Does size really matter?
Apparently it does when it comes to London’s smallest Tube line.
Spanning 2.37km and with only two stops, the Waterloo & City line has garnered a reputation as London’s most useless Underground line.
This is predominantly due to its length, but it doesn’t help that its operating hours are restricted, with trains only running from Monday to Friday.
Social media is flooded with posts branding the Tube line ‘pointless’ and ‘irrelevant’, while baffled tourists regularly demand to know what its purpose is.
You might think this means it doesn’t see a lot of action, but that’s not quite the case.
Sure, it’s the least used line on the Underground network, but around 40,000 people still travel on it every weekday, with more than 17 million passengers using it each year.
This is because it’s not actually useless; it’s just misunderstood.
According to Londoners, the line (known colloquially as The Drain) is incredibly valuable, but many don’t realise this and aren’t making the most of it.
As the line connects Waterloo train station with the financial district, it’s easy to dismiss it as something only commuters travel on.
And while this is its intended purpose – being opened in 1989 as a way to shuttle workers from Surrey, Hampshire, and south-west London to their jobs in the city – it can also be used more generally as an epic shortcut.
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Without the Waterloo & City line, to get from Waterloo to Bank, you’d need to take the Jubilee line and then change onto the Northern line.
This would take you around 13 minutes and is a bit of a faff, but with Waterloo & City, the journey time is slashed significantly to just four minutes.
This was highlighted in a recent Instagram post by @my_ldn, which sang the line’s praises for being so speedy.
They posted a video of a train on the line, writing: ‘Locals know how useful it actually is.
‘The Waterloo & City line takes you from Waterloo to Bank in four minutes – straight into the heart of the city.
‘And honestly I use it all the time.’
More than 108,000 people liked the post, with hundreds taking to the comments to share similar sentiments.
@jxnhq replied: ‘Most useful line ever if you know how to use it.’
@itsofficialgn agreed: ‘Most useful line in London! It is what I like to call the biggest shortcut known to Londoners!!! Used correctly, it can get you out of a mess very easily.’
Are you a fan of the Waterloo & City line?
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@richard.trehane admitted: ‘Saved me many a missed national train. Bless this line.’
As @katie_karska proclaimed: ‘People don’t understand!!! It’s soo needed!’
And @kangaroo5383 added: ‘Lol it’s the best, and the maps don’t tell people about it, so less tourists, it’s great.’
Over on TikTok, people have also been sharing love for the Waterloo & City Line.
@xxabbyyy remarked: ‘I love the Waterloo & City line so much. It’s my biggest hear me out.’
While Dan James thought riding the line ‘felt like a Mario Kart side quest’ and @tflspotted hailed it a ‘really cool’ line, which is ‘somehow fun’ to ride, as long as you go outside peak commuting hours when it’s rammed.
Others have called it a ‘sweet joyride’, ‘a niche beloved’, and ‘very beneficial’.
The history of the Waterloo & City line
In the late 1800s, a survey found 12,000 people a day needed to get from Waterloo to the City (and back home again, as many commuted in from Surrey and the surrounding Home Counties).
So, in 1894, work began on this short but sweet route – and it received its royal opening by Prince George, the Duke of Cambridge, four years later.
While the name might confuse some today, the line is actually named after both of its stops. The first half is self-explanatory, while the second is named after City Station, which was renamed Bank in 1940. The railway’s name was never updated to reflect this change.
The line was part of British Railways until 1994, when it officially joined the London Underground.
Over the decades, there have been numerous proposals submitted to extend the line, or join it to other ones, but factors such as the cost and its awkward positioning have stopped this from happening.
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