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Monday 17 Aug 2026

COMPLETED: London Charing Cross and Waterloo East reopen after railway carries out £20million programme of engineering work

Region & Route:

Southern: Kent

| Southern

• Passengers thanked after 22-day closure that saw services diverted into other London terminals, and changes across the Southeastern network
• Engineers replaced nearly 2km of 36-year-old track between Charing Cross and Waterloo East
• Charing Cross platforms renewed and station improvements carried out at Waterloo East

Southeastern services have resumed, once again, at Charing Cross and Waterloo East after a 22-day closure for essential engineering work at the central London terminus.

During the closure, engineers replaced almost two kilometres of 36-year-old track and the switches and crossings, the moveable rails that allow trains to switch paths, south of Hungerford Bridge. They also renewed the wheel timbers, the equivalent of sleepers when going over bridges, and completed structural repairs to sections of the Hungerford bridge’s steelwork before repainting it.

Teams made full use of this once-in-a-generation closure to rebuild sections of platform at Charing Cross, removing 540 tonnes of concrete and installing more than 2,000m² of glass-reinforced plastic. Working across all six platforms at once, they demolished sections, installed new steelwork and laid new surfaces.

With Waterloo East closed, teams took the opportunity to complete work that could not be carried out safely while trains and passengers were using the station. They cleaned, treated and repainted the footbridge steelwork to protect it from the weather, and replaced window panels with self-cleaning glass that brings more light into the passageways and can be opened to improve ventilation.

Network Rail and Southeastern, working together as the integrated South Eastern Railway, spent 18 months planning the closure and combined these essential renewals into one 22-day programme. The work will help keep the railway fit for decades to come, support a safer, better and more reliable railway at lower cost to taxpayers, and improve the customer experience at these central London stations. Completing the work in one extended summer holiday closure, when commuter numbers are around 20% lower, reduced overall disruption. This lowered delivery costs and gave passengers the benefits of the improvements sooner with the alternative options being 60 weekend closures or four separate nine-day closures.

Scott Brightwell, Safety, Planning and Performance Director, South Eastern Railway, said:

“We are pleased to have reopened the line between Charing Cross and London Bridge after 22 days of intensive work.

“We know closing two of London’s busiest stations for more than three weeks caused inconvenience for many customers, I am sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience. Completing this essential work in one 22-day closure, rather than over 60 weekends, allowed us to carry out station improvement works that would, otherwise, have been impossible to achieve.”

“Our teams replaced track and platforms dating back to 1990s, completed essential structural repairs to Hungerford Bridge (over the Thames) and Waterloo East station improvements.

"Thank you to customers for bearing with us whilst we complete the works and thank you to the hundreds of colleagues who worked 24/7 through the high temperatures."

Liz Baldwin, Southern Integrated Delivery Director, Southern Renewals Enterprise, said:

"The successful completion of the Charing Cross and Waterloo East closure is one of the most significant achievements delivered by Southern Renewals Enterprise to date. It demonstrates the power of the Enterprise model, bringing together colleagues from across the SRE, Network Rail, Southeastern and our Ecosystem supply chain partners to safely deliver a huge volume of work in a single coordinated programme.

"I would like to thank everyone involved for their professionalism, teamwork and dedication, particularly those who worked around the clock in extremely challenging temperatures. I'd also like to thank our passengers and local communities for their patience and understanding while these vital upgrades were carried out."