Charing Cross & Waterloo East station closures

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.