The is a short underground operating between Stockwell and King William Street. However, it was the third tube railway, since the
Tower Subway was the first but it was cable hauled not electric.
The line was designed by
Civil Engineer W.R. Galbraith and
James Henry Greathead . Originally part of the
London And South Western Railway , it became part of the
Southern Railway in
1923 . It was subsequently nationalised with the mainline railways in
1948 . The line served as an extension of the main line into Waterloo, which had originally been intended to run to the City but was prevented from doing so by the
1846 ban on surface railways running through the central area of London. Its ticketing was fully integrated with the national network and passengers could buy through tickets from mainline rail stations to Bank. It did not become part of
London Underground until
1994 , when it was sold for the nominal sum of one
Pound .
The Waterloo & City is colloquially known as . While the reason for this is not known for certain, there are three main theories: some believe it relates to the smell of the marshy ground on which Waterloo is built, while some others believe it relates to the drain-like round deep-level tunnels, which were nicknamed "tubes" on the other lines. Some people suggest that the depiction of the line on the Underground map brings to mind a drainage pipe leading out of the City.
One curiosity of the Waterloo & City is that it runs underground for its entire length (uniquely amongst Underground lines, though the
Victoria Line 's only non-underground section is to the depot). This presents considerable difficulties in transporting trains to and from the line. Before the construction of Waterloo International terminal in
1990 , the trains had to be vertically hoisted, one carriage at a time, using an Armstrong
Lift outside the north wall of Waterloo main line station.This is now done using a road-mounted
Crane in a shaft adjacent to the depot and south of Waterloo main line station. When the Waterloo & City had its own power station, 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.
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 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.
The line has only had three sets of rolling stock in its lifetime.
- The original wooden stock consisting of 11 motor and 11 trailer carriages, built by Jackson and Sharp of America (and using Siemens electrical motors and switch-gear), was used from the line's opening in 1898 and lasted until 1940 . The trains were operated as 5 trains of 4 carriages each with one spare motor and trailer. The trains were of a novel design where they could be driven from a small semi open cab at either end of the train. However, this was achieved by running cables from both motors the length of the train. This allowed the rear motor carriage's motors to be controlled by the front switch-gear. Further, another cable (making nine in all) connected together the current collectors at both ends in an attempt to eliminate the power loss that occurs at interruptions in the third rail at junctions (known as 'gapping'). The Board of Trade was, not unsurprisingly, horrified by this arrangement and forbade traction current being conveyed between carriages on any further tube projects, forcing the Central London Railway to revert to a conventional locomotive scheme. The problem of gapping was never solved and still exists on every railway to this day. The inconvenience to passengers has been partially eliminated by feeding half the car lights from the motor car at one end of the unit, and half from the other. Five additional single motor cars were ordered from Dick, Kerr and Co. of Preston in 1899 for single carriage operation outside of rush hours.
- The original rolling stock was replaced in 1940 by new Electric Multiple Units manufactured by the English Electric company. 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 until after the war or cancelled altogether. This new stock was eventually to be classified as Class 487 in the TOPS system. The switchgear on this stock was of the older low voltage 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) which could be fully fitted under the passenger 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 1930's for tube use) had driving cabs at both ends, though single car operation was never implemented with this stock. This stock was to serve the line for over 50 years.
- The stock was replaced by Class 482 units in 1992, which were virtually identical to the 1992 Tube Stock used on the Central Line . The line was converted to 4 Rail operation in common with other tube lines, though although the original steel positive rail was retained, the new negative rail is made from aluminium. 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 not now 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 due to 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 more than ten years.
The line has been closed on a number of occasions for repairs and vehicle checks, including between
31 March and
5 April 1994 .
The line was shut on
1 April 2006 for refurbishment works. It will reopen on
4 September 2006 . As well as the repainting and cleaning of the trains, the work will also include refurbishment of the tunnels, platforms and depot, and upgrading of the track and signalling systems. These and other works to be completed by 2007 are expected to boost rush-hour capacity by 25% and line capability by 12% at a cost of tens of millions of pounds. Four new 75hp 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 plan to refurbish one of the stations by 2011.
Because of its Sunday closures, the Waterloo & City has become a well-established and convenient location for filming. It can be seen in the
1998 Gwyneth Paltrow film ''
Sliding Doors '' as well as in the
BBC 's
1984 adaptation of
The Tripods , where it masquerades as
Porte De La Chapelle station on the
Paris Métro .
