London Waterloo train station, also known as Waterloo station, was opened in 1848 by the London and South Western Railway. The station is Britain’s busiest train station with over 90 million public commuting via this station every year.
Across the south and southwest, the station links the capital with a number of major towns and cities. The station has always been a key place for important arrivals and departures for city commuters.
In 1934, the Waterloo News Cinema was also opened on the concourse of the station and it was located next to what is now Platform 1. Throughout the day, the cinema used to screen looping news bulletins and later it used to screen the cartoons. During the 60s it was renamed Classic Cinema Waterloo and screened old Hollywood classics. In 1970, the cinema was closed but it wasn’t demolished until 1988.
Author and London history buff Rob Lordon, has shared several images of the underground network of the station. During his trip to the Waterloo station in 2019, Rob was given rare access to the underground network of the station. In all these years the underground network below the station was hidden from sightseers and daily commuters.
On his YouTube channel, Rob shared the video of the underground network in which he started by saying, “In the autumn of 2019 I was lucky enough to be granted access to this mysterious area beneath Waterloo which the public never gets to see”. As in the video Rob moves deeper into the network, two steel bathtubs and old toilet cubicles can be seen which could have been used by the 19th century railway staff.
Rob also showed several rooms for social activities like bars and recreational areas. The network also housed a full-size boxing rib and snooker table. Until the 1980s the room was used by railway staff as a rifle club.
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