WATCH: Virtual reality simulation shows the new Waterloo Station

Passengers are being given an early glimpse of how the multi-million pound re-development of the former International Terminal at Waterloo will eventually look, by using virtual reality headsets

The headsets provide passengers with an immersive, 360-degree view of London Waterloo as it will be from December 2018, when the work to rebuild the former Waterloo International Terminal, and bring five platforms into regular commuter use, will be completed.

The new part of the station will be connected to the main station via a brand new bridge and concourse area, currently under construction. The work forms part of the huge £800 million investment to boost capacity at Waterloo by 30% by December 2018.

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The virtual reality kit will continue to be used at a number of events with passengers, as well as stakeholders across the network as part of the wider campaign to ensure passengers are aware of the changes to their services this August.

Becky Lumlock, route managing director at Network Rail, said: ‘At the moment we’re working really hard to make sure passengers plan ahead for the changes to services this August, and bringing the five former international platforms back into use is a really exciting prospect and a huge step towards providing a better railway for the growing number of passengers at Waterloo. This is why we want to show passengers just what to expect, and the improvements that our Railway Upgrade Plan is delivering.’

Christian Roth, managing director for South West Trains, added: ‘When fully operational, these platforms will provide 18 trains per hour during the busiest times of the day, providing thousands of extra seats and helping to increase overall capacity by 30%. We hope passengers enjoy the experience and get a clearer understanding of the work being carried out to improve their journeys.’

Platforms 20-24 will temporarily open between 5 and 28 August this year to mitigate against some of the loss of capacity caused by the closure of platforms 1-9. They will close again shortly after for further construction work to be carried out and are scheduled to be fully open and operational by December 2018.

More information is available at networkrail.co.uk/wswupgrade.

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