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Waterloo & City line

Built to carry commuters from Waterloo to the City and known as “The Drain”, it runs non-stop between its two stations in four minutes, on weekdays only. Main-line railways ran it for nearly a century before it joined London Underground in 1994.

1898Opened
2.4 kmLength
2Stations
19Peak trains per hour
17.6mLine boarders a year (2019)
Opened
8 August 1898
Termini
Waterloo – Bank
Type
deep-level tube
Depots
Waterloo
1992 Stock, schematic side elevation, 2 cars
1992 Stock · BREL / ABB Transportation, Derby

Map

Waterloo – Bank: schematic, not to scale Waterloo — change for Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern, National RailWaterloo Bank — change for Central, Northern, DLRBank

Schematic, not to scale. Ringed stations are interchanges. Station order from TfL open data.

All stations 2

StationZoneInterchanges
Waterloo1Bakerloo, Jubilee, Northern, National Rail
Bank1Central, Northern, DLR

Stations, zones and interchanges from TfL open data (2026-10-01). National Rail interchanges are listed where TfL groups the stations together.

History

  1. The Waterloo & City Railway opens to the public between Waterloo and City (now Bank), worked from the start by the London & South Western Railway.
  2. The London & South Western Railway absorbs the company.
  3. Becomes part of the Southern Railway.
  4. New English Electric trains, with the conductor rail moved to the outside; City station is renamed Bank.
  5. Last day before bomb damage closes the line; it reopens on 3 March 1941.
  6. Nationalised as part of British Railways' Southern Region.
  7. A travelator opens at Bank, the first in the UK.
  8. The trains are repainted in Network SouthEast colours.
  9. The 1992 Stock enters service after the line is converted to four-rail power.
  10. Transferred to London Underground for a nominal £1.
  11. Closes for five months for an upgrade, with the trains refurbished at Doncaster; it reopens on 11 September.
  12. Closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
  13. Reopens at peak times only, on weekdays.
  14. A full weekday service returns, every three minutes at peak; Saturday trains are not restored.

Rolling stock

Coming to this line

Sources

unverified length: sources give 2.0 to 2.5 km; 2.4 km is TfL's “1.5 mile line”