The first Underground Line at Waterloo was opened on 8 August 1898 by the Waterloo & City Railway, a subsidiary of the owners of the main line station, the London and South Western Railway. The W&CR, nicknamed "The Drain", achieved in a limited way the L&SWR's original plan of taking its tracks the short distance north-east into the City of London. On 10 March 1906, the Baker Street & Waterloo Railway was opened. On 13 September 1926, the extension of the Hampstead & Highgate line was opened from Embankment to the existing City and South London Railway station at Kennington with a new station at Waterloo. As a subsidiary of the L&SWR and its successor, the Southern Railway, the W&CR was not a part of the London Underground system. Following nationalisation of the main line railway companies in 1948, it became part of British Railways. In 1951, the Leslie Green designed York Road entrance of the Underground station was demolished and replaced by a new entrance on the other side of the road, part of the Festival of Britain site. As part of this work, the lifts were replaced by escalators to this new entrance. This entrance also served the Waterloo Air Terminal. In the 1960s, the entrance building became integrated into the Shell Centre complex. In March 1965, a British Rail and London Transport joint planning committee published "A Railway Plan for London" that included a recommendation to revive a plan from the 1900s for an extension of the Piccadilly line's Aldwych branch to Waterloo. London Transport had already sought parliamentary approval to construct tunnels from Aldwych to Waterloo in November 1964, and in August 1965, parliamentary powers were granted. Detailed planning took place, although public spending cuts led to postponement of the scheme in 1967 before tenders were invited.
1990s refurbishment
The Underground station was comprehensively refurbished in the early 1990s as part of the construction of Waterloo International station for international Eurostar services, with the Main Ticket hall underneath the railway concourse expanded and connected to the new International station. The platforms were also decorated with artwork by Christopher Tipping on the theme of the nearby National Theatre, although these murals have since been removed. The Waterloo & City line was closed for 2 months in 1993 to be upgraded with new trains and the four rail electrical system of the London Underground. The ownership of the line was transferred from Network SouthEast to the Underground on 1 April 1994 as part of the privatisation of British Rail. Due to an Easter shut-down, the first Underground service on the line was on 5 April 1994.
The Jubilee Line Extension was constructed in the 1990s to extend the Jubilee line from Green Park to Stratford, via the then new Canary Wharf development. Opening in September 1999, the new Jubilee line station was designed by in-house JLE Project Architects, overseen by Roland Paoletti. The design of the station was complex, due to the distance between the existing Bakerloo and Northern lines and the extension - as well as the railway station located above. To connect the station together, a moving walkway link was installed, one of only two on the Underground; the other gives access to the Waterloo & City line platform at Bank station. The colonnade on Waterloo Road underneath the cab road of the station - originally used for goods deliveries and a bus stand - was also repurposed as the new Jubilee line ticket hall. The station was temporarily the western terminus of the extension running from Stratford in east London, before the final section to link the extension to the original line was opened between Waterloo and Green Park on 20 November 1999. , located in the Jubilee Line Ticket Hall A sculpture of an Elephant by artist Kendra Haste is located between the escalators in the Colonnade Ticket Hall. The sculpture was purchased by London Underground, having been originally commissioned as part of its Platform for Art programme and set up at the Gloucester Road tube station.
Southbank Place
As part of the redevelopment of the Shell Centre into "Southbank Place" by Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar, the existing York Road entrance was closed in 2015 to be completely rebuilt. The new, larger York Road entrance, which also included an additional escalator - reopened in May 2019.
Ticket Halls
The station has 3 ticket halls and 5 main entrances. Additional entrances to the Underground station are available in peak hours via a subway underneath the railway station from station platforms.
Main Ticket Hall, located underneath the railway concourse.
Colonnade/Jubilee Line Ticket Hall, located at street level on Waterloo Road, underneath the cab road of the railway station. This ticket hall opened in 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extension.
York Road Ticket Hall, located at street level on York Road in the Southbank Place development, to the west of the railway station.
The three ticket halls are connected via escalators, passageways and the moving walkway to the four sets of platforms.
Future
Elizabeth House, located directly adjacent to the mainline railway station, is being redeveloped by HB Reavis. As part of this redevelopment, a lift shaft will be constructed to provide step free access to the Northern line.
