Waterloo commuters urged to work from home or take holiday when station platforms close
Engineering work to lengthen platforms will begin in August and passengers have been warned to expect severe disruption.
Saturday 1 July 2017 05:17, UK
Commuters using one of the country's busiest train stations are being told to work from home or take holiday while engineering work takes place.
The severe disruption expected at London's Waterloo will be worse than previously thought, with the station now closing 10 of its 22 platforms between 5 August and 28 August, instead of the previously announced nine.
The work is being carried out to extend the length of the platforms so they can accommodate longer trains.
Becky Lumlock, Network Rail's route managing director, said August had been chosen because it is a quieter time on the railway.
However, passengers should still expect severe disruption and heavy crowding.
She said: "We have developed plans with South West Trains to reduce the impact on passengers as much as possible but people should consider changing their normal journeys, working from home, or taking their summer holidays if they can," she said.
"That's room for an extra 45,000 people each morning and afternoon - equivalent to more than the capacity of the O2 arena and Oval Cricket ground combined.
"It will mean longer trains, more seats, more comfortable journeys for passengers and less traffic on Britain's congested roads."
She continued: "Doing major improvement work is always very disruptive.
"We know we couldn't completely close Waterloo - a station which has more passengers than Heathrow airport - to complete the work, but we do need to close platforms 1-10 for most of August - that's half the station.
"There will be a much-reduced timetable and there will be changes to services throughout the day."
The £800m upgrade will increase peak-time capacity into Waterloo by 30%.