After the station entrance at Waterloo South Bank has been closed for three years, TfL has now reopened the York Road entrance to the tube station.

The entrance was closed to facilitate the redevelopment of the entrance and the construction of a new oversite development.

Providing access to the bustling station, the entrance will help ease congestion, improving journeys for millions of customers every year.

Being one of London’s most popular tourist destinations, shoppers, workers and visitors will experience easier and quicker journeys through the station as they will no longer have to exit into the Network Rail and cross roads to reach South Bank.

While reducing congestion at the station, it will also increase the capacity to the 250,000 passing through Waterloo every day. The entrance provides direct access to the Northern and Bakerloo lines, with interchanges to other lines also available.

Featuring three brand new escalators the completed entrance will provide direct access to the new Southbank Place development on York Road.

According to TfL figures, Waterloo Underground station was the second busiest station on the Tube network in 2017, while Waterloo is the busiest mainline train station in the U.K.

The entrance was funded by external partners Canary Wharf Group and Qatari Diar as part of their development of the surrounding area.

The Southbank Place site will also be providing shops, restaurants and bars, plus significant office space. The development will help one of London’s most popular tourist destinations flourish further.

The continued modernisation of the Tube is a key part of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy to make London a greener, more accessible place.

The investment in improving public transport will help reduce reliance on the car and contribute to the Mayor’s target of 80% of journeys made by public transport, cycling or walking by 2041.

What did the officials have to say?

Nigel Holness, Managing Director of London Underground, said:

‘The new entrance to Waterloo Tube station will once again make the South Bank more easily accessible, will boost businesses in the area and provide access to new homes.

‘The modernised entrance will make journeys quicker and easier for the hundreds of thousands of people who travel through it every day, and ease congestion for all station users.’

Howard Dawber, of project developer Braeburn Estates, said:

‘The opening of the brand new London Underground entrance is another milestone in the delivery of Southbank Place.

‘This completely rebuilt station entrance will not only restore and improve access to Waterloo Station, but opens up new connections for the South Bank through our development.

‘It will offer added convenience for residents, workers and visitors alike, and we are proud that our scheme will be one of the few in London with a station entrance built directly into the project.’

Pankaj Patel, Founding Director of project architect Patel Taylor, said:

‘The opening of the new ticket hall marks an important milestone for Southbank Place, but it is also part of a bigger picture relating to London’s regeneration.

‘The original ticket hall was built to serve the 1951 Festival of Britain. Since 1962, the site was home to the historic Shell Centre; an imposing block that restricted public access to the waterfront.

‘The new ticket hall is a key piece of infrastructure that unlocks an inaccessible part of the riverside and connects it to the Southbank and Waterloo; reinstating this stretch of the Thames for people to enjoy, while extending the Southbank experience into the once fragmented and impenetrable area around Waterloo Station.

‘The ticket hall at Southbank Place unifies these areas on a journey to become one of London’s liveliest emerging neighbourhoods.’

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