Charing Cross & Waterloo East station closures

Trains to and from Hayes via Lewisham will run to and from London Bridge. Other trains will be diverted to and from London Blackfriars and will call additionally at Lewisham and Elephant & Castle.

• Last trains for stations on the Hayes line will depart London Bridge at 00.16 and London Blackfriars at 22.50

Trains that usually run between Charing Cross and Orpington or Sevenoaks will instead start and terminate at London Bridge, with some trains diverted to run via Lewisham.

Cannon Street trains to and from Orpington will continue but a small number of additional peak time trains will not operate.

• The last train for stations to Sevenoaks via Grove Park will depart London Bridge at 22.37
• The last train for stations to Orpington via Grove Park will depart London Bridge at 00.59

Victoria to Orpington trains will run every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes. Peak‑time trains between Blackfriars and Beckenham Junction will continue to operate, but at revised times.

• The last train for stations to Orpington via Bromley South will depart Victoria at 23.57

Trains that normally run to and from Charing Cross will operate to and from London Victoria instead, calling additionally at Bromley South. Other Victoria trains on the route will continue to run but run at different times.

• The last train for stations to Ashford International for the three weeks of the closure is 23.35

Services after this are subject to change due to overnight engineering work taking place on this line of route, please check journey planners before travelling as departures from Victoria will vary.

Trains to and from Hastings will run between London Bridge and Hastings, with some peak hour trains running to and from London Cannon Street.

Trains that usually start or end their journey at Tunbridge Wells will be diverted to run to and from London Victoria, calling additionally at Bromley South.

• Last trains to stations on the Hastings line will depart London Bridge at 23.48 and Victoria at 22.23

Trains will run between London Bridge and Dover Priory / Ramsgate via Ashford International, with some peak hour trains running to and from London Cannon Street.

• Last train for stations on the Paddock Wood line to Dover Priory will depart London Bridge at 23.39
• Last train for stations on the Paddock Wood line to Ramsgate via Canterbury West will depart London Bridge at 22.39

Trains will continue to run between Cannon Street and Barnehurst, and between Victoria and Gravesend, with some changes to timings. Additional, Cannon Street trains will run in the morning peak.

• Last trains for stations on the Bexleyheath line will depart London Bridge at 00.34 and Victoria at 00.33

Trains that usually start or end their journey at Gravesend, will run to and from London Bridge and call additionally at Lewisham.

Trains that start and terminate at Dartford will not run; additional services will operate in the off peak between Dartford and Cannon Street via Sidcup (these do not call at Lewisham).

• Last trains to stations on the Sidcup line will depart London Bridge at 00.38 and Cannon Street at 23.40

Trains on the Woolwich line will continue to run into London Cannon Street, with some running at revised times, particularly during the morning peak.

A small number of peak time trains will be retimed, cancelled, or diverted via Blackheath instead of Greenwich.

• Last trains to Dartford via Woolwich will depart Cannon Street at 23.36 and London Bridge at 00.30

Victoria trains will run with some services retimed.

Cannon Street peak trains will operate with some services running at different times.

• The last train for stations to Dover Priory will depart London Bridge at 22.10
• The last train for stations to Ramsgate will depart Victoria at 21.40

Services after this are subject to change due to overnight engineering work taking place on this line of route, please check journey planners before travelling as departures from Victoria will vary.

All trains on the Medway Valley and Sheerness branch lines will operate as normal.

All Highspeed trains will operate as normal.

The main driver for the 22-day closure is the replacement of the track. It was last replaced in the early 1990s and is now increasingly unreliable. 

Recent faults have caused over 21,000 minutes (350 hours) of delays to customers. Without intervention, faults and delays would continue to increase, causing more frustration for commuters. 

The country end of the platforms at Charing Cross is another critical project. The platforms are subsiding, and the concrete surfaces are deteriorating. If we don’t do the work now, we’d have to close the station again in the future.

To make best use of the time the railway is closed, we’ll work on the Hungerford Bridge, which takes the railway over the Thames, and the pedestrian link bridge between Waterloo East and London Waterloo. 

The £20 million investment will deliver a safe, reliable and high-performing railway and improve infrastructure on a critical stretch of track.

A 22-day closure, plus some preparation and follow-up weekends either side, is the most efficient and least disruptive way to complete the work.

Engineers, planners and timetable specialists assessed a range of delivery options, including:

• Weekend-only working: Would require around 60 weekend closures over 14 months, including bank holidays and would create prolonged and repeated disruption.
• Four separate 9-day closures would need to be spread over 10–16 months, causing repeated impacts on commuters, schools and businesses and add significant cost and complexity.

The chosen option of 22-days avoids months of rolling disruption and takes advantage of the summer period, when passenger numbers are lower, making it the least disruptive approach overall.

The closure of Charing Cross and Waterloo East stations is a massive task and requires major changes across the Southeastern network. Doing the work when schools are closed and commuter numbers are approximately 20% lower means we can move people safely and reliably via alternative routes.

Southeastern assistance remains available as normal. If your usual step‑free route changes because of the diversion, please contact our Assisted Travel team on 0800 783 4524 or WhatsApp on 07866 002 690 to get in contact with us.

We have completed an Equality Impact Assessment for this closure and will be providing more detailed information on mitigations in the coming weeks.

We recognise the importance of minimising impacts on residents, businesses and public spaces at Charing Cross and the Southbank.

Clear, timely and ongoing communication with local stakeholders and the wider community will be at the heart of our delivery approach.

Online and face-to-face drop-in sessions will be held, giving residents and businesses opportunities to speak directly with the project team.

If you have any questions about the work being delivered, go to www.networkrail.co.uk/CharingCrossUpgrades, visit Network Rail’s contact us page or contact their 24-Hour National Helpline on 03457 11 41 41 quoting Charing Cross Works.

Delay Repay is based on the planned timetable in place on the day of travel. When timetables change, these are advertised in advance and updated in journey planners 12 weeks beforehand. The revised timetable becomes the official planned schedule for your journey.

Because of this, changes to departure or arrival times due to a planned timetable update are not considered delays.

You may be eligible for Delay Repay if you arrive 15 minutes or more later than the revised timetable for your service on the day you travel.