Waterloo & City Line
Encyclopedia
The Waterloo & City line is a short underground railway line in London, which was formally opened on 11 July 1898. It has only two stations, Waterloo
and Bank (formerly called "City", as it is within the City of London
). Between its stations, the line passes under the River Thames
.
It exists almost exclusively to serve commuters between Waterloo mainline station and the City of London, and does not operate late in the evening or on Sundays (the only time the line has operated on Sundays was between 1943 and 1947). By far the shortest line on the London Underground
at 2.37 kilometres (1.5 mi), it takes only four minutes to travel from end to end. It was the second electric tube railway to open in London, after the City and South London Railway (now part of the Northern line
). Despite its age, it was only recently added to the London Underground network—being transferred from British Rail
ownership in 1994.
(L&SWR) reached Waterloo in 1848. The location of the terminus made passenger access to the City of London difficult, and at that time proposals were considered for an extension, but they were abandoned on grounds of cost. When the South Eastern Railway
constructed its Charing Cross
line, some through working was operated from the L&SWR line to Cannon Street
, but this was commercially and operationally unsuccessful.
Nonetheless the difficult access continued to be a problem, and eventually the solution was determined to be a tube railway, hugely cheaper than a surface line as it avoided nearly all land acquisition that would have been required on the surface. The Waterloo & City Railway was formally opened on 11 July 1898, and from the start was operated by the L&SWR. It remained a separate legal entity until 1906, when it was absorbed into the L&SWR, then passing into the Southern Railway
on the grouping of British railways in 1923, and subsequently became part of British Rail's Southern Region
on nationalisation in 1948. Only in 1993, when British Rail was privatised
, was it seen as anomalous for a tube line to be part of the National Rail
network and by agreement, ownership was transferred to London Underground, effective from 1 April 1994.
Its ticketing was fully integrated with the national network and passengers could buy through tickets from mainline railway stations to Bank.
The line was designed by civil engineer
W. R. Galbraith
and James Henry Greathead
, inventor of the tunnelling shield
that bears his name. The remnants of one of the Greathead tunnelling shields used in the construction of the line can be seen in the interchange tunnel linking the Waterloo and City with the Northern line and Docklands Light Railway
.
There have been proposals for extending the Waterloo & City for nearly a century. After acquiring the Great Northern & City Railway (GN & C) in 1913 (the current Northern City Line
), the Metropolitan Railway made plans to join the GN & C to the Waterloo & City or to the Circle, but these never came to fruition. The London Plan Working Party Report of 1949 envisaged as its Route G the electrification of the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway (LTS), and its diversion away from Fenchurch Street to the Bank and on through the Waterloo & City tunnels to Waterloo and its suburban lines. Of course, the Waterloo & City tunnels would have had to be bored out to main line size for this "Crossrail" to happen. In the event, only the electrification of the LTS took place, though the Docklands Light Railway
tunnel from Minories to the Bank follows part of the envisaged route. The revised Working Party Report of 1965 makes no mention of the Route G proposal, though it does say that "[t]he possibility of extending the Waterloo & City Line northwards to Liverpool Street has been examined, but found to be physically impracticable." More recently the Green Party has revived the Metropolitan's plan of connecting the Northern City and Waterloo & City lines as a Crossrail route.
Uniquely among London's Underground lines, the Waterloo & City runs underground for its entire length, including both stations. (The Victoria line
comes closest to this, with the only non-underground section being that to the depot).
The Waterloo & City has no direct rail connection to the rest of the rail network, so that vehicle exchanges now require road vehicle transportation. Before the construction of Waterloo International terminal
in 1990, the vehicles were hoisted individually by the Armstrong lift
outside the north wall of Waterloo main-line station. The procedure is now carried out using a road-mounted crane
in a shaft adjacent to the depot, south of Waterloo mainline station on Spur Road. This is only necessary for major maintenance work that requires lifting of the car body as the Waterloo depot is fully equipped for general maintenance work.
The Waterloo & City originally had its own electric power station
, and coal was delivered from Waterloo main line station using a second, smaller lift (known as the Abbotts Lift), which explains the continued presence of a wagon turntable in Waterloo depot. The remaining stub of the siding tunnel that led to the Armstrong Lift can still be seen on the left hand side of the train shortly after leaving Waterloo for Bank. The lift itself was demolished (along with the entire Western sidings) in 1992 due to the construction of Waterloo International – the former Eurostar
terminal.
In January 2003, the Waterloo & City was closed for over three weeks for safety checks due to a major derailment on the Central line
, which required all 1992 tube stock
trains to be modified. That same year, responsibility for the line's maintenance was given to the Metronet
consortium under the terms of a public–private partnership arrangement.
in its lifetime.
of Wilmington, Delaware
, USA, using Siemens
electrical motors
and control equipment, was used until 1940. The L&SWR was unable to procure the rolling stock from British suppliers at that time. The trains were operated as five trains of four carriages each, with one spare motor and trailer. The trains were of a novel design, being able to be driven from a small semi-open cab at either end of the train. This was achieved by running cables from both motors the length of the train, which allowed the rear vehicle's motors to be controlled by the control equipment on the leading vehicle. Another cable (making nine in all) connected the current collectors at both ends in order to eliminate the power loss that occurs at interruptions in the third rail
at points and crossings where the conductor rail is gapped.
The Board of Trade
was dissatisfied with this arrangement and forbade traction current being conveyed between carriages on any further tube projects, forcing the Central London Railway
to use conventional locomotive
s.
Five additional single motor cars were ordered from Dick, Kerr & Co.
of Preston in 1899 for single carriage operation outside rush hours.
The original rolling stock was replaced in 1940 by electric multiple unit
s manufactured by the English Electric
company. The aesthetic design was very modern, representing a railway Art Deco
look inside and out. It is remarkable that the demands of the Second World War did not delay new rolling stock until after the war – virtually every other tube project was either delayed or cancelled altogether; however, having been ordered in 1938 it would have been well advanced when war broke out. This new stock was eventually classified Class 487
in the TOPS
system. The switchgear on this stock was of the older solenoid type that required a large switch compartment behind one of the driving cabs. All other tube stock of the period used the American pneumatic cam (or the later pneumatic cam modified) under the floor, yielding about 33% more passenger space in the motor cars. Unusually for tube trains, the motor cars (the term "carriage" was dropped in the 1930s for tube use) had driving cabs at both ends with the intention of permitting lightweight services to be run during slack periods. This option was never taken up because the design of the cable couplings meant that it was a time consuming operation to separate the motor cars from the rest of the train. In any event only half the cars would be available as the other half were at the 'wrong' end of the remaining train.
The inconvenience to passengers of interior lights being momentarily extinguished as the train passes over conductor rail gaps was partially eliminated in this stock by feeding half the car lights from the motor car at one end of the unit, and half from the other.
The stock was replaced by Class 482
units in July 1993, which were virtually identical to the 1992 stock used on the Central line
. The line was converted to four-rail operation in common with other tube lines: the original steel positive rail was retained, with the new negative rail made from aluminium. The positive rail was replaced by an aluminium one in 2008. Since its introduction, this stock on the Waterloo & City has diverged sufficiently from that used on the Central line through various modifications, primarily to the latter with the introduction of automatic train operation
, that the two are no longer interchangeable. It was almost immediately after the introduction of this stock that management of the line was transferred to London Underground.
Up to the time of closure for refurbishment (see below) the Class 482 trains carried the original blue British Rail Network SouthEast
livery that they had when they were introduced, despite having been part of London Underground for a number of years.
In 1959, a pair of Otis
"Trav-O-Lator" moving walkway
s were installed at Bank, parallel to the original stairway. However, these have since been replaced by CNIM machines.
In the 1980s there was a suggestion that an intermediate station be built at Blackfriars
, which is on the route of the line, but nothing further has been heard for many years and the Department for Transport
currently considers this to have "no significant transport benefit".
The line was shut on 1 April 2006 for refurbishment works. It re-opened on 11 September 2006, eleven days after the predicted completion date of the project. As well as the repainting and cleaning of the trains, the work included refurbishment of the tunnels, platforms and depot, and an upgrade of the track and signalling systems. These and other works completed by 2007 were expected to boost rush-hour capacity by 25% and line capability by 12% at a cost of tens of millions of pounds. It was also claimed the average journey will be up to forty seconds faster.
Four new 75 hp battery-powered locomotives named Walter, Lou, Anne and Kitty were built by Clayton Equipment
in Derby
to haul materials and plant along the line during the closure.
Beyond these changes, Metronet had planned to refurbish Bank station by 2011 – this is now uncertain since that company subsequently went into administration before being taken over by Transport for London
(TfL).
TfL have announced plans to install a further entrance to Bank station in Walbrook Square by 2013.
film On the Beat
(complete with 1940 stock train); the second series of the BBC
's Survivors
, representing various parts of the Central and Northern lines; and in the 1984 TV adaptation of The Tripods, where it masquerades as Porte de la Chapelle
station on the Paris Métro
. It was also used in the 1998 Peter Howitt
film Sliding Doors
, portraying Embankment and one other unknown station.
is a similar operation to the Waterloo & City line, running nonstop between the two stations, Times Square and Grand Central. Another similar line is the Ramal
on the Madrid Metro
, linking Ópera and Príncipe Pío stations.
Waterloo tube station
Waterloo tube station is a London Underground station located at Waterloo station. It is the second busiest station on the network and is served by the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern and the Waterloo & City lines...
and Bank (formerly called "City", as it is within the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
). Between its stations, the line passes under the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
.
It exists almost exclusively to serve commuters between Waterloo mainline station and the City of London, and does not operate late in the evening or on Sundays (the only time the line has operated on Sundays was between 1943 and 1947). By far the shortest line on the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
at 2.37 kilometres (1.5 mi), it takes only four minutes to travel from end to end. It was the second electric tube railway to open in London, after the City and South London Railway (now part of the Northern line
Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
). Despite its age, it was only recently added to the London Underground network—being transferred from British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
ownership in 1994.
History
The London and South Western RailwayLondon and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Its network extended from London to Plymouth via Salisbury and Exeter, with branches to Ilfracombe and Padstow and via Southampton to Bournemouth and Weymouth. It also had many routes connecting towns in...
(L&SWR) reached Waterloo in 1848. The location of the terminus made passenger access to the City of London difficult, and at that time proposals were considered for an extension, but they were abandoned on grounds of cost. When the South Eastern Railway
South Eastern Railway (UK)
The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...
constructed its Charing Cross
Charing Cross railway station
Charing Cross railway station, also known as London Charing Cross, is a central London railway terminus in the City of Westminster, England. It is one of 18 stations managed by Network Rail, and trains serving it are operated by Southeastern...
line, some through working was operated from the L&SWR line to Cannon Street
Cannon Street station
Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the City of London, England. It is built on the site of the medieval Steelyard, the trading base in England of the Hanseatic League...
, but this was commercially and operationally unsuccessful.
Nonetheless the difficult access continued to be a problem, and eventually the solution was determined to be a tube railway, hugely cheaper than a surface line as it avoided nearly all land acquisition that would have been required on the surface. The Waterloo & City Railway was formally opened on 11 July 1898, and from the start was operated by the L&SWR. It remained a separate legal entity until 1906, when it was absorbed into the L&SWR, then passing into the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (Great Britain)
The Southern Railway was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent...
on the grouping of British railways in 1923, and subsequently became part of British Rail's Southern Region
Southern Region of British Railways
The Southern Region was a region of British Railways from 1948. The region ceased to be an operating unit in its own right in the 1980s and was wound up at the end of 1992. The region covered south London, southern England and the south coast, including the busy commuter belt areas of Kent, Sussex...
on nationalisation in 1948. Only in 1993, when British Rail was privatised
Privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was set in motion when the Conservative government enacted, on 19 January 1993, the British Coal and British Rail Act 1993 . This enabled the relevant Secretary of State to issue directions to the relevant Board...
, was it seen as anomalous for a tube line to be part of the National Rail
National Rail
National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...
network and by agreement, ownership was transferred to London Underground, effective from 1 April 1994.
Its ticketing was fully integrated with the national network and passengers could buy through tickets from mainline railway stations to Bank.
The line was designed by civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
W. R. Galbraith
W. R. Galbraith
William Robert Galbraith was a civil engineer in the United Kingdom during the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
and James Henry Greathead
James Henry Greathead
James Henry Greathead was an engineer renowned for his work on the London Underground railway.-Early life:Greathead was born in Grahamstown, South Africa; of English descent, Greathead's grandfather had emigrated to South Africa in 1820. He was educated at St Andrew's College, Grahamstown, and the...
, inventor of the tunnelling shield
Tunnelling shield
A tunnelling shield is a protective structure used in the excavation of tunnels through soil that is too soft or fluid to remain stable during the time it takes to line the tunnel with a support structure of concrete, cast iron or steel...
that bears his name. The remnants of one of the Greathead tunnelling shields used in the construction of the line can be seen in the interchange tunnel linking the Waterloo and City with the Northern line and Docklands Light Railway
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
.
There have been proposals for extending the Waterloo & City for nearly a century. After acquiring the Great Northern & City Railway (GN & C) in 1913 (the current Northern City Line
Northern City Line
The Northern City Line is a railway line from Moorgate to Finsbury Park in London, once part of the Great Northern Electrics line. It should not be confused with the City branch of the Northern line, nor with the North London Line...
), the Metropolitan Railway made plans to join the GN & C to the Waterloo & City or to the Circle, but these never came to fruition. The London Plan Working Party Report of 1949 envisaged as its Route G the electrification of the London, Tilbury & Southend Railway (LTS), and its diversion away from Fenchurch Street to the Bank and on through the Waterloo & City tunnels to Waterloo and its suburban lines. Of course, the Waterloo & City tunnels would have had to be bored out to main line size for this "Crossrail" to happen. In the event, only the electrification of the LTS took place, though the Docklands Light Railway
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
tunnel from Minories to the Bank follows part of the envisaged route. The revised Working Party Report of 1965 makes no mention of the Route G proposal, though it does say that "[t]he possibility of extending the Waterloo & City Line northwards to Liverpool Street has been examined, but found to be physically impracticable." More recently the Green Party has revived the Metropolitan's plan of connecting the Northern City and Waterloo & City lines as a Crossrail route.
Features
The Waterloo & City is colloquially known as The Drain http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/18099.aspx. The origins of this name are somewhat obscure today. One theory is that this arose when the line was operated by train crew in a link that otherwise operated normal surface suburban routes. In comparison with working surface railways, the Waterloo & City consists of underground tube tunnels. Messroom conversation would include discussion of what turn a driver would be working tomorrow, and if it was a Waterloo & City turn of duty, it was an obvious metaphor to say that the driver was working "down the drain". Another theory is that it was given this name by the maintenance staff, because the tunnels, being under the River Thames, leak considerably allowing much water to enter. This water has to be continually pumped out. This water gives rise to a musty smell which provides a third theory for the name. Incidentally in the past the Waterloo and City line has been closed due to flooding.Victoria Line
The Victoria line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the south to the north-east of London. It is coloured light blue on the Tube map...
comes closest to this, with the only non-underground section being that to the depot).
The Waterloo & City has no direct rail connection to the rest of the rail network, so that vehicle exchanges now require road vehicle transportation. Before the construction of Waterloo International terminal
Waterloo International railway station
Waterloo International station was the London terminus of the Eurostar international rail service from its opening on 14 November 1994 until 13 November 2007. It stands on the western side of Waterloo railway station, London...
in 1990, the vehicles were hoisted individually by the Armstrong lift
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
outside the north wall of Waterloo main-line station. The procedure is now carried out using a road-mounted crane
Crane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
in a shaft adjacent to the depot, south of Waterloo mainline station on Spur Road. This is only necessary for major maintenance work that requires lifting of the car body as the Waterloo depot is fully equipped for general maintenance work.
The Waterloo & City originally had its own electric power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
, and coal was delivered from Waterloo main line station using a second, smaller lift (known as the Abbotts Lift), which explains the continued presence of a wagon turntable in Waterloo depot. The remaining stub of the siding tunnel that led to the Armstrong Lift can still be seen on the left hand side of the train shortly after leaving Waterloo for Bank. The lift itself was demolished (along with the entire Western sidings) in 1992 due to the construction of Waterloo International – the former Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
terminal.
In January 2003, the Waterloo & City was closed for over three weeks for safety checks due to a major derailment on the Central line
Central Line
The Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and, at , has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
, which required all 1992 tube stock
London Underground 1992 Stock
The 1992 Tube Stock is the type of train used on the Central line and Waterloo & City line of the London Underground.-Construction:The 1992 Stock was built by ABB for the Central line as the result of the extensive testing of the three 1986 tube stock prototype trains...
trains to be modified. That same year, responsibility for the line's maintenance was given to the Metronet
Metronet
Metronet Rail was one of two companies in a public-private partnership with London Underground.Metronet was responsible for the maintenance, renewal, and upgrade of the infrastructure on nine London Underground lines from 2003 to 2008. This included track, trains, signals, civil work and stations...
consortium under the terms of a public–private partnership arrangement.
Trains
The line has had three types of rolling stockLondon Underground rolling stock
The history of the London Underground's rolling stock is as complex as the history of the network itself. A wide variety of types have been operated, from the early days of steam locomotives and carriages through to today's electric multiple units...
in its lifetime.
Original rolling stock
The original wooden stock, consisting of 11 motor and 11 trailer carriages, built by Jackson and SharpJackson and Sharp Company
Jackson and Sharp Company was an American railroad car manufacturer and shipbuilder in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The company was founded in 1863 by Job H. Jackson , a tinsmith and retail merchant, and Jacob F. Sharp Jackson and Sharp Company was an American railroad car manufacturer...
of Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...
, USA, using Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
electrical motors
Electric motor
An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...
and control equipment, was used until 1940. The L&SWR was unable to procure the rolling stock from British suppliers at that time. The trains were operated as five trains of four carriages each, with one spare motor and trailer. The trains were of a novel design, being able to be driven from a small semi-open cab at either end of the train. This was achieved by running cables from both motors the length of the train, which allowed the rear vehicle's motors to be controlled by the control equipment on the leading vehicle. Another cable (making nine in all) connected the current collectors at both ends in order to eliminate the power loss that occurs at interruptions in the third rail
Third rail
A third rail is a method of providing electric power to a railway train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway track. It is used typically in a mass transit or rapid transit system, which has alignments in its own corridors, fully or almost...
at points and crossings where the conductor rail is gapped.
The Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
was dissatisfied with this arrangement and forbade traction current being conveyed between carriages on any further tube projects, forcing the Central London Railway
Central London Railway
The Central London Railway , also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a deep-level, underground "tube" railway that opened in London in 1900...
to use conventional locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s.
Five additional single motor cars were ordered from Dick, Kerr & Co.
Dick, Kerr & Co.
Dick, Kerr and Company was a locomotive and tramcar manufacturer based in Kilmarnock, Scotland and Preston, England.-Early history:Having previously been known as W.B.Dick and Company the company had built all kinds of tramway equipment and rolling stock. From 1883 the company joined with John Kerr...
of Preston in 1899 for single carriage operation outside rush hours.
1940 stock
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
s manufactured by the English Electric
English Electric
English Electric was a British industrial manufacturer. Founded in 1918, it initially specialised in industrial electric motors and transformers...
company. The aesthetic design was very modern, representing a railway Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
look inside and out. It is remarkable that the demands of the Second World War did not delay new rolling stock until after the war – virtually every other tube project was either delayed or cancelled altogether; however, having been ordered in 1938 it would have been well advanced when war broke out. This new stock was eventually classified Class 487
British Rail Class 487
The British Rail Class 487 electric multiple units were built by English Electric in 1940, for use on the Waterloo & City Line.Twelve motor carriages , numbered 51–62, and sixteen trailers , numbered 71–86, were built...
in the TOPS
TOPS
Total Operations Processing System, or TOPS, is a computer system for managing the locomotives and rolling stock owned by a rail system...
system. The switchgear on this stock was of the older solenoid type that required a large switch compartment behind one of the driving cabs. All other tube stock of the period used the American pneumatic cam (or the later pneumatic cam modified) under the floor, yielding about 33% more passenger space in the motor cars. Unusually for tube trains, the motor cars (the term "carriage" was dropped in the 1930s for tube use) had driving cabs at both ends with the intention of permitting lightweight services to be run during slack periods. This option was never taken up because the design of the cable couplings meant that it was a time consuming operation to separate the motor cars from the rest of the train. In any event only half the cars would be available as the other half were at the 'wrong' end of the remaining train.
The inconvenience to passengers of interior lights being momentarily extinguished as the train passes over conductor rail gaps was partially eliminated in this stock by feeding half the car lights from the motor car at one end of the unit, and half from the other.
1993 replacement
British Rail Class 482
This article concerns the trains used on the Waterloo & City Line immediately prior to its takeover by London Underground in 1994. For their service after 1994, see London Underground 1992 Stock...
units in July 1993, which were virtually identical to the 1992 stock used on the Central line
Central Line
The Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and, at , has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
. The line was converted to four-rail operation in common with other tube lines: the original steel positive rail was retained, with the new negative rail made from aluminium. The positive rail was replaced by an aluminium one in 2008. Since its introduction, this stock on the Waterloo & City has diverged sufficiently from that used on the Central line through various modifications, primarily to the latter with the introduction of automatic train operation
Automatic train operation
Automatic train operation ensures partial or complete automatic train piloting and driverless functions.Most systems elect to maintain a driver to mitigate risks associated with failures or emergencies....
, that the two are no longer interchangeable. It was almost immediately after the introduction of this stock that management of the line was transferred to London Underground.
Up to the time of closure for refurbishment (see below) the Class 482 trains carried the original blue British Rail Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast was one of three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE principally operated commuter trains in the London area and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the network reached as far west as Exeter...
livery that they had when they were introduced, despite having been part of London Underground for a number of years.
Map and stations
| Station | Image | Opened | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank |  |
8 August 1898 | Opened as City, renamed 28 October 1940 |
| Waterloo Waterloo tube station Waterloo tube station is a London Underground station located at Waterloo station. It is the second busiest station on the network and is served by the Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern and the Waterloo & City lines... |
 |
8 August 1898 |
In 1959, a pair of Otis
Otis Elevator Company
The Otis Elevator Company is the world's largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems today, principally focusing on elevators and escalators...
"Trav-O-Lator" moving walkway
Moving walkway
A moving walkway or moving sidewalk is a slow moving conveyor mechanism that transports people, across a horizontal...
s were installed at Bank, parallel to the original stairway. However, these have since been replaced by CNIM machines.
In the 1980s there was a suggestion that an intermediate station be built at Blackfriars
Blackfriars station
Blackfriars station, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the City of London, England. Its platforms will eventually span the River Thames a short distance downstream from Blackfriars Bridge. The current entrance is located on the...
, which is on the route of the line, but nothing further has been heard for many years and the Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
currently considers this to have "no significant transport benefit".
Refurbishment
The line has been closed on a number of occasions for repairs and vehicle checks, including between 31 March 1994 and 5 April 1994.Four new 75 hp battery-powered locomotives named Walter, Lou, Anne and Kitty were built by Clayton Equipment
Clayton Equipment Company
Clayton Equipment Company Ltd, now known simply as Clayton Equipment Ltd or CEC and CEL, is a locomotive construction company that specialises in locomotives for underground mining operations.-Inception:...
in Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
to haul materials and plant along the line during the closure.
Beyond these changes, Metronet had planned to refurbish Bank station by 2011 – this is now uncertain since that company subsequently went into administration before being taken over by Transport for London
Transport for London
Transport for London is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system in Greater London in England. Its role is to implement the transport strategy and to manage transport services across London...
(TfL).
TfL have announced plans to install a further entrance to Bank station in Walbrook Square by 2013.
Use as a filming location
Because of its Sunday closures, the Waterloo & City has become a well-established and convenient location for filming, not least because in the days of British Rail (and predecessor) ownership, it could be used in the event of London Transport being either unable or unwilling to allow access to their stations or lines. It can be seen in the 1962 Norman WisdomNorman Wisdom
Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin...
film On the Beat
On the Beat (1962 film)
On the Beat is a 1962 British comedy film starring Norman Wisdom, and directed by Robert Asher.-Plot:Norman Pitkin works at Scotland Yard as a car cleaner but dreams of becoming a policeman like his late father....
(complete with 1940 stock train); the second series of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Survivors
Survivors
Survivors is a British post-apocalyptic fiction television series devised by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC from 1975 to 1977...
, representing various parts of the Central and Northern lines; and in the 1984 TV adaptation of The Tripods, where it masquerades as Porte de la Chapelle
Porte de la Chapelle (Paris Metro)
Porte de la Chapelle is a station on line line 12 of the Paris Métro in the districts of La Chapelle and Goutte d'Or and the 18th arrondissement....
station on the Paris Métro
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
. It was also used in the 1998 Peter Howitt
Peter Howitt
Peter Howitt is an English actor and film director. He grew up in Eltham, London and Bromley, Kent, Peter used to be a part of the Priory Players in the Priory behind Christ Church, Eltham. He studied at the Drama Studio London. He has two children, Luke and Amy...
film Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors
Sliding Doors is a 1998 British-American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Howitt and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah, and featured John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Virginia McKenna. The music was composed by David Hirschfelder...
, portraying Embankment and one other unknown station.
Opening hours
Due to the line mainly aiming towards City of London commuters, the line opens later and closes early, as seen here with the opening hours below:- Monday to Friday: 06:15 to 21:48
- Saturday: 08:00 to 18:30
- Sunday: Closed
- Bank Holiday Monday, Christmas and New Year: Closed
At peak hours
The line does have a disadvantage during peak hours. At Bank, when a driver has stopped the train and disembarked the passengers, he has to let another driver from a previous train take over. This happens because drivers on the line don't have enough time to change ends for a quick departure during peak hours. To overcome this, a Rear Cab Clear plunger has been installed on the track-side of the platform barrier so that the driver can confirm that he is clear of the cab and the "step-back" driver (who is waiting at the departure end of the train) can depart when the signal clears.Similar services
The 42nd Street Shuttle on the New York City SubwayNew York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
is a similar operation to the Waterloo & City line, running nonstop between the two stations, Times Square and Grand Central. Another similar line is the Ramal
Ramal (Madrid Metro)
The Ramal, is a metro line, part of the Madrid Metro, with only two stations and a total length of 900 m. "Ramal" in Spanish means "branch". The line opened between Opera and Norte on 27 December 1925...
on the Madrid Metro
Madrid Metro
The Madrid Metro is a metro system serving the city of Madrid, capital of Spain. The system is the sixth longest metro in the world though Madrid is approximately the fiftieth most populous metropolitan area in the world...
, linking Ópera and Príncipe Pío stations.