Charing Cross and Waterloo East will shut for engineering upgrades between Sunday, July 26 and Sunday, August 16
10:56, 20 Jul 2026Updated 11:03, 20 Jul 2026
Two busy Central London stations will shut for more than three weeks between late July and mid-August for major works. Charing Cross and Waterloo East will close on Sunday, July 26 and not reopen until Monday, August 17 leading to substantial rail disruption.
Southeastern trains that usually stop at both stations will be diverted to London Victoria, London Cannon Street and London Blackfriars, with some trains terminating at London Bridge. Engineers will replace 1,800 metres of track, which has been in place since the early 1990s.
Railway bosses say the upgrade will make the track in South East London more reliable and prevent more delays and closures in future.
What engineering work is taking place?
The £20 million project will see 1,800 metres of track and 16 sets of switches and crossings installed between Charing Cross and Waterloo East. The end of some platforms at Charing Cross will also be rebuilt with new foundations and surfaces while track drainage will be improved at Waterloo East.
Additionally, structural repairs will be carried out on Hungerford Bridge, a 175-year-old crossing over the River Thames.
When will both stations shut?
No trains will call at Charing Cross or Waterloo East stations on the following dates:
- Saturday July 18 and Sunday July 19
- Sunday July 26 to Sunday August 16
- Saturday August 22 and Sunday August 23
- Saturday October 10 and Sunday October 11
How each route will be affected
Hayes line: Trains to and from Hayes via Lewisham will run to and from London Bridge. Other trains will be diverted to and from London Blackfriars and will call additionally at Lewisham and Elephant & Castle.
Grove Park line: Services that usually run between Charing Cross and Orpington or Sevenoaks will instead start and terminate at London Bridge. Some trains will be diverted to run via Lewisham. Cannon Street trains to and from Orpington will continue, but a small number of additional peak-time trains will not operate.
Bromley South line: Victoria to Orpington trains will run every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes. Peak‑time trains between Blackfriars and Beckenham Junction will continue to operate, but at revised times.
Maidstone East line: Trains that normally run to and from Charing Cross will operate to and from London Victoria instead, calling additionally at Bromley South. Other Victoria trains on the route will continue to run, but run at different times.
Hastings line: Trains to and from Hastings will run between London Bridge and Hastings, with some peak hour trains running to and from London Cannon Street. Trains that usually start or end their journey at Tunbridge Wells will be diverted to run to and from London Victoria, calling additionally at Bromley South.
Paddock Wood line: Trains will run between London Bridge and Dover Priory and Ramsgate via Ashford International, with some peak hour trains running to and from London Cannon Street.
Bexleyheath line: Trains will continue to run between Cannon Street and Barnehurst, and between Victoria and Gravesend, with some changes to timings. Additionally, Cannon Street trains will run in the morning peak.
Sidcup line: Trains that usually start or end their journey at Gravesend will run to and from London Bridge and call additionally at Lewisham. Trains that start and terminate at Dartford will not run; additional services will operate in the off-peak between Dartford and Cannon Street via Sidcup (these do not call at Lewisham).
Woolwich line: Trains on the Woolwich line will continue to run into London Cannon Street, with some running at revised times, particularly during the morning peak. A small number of peak-time trains will be retimed, cancelled, or diverted via Blackheath instead of Greenwich.
Plan your journey
Passengers affected by the disruption can use the TfL Go app or download CityMapper to get real-time journey updates. Southeastern provides a similar service.
Tickets holders can use the Jubilee line between London Bridge and Waterloo, and the Circle and District line between Victoria, Blackfriars or Cannon Street and Embankment. You can also use Thameslink between Elephant and Castle, London Bridge and St Pancras International, and Southern services to/from London Bridge and Victoria.
Most paper tickets will be accepted at TfL gates, but electronic tickets and smartcards will not be. Network Rail said extra staff will be at Waterloo and Charing Cross Tube stations to manually check tickets where needed.
If your journey via a reasonable route isn’t covered by the ticket acceptance in place or you use Contactless or Oyster and you’ve been charged, you can claim a refund by filling out an online claim form for July 26.
On London buses, your valid paper tickets will also be accepted on:
- Route 24 between Victoria and Charing Cross via Westminster
- Route 26 between Victoria and City Thameslink
- Route 139 between Waterloo and Charing Cross
- Route 148 between Elephant & Castle and Victoria via Westminster
- Route 188 between London Bridge, Elephant & Castle and Waterloo
- Route 453 between Elephant & Castle and Charing Cross via Westminster.
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