London Underground’s shuttle service between Waterloo and Bank stations has been closed since the pandemic started, but will reopen from Monday 21st June.

It will initially open only during the morning and evening rush hours.

There’s been increasing pressure to reopen the line as commuters return to the City, but the W&C line drivers have been seconded to help out on the Central line to cover for Covid related staff shortages and keep that busier line running. However, TfL expects passenger numbers to increase from 21st June, which is the date that most of the remaining Covid restrictions are expected to end, so that’s the date chosen to reopen the line.

The Waterloo & City line will not be fully restored though, operating a rush-hour service every five minutes Monday to Friday from 6am to 10am and then stopping until it reopens between 3:30pm to 7pm.

Andy Lord, Managing Director of London Underground, said: “The reopening of the Waterloo & City line on 21 June will be a step back towards normality for London, as people who have been working from home return to offices in the City.”

The line wasn’t totally silent during the closure though, as they took the opportunity to install a new equipment turntable at the Waterloo depot to assist with maintenance work.

The Waterloo and City line is also likely to get much busier later this year when the Northern line stops calling at Bank station for around 4 months as part of the Bank station upgrade project.