Charing Cross And Waterloo East stations will close for the best part of a month this summer, as upgrades are made to 1990s-era track and platforms.
A full closure of the stations, says Network Rail, will be imposed on the 22 days between Sunday 26 July and Sunday 16 August 2026, plus on a scattering of weekends either side, meaning that in all, disruption will last closer to a month.
Though Southeastern services will continue to run throughout, no trains will call at Charing Cross or Waterloo East stations on the following dates:
❌ Sunday 31 May
❌ Sunday 7 June
❌ Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 July
❌ Sunday 26 July-Sunday 16 August (22 day closure)
❌ Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 August
❌ Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October.
Southeastern services that usually run into Charing Cross will be diverted to London Victoria, London Cannon Street and London Blackfriars, with some terminating at London Bridge. Charing Cross Underground services will run as normal.
The £20m works will allow engineers to replace nearly two kilometres of 36-year-old track, as well as rebuilding sections of platform at Charing Cross, upgrade track drainage systems and carry out structural repairs to both the Waterloo East to London Waterloo pedestrian link bridge and the Hungerford Bridge, over which trains cross the Thames. (And to be fair, that's the kind of bridge you want to ensure is in good shape.) The works will, says Network Rail "make journeys safer and more reliable".
You can use Southeastern's journey planner to work out what's what during the closures.
Next week, Londoners face more major disruption, with planned Tube strikes running 19-20 May (12pm Tuesday to 11.59am Wednesday) and 21-22 May (12pm Thursday to 11.59am Friday).
