the signal box which straddled the tracks at the western end of Waterloo Eastern's platforms, was subsequently dismantled and reused at
Ryde St Johns
Road station on the Isle of Wight, where it can still be seen today. In
conjunction with electrification, the gas lamps here were replaced with electric
lights, nearby Charing Cross already being lit in this fashion. If there was no
alternative source, it was quite common for stations' electrical systems to be
linked directly to the third rail. Under British Rail, a station name alteration is of significance:
the ‘’Eastern’’ suffix simply became ‘‘East’’, this coming into effect on 2nd
May 1977. It was also around this time that the canopies lost their ornate SE&CR
valances, only to have them replaced by dreary dark grey corrugated metal
sheeting. The most southern platform saw its canopy cut back to just a quarter
of its length, whilst the northern most platform had seen the eastern end of its
canopy reduced in length by some 75 feet during 1957. The covered lattice
footbridge had also seen modification: its upper half, which contained the
glazing, was replaced, but the original pitched-roof arrangement was retained.
In spite of this modernisation, the original platform face and SE&CR canopy of
the long-closed link line, was still in existence (although the track bed was
occupied with later structures). Having closed to passengers in 1911, the
disused platform did not disappear for another seventy-five years, it being
swallowed up in the development of retail outlets.
The 1980s brought yet more modernisation to Waterloo East. In 1988, part of the
East station’s covered lattice footbridge saw its top half removed and
subsequently replaced by an all-glazed curved roof. Then, in March 1992,
building of a new walkway between the station and the South Western Division
terminus began. Of tubular construction, the walkway structure was suspended
fifteen feet above the existing bridge. It was also in this month
that Royal Assent was received for the Jubilee Line extension from Green Park to
Stratford via Waterloo, London Bridge and North Greenwich. Work began in
December 1993 at a final cost of £3201 million, which included the provision of
new subway entrances at the eastern ends of all platforms at Waterloo East. New,
incongruous canopies were also erected here, their sheer ugliness making the
1970s corrugated metal look slightly more pleasing. The underground extension
was opened on 20th November 1999, it being fully operational with the
commissioning of the last station (Westminster) on 22nd December of the same
year. Despite the various modifications over the years, the original clapboard
design
of 1869 still survives on the northern platform.
3rd July 2006
In the background of this eastward view is the bridge carrying the LC&DR's line into Blackfriars.
Sandwiched in-between this and the bridge girders in the middle-distance was formerly the SER's
Blackfriars Road station. The fact that the fourth track (right) was an after thought is obvious in
this view. Note the grey block of offices to the left of the colour light post: these sit on the former
site of Southwark Depot. The depot opened to continental freight in 1901 and remained in this
capacity until such duties were transferred to Hither Green in 1960. Thereafter, it remained in
use as a parcels depot until total closure in 1969, the structures subsequently being demolished.
However, the substantial brick base, which elevated the depot to track level, still remains,
and it was only in 2005 that the aforementioned offices appeared on the site. David Glasspool
3rd July 2006
A westward panorama from the same viewpoint reveals the skyline of the South Bank and the
abominable 1999 canopies of the Jubilee extension. All platforms were extended eastwards in
1992 for the twelve-vehicle train scheme. Part of the existing clapboard can be seen on the
northern platform, just right of centre. David Glasspool
3rd July 2006
A close up of platforms D and C on 3rd July 2006 better shows the island platform of 1901
origin. Although this canopy is now clad with corrugated metal, it still retains the original
SE&CR framework, hence its traditional shape. Of course, those structures in the foreground
date from the 1999 Jubilee extension. In the background can be seen part of the extensive lattice
footbridge, whilst to the left of this, the end of the severely truncated southern canopy can be
deciphered. David Glasspool
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