The case of the hibernating Waterloo Station’s erstwhile Eurostar platforms gets curiouser and curiouser.
When the five platforms closed down in November 2007, we were informed that at least one would be integrated into the domestic service within a year at a cost of £100,000. Then we were told that no services would begin till 2014 and it would cost £500,000 annually just to maintain the platforms.
In retrospect, both those options would have been a bargain.
For it has now been revealed that just keeping them cosy for three years has cost the taxpayer £4.1m - or nearly £1.3m annually.
The response by Rail Minister Theresa Villiers? Woolly. "The government is committed to bringing the former international platforms at Waterloo into domestic use and therefore it is vital that the facility is kept safe, secure and serviceable. We expect to make an announcement on the future of Waterloo in due course."
By Chetna Prakash. Image by DeanN.
