Overview

Waterloo Station is one of the mainline railway terminals for London.

Transport & Parking

As I was going on holiday and had suitcase with me I surged and booked a taxi, which dropped me off directly by the station entrance. Waterloo Tube Station has exits into the railway station. Only the Jubilee Line is step free. All other tube lines are not. There are several buses routes that stop directly outside the railway station.

Access

Station has step free entrances from Waterloo Road. There is a lift up to platform level. It is a large and often busy station. Signage could be a lot better, particularly where special assistance is, as I spent a lot of time looking where to go and this is fatiguing and stressful.

Toilets

Currently (September 2023) there is building works and the public toilets in the station are not available. I ended up having to ask at the information desk where the accessible toilet was. I was told it was outside. Checking google now, this area is called Cab Road. I came to a barrier, see photo, which had signage to the toilets via crossing, but the accessible toilet was not signposted. Once again I had to find a member of staff and ask where the accessible toilet was. It turned out that the accessible toilet was just to the left of the barrier I had been standing by and did not involve crossing the road. The accessible toilet has a manual door and requires a RADAR key. While the space is large, it is cluttered with 2 bins and the drop down baby changing mat are all located in the area adjacent to the toilet where wheelchair users would transfer. There are plenty of grab rails and the emergency cord is a little short, see photo. The toilet was clean and tidy.

Staff

My experience of staff was mixed. The person on the information desk and the person I asked where the toilet was when I still could not locate it were both very helpful. However, while I was using the toilet a member of staff used the RADAR key and came in. When I use an accessible toilet I am always worried about it being open while using it, so I push up the handle 2 or 3 times to be sure it's gone as far as it goes. The member of staff opened the door. When I shouted out that I was inside. He told me I had not locked the door. I asked if he used a key to get in and he said yes and I told him that is how he got in. The passenger who was with him also accused me of not locking the door. There was no apology from the member of staff and I have made a formal complaint, which I am still awaiting a response to. When I arrived at special assistance they were welcoming and told me to take a seat. Shortly afterwards a member of staff came up and asked me if I had booked special assistance. I told them I had and that the conformation email from them a few weeks ago. They then took my details to enter me on the system. This was done from where I was sitting on the concourse and I was comfortable giving confidential personal information out in a public area, however, there will be other passenger who won't feel comfortable in doing this. The assistance was provided, but I ended up walking to the far end of a platform to board my train. We had to make several stops along the way. My original request had been for a wheelchair or station buggy, but this was not provided. While I go the assistance and I was able to board my train and also equally importantly I was met at the other end, the app request and confirmation system did not work as it should and I then had the anxiety of wondering if I would get the help I had requested a month earlier.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Given that the station is managed by one group and the station staff by another, I ended up making 2 complaints to different agencies. One was regarding the member of staff coming into the accessible toilet and the other for the lack of signage for the accessible toilet. Both were submitted on 09/09/2023 and I am still awaiting a response. My experience made the start of my holiday rather stressful. This could have been avoided if only the passenger assistance app request had been on Waterloo's system, there was signage to the accessible toilet and station staff had disability awareness training. Apart from that, the station has step free access and plenty of seating and I managed to catch my train, but overall it was disappointing.

Photos