Notice how certain things are painted in red. This is because the Waterloo & City line used to be part of British Rail, and was operated by Network SouthEast, who painted all their stations in red.

I wish there was an American guy (or anyone, really) who made amazing videos like these for the Subway in NYC. I've visited London a couple of times, and I've traveled the lines plenty while I was there, but it's not quite the same thing as learning something cool you never knew about a thing you use everyday back home and often take for granted. Brilliant series!

I have loved watching the whole series. Thank you so much. You should be given a TV series. I lived in London for 25 years and never been knew most of what you have shown 10/10!

After watching this video I actually went on the Waterloo and City line to see the red thing in the ceiling

Waterloo and City did/does have some other secrets. 1) Before the EuroStar platforms were put in at Waterloo the carriages used to be lowered down via a water lift. 2) I believe it is still the only line to have it own signalling controlled by a lever frame box at the end of the Waterloo platform.

How come Underground isn't selling its own T-shirts in the colours of its lines?

You'll have to take this project global now, Geoff. Secrets of the Metro/Subway etc. in Paris, New York .. etc etc ... The world is your oyster (card). Thanks for a brilliant series.

Many thanks, Mr. Marshall. Pausing by the red arch a few days ago was a real pleasure. Credit to the Underground for installing a plaque for those who do not have to hurry by.

3:31 anyone saw that he was gonna laugh?

0:57 Hammersmith & Tity line - Geoff Marshall 2016

It is 2021. Do us a favour and bring this back

That crane isn't used for lifting the stock in and out; it's far too small, a large road crane is used. The fixed crane is used for lifting small items, such as the guide wheels fixed to each end of the vehicles when they're being lifted in and out.

Some of your commentators have already pointed out that the W&C used to be part of British Rail. In fact it was built by the Southern Railway and before the current trains (which were built as part of the order of the 1992 Central Line trains), it was operated by Bulleid designed tube stock, with weird almost oval, small windows. They were pretty ancient as well, dating from 1940. In fact this line is far older than that, opening in 1898 (and with a previous generation of trains) and therefore one of the oldest lines on the network. The 1992 trains were also delivered in Network South-East livery. The Wikipedia entry for this line is worth a look, and reveals that one of the 1940 Bulleid trains is in the London Transport Museum depot in Acton, which has open days from time to time.

Really enjoyed all the videos, I appreciate all the legwork you put in Geoff. Best of luck for the future.

little tibits in comparison of Waterloo & City line with it's cousin in New York, the 42nd Street Shuttle (or as the transit authority calls it on their internal paperwork, the Zero Train. there are three "shuttle lines, and each has an internal name that matches the number/letter system the other lines use, publicly all three are "S"). Both connect a major rail terminal (Waterloo and Grand Central Terminal) to one of their network's largest hubs (Bank/Monument and Times Square) Both are by far the shortest lines on their network. Both run with abnormal train lengths. W&C four, Shuttle ranges from three to five depending on the track. Both do run much less than the rest of their network. W&C no sunday or holidays, Shuttle does not operate overnight and is the only Subway line that actually closes. (during these times, passengers can take the parallel #7) Both are direct one stop rides that pass by stations other lines stop at. W&C runs past the Dristict and Circle lines at Blackfriars and Mansion House while a wall literally separates the Shuttle from the station at 6th ave and 42nd where the B,D,F and M stop and the connected 5th avenue stop on the 7) Both are often used to portray other sections of the system in TV and movies. For the record, the differences being the shuttle is a repurposed section of disconnected track of the original 1904 "Day One" subway line. It was disconnected in 1918 during the switch over to what is known as the "H" system, two main trunk lines on each side of Manhattan with the shuttle crossing between them. It is still connected by track to other line sections, so it does not need it's own storage and maintenance facility. The shuttle is shorter and takes officially 1 minute to run end to end. It uses three tracks and each track operates independently of the other two.

The end of a brilliant series, learnt a lot of things, thanks Geoff

Really enjoyed the series, thank you for your efforts!

I've noticed that the Waterloo & City Line's trains still retain their original armrests between the seats, despite two changes of moquette since they were introduced. Their counterparts on the Central Line lost their armrests very early on, as they used to break off easily apparently!!

Really well made videos. Much better than a lot you see on broadcast TV

thanks for this awesome series hope you do more.

Saw the Greathead shield (Gratehead?) yesterday --- my grandson pointed it out HAVING SEEN THIS VIDEO !!! He also told me the bit about 1000s of people walking by and not knowing what it is, and the bit about the W&C being the only line that is totally underground (even the depot), and, and .... Thanks Geoff - sterling work.

Cheeky sod

thank u for bringing us truly the best train vids

This and Bakerloo lines are my favourite lines. Thank you for all the videos.

Great series,enjoyed it,thanks a lot

You missed the best fact about the Waterloo and City line. It will be in most movies the Tube is featured in, because they can film there on weekends. The W&C Line stood in for the Circle line on Skyfall for example. Which is funny because circle line trains look different.

So that's great. I've sat through all those videos, learning facts that were really interesting- and only now at the end of the series has he told us that many of them weren't true. Nice one.

I'm really going to miss this series, really interesting! :)

I know another fact: The Waterloo and City line could have 3 stations as it runs directly underneath Blackfriars

I never realized this line existed because it's so easy to miss on the map. They should give the River Thames a different color.

I love the whole series I spent a lot of time on the Underground in April kind of sad it's over you are a great presenter

Coming to London today quite excited

Outstanding, Geoff ! ! - many thanks for such an entertaining series - I look forward to your vids on the DLR and London's canal network ! ! :-)

I'm living far far away from London, in fact in Austria ( not Australia!). But I enjoyed this video series as much as I think all the commuters of the Tube did. Hope to see all this things in real some day. Best regards from Austria, keep up this funny and intersting videos about London. :)

there should be a Manchester equivalent of this channel, with secrets of the Metrolink trams, Northern Rail, etc.

I have a secret for the Waterloo and City; In the 1950s they built a large network of deep level cable tunnels to protect London's telephone lines from a nuclear attack. A part of the Waterloo and City line tunnel is used to take the cables underneath the River Thames.

OMG... I actually did the caption thing. Just so you know the letters are "TTUWIJIHIC" Don't think you CAN make a word from that but have fun :D

One major problem... The crane in Lower Marsh can not lift the W&C cars it doesn't have the lifting capacity, it is used to lift maintenance materials in and out of the depot. When the cars where removed & returned they used a very large road crane parked in Lower Marsh, and the cars only just fitted into the hole.

Thanks Geoff, I loved your video series

Brilliant series of videos - they should reach a wider audience.

There are three places in zone 1 that you don't have to use a barrier to get access to the system, the 3rd place is via the MIP lift at Bank.

The reason the numbers for the W&S are so high is cos it was owned and run by BR for many decades so the surface numbering merely continued in the tunnels. Waterloo also had a track over the concourse for many years, the bridge carrying the spur from the Charring Cross branch still visible - you should do "Secrets of the Teminii"

Great series!!

Just four carriages. If my home of Carlisle got four car trains it would be a blessing. We usually get one or two car trains except for the intercity. But nobody really uses them.

You forgot that the Waterloo and city is the only tube line that used to be owned by BR Network Southeast and were originally class 487s...

Absolutely loved the factoid about the portal with crane to pick out or drop in new or refurbished carriages. Super.

You can add the fact that Waterloo and City line was before a part of British Rail, and that the 1992 Stock trains on the W&C had originally blue doors and Netweork South East logo ;)

I was hoping for some facts as to why build a tube line of 2 stations? etc :) Went on this line for the first time today, changing my route to Moorfields, hey at least there was no chance of me missing my stop! :) Saw the red head shield and remembered it from your video, thank you x

Oh man, you got me with the caption thing! I didn't watch this video until the end because I clicked on a previos video before to check the captions and I didn't get the clue. Now I have watched this video until the end and I have noticed that there is no clue! Shame on you!*gg* I like your videos! Btw.: Did say something about the "Baker Street"-Station? Berhaps I missed it but I'm not able to remember anything!

London Underground meets Only Connect. Love it.

That crane on Lower Marsh which lifts out the Waterloo & City Line cars from the depot beneath out into the open air only came into being around 1993 as originally on the former western part of Waterloo station on the 'Windsor lines' side was a lift (called the Armstrong lift) which was where the Waterloo & City Line cars were taken out as the lift was connected with the sidings which were part of the LSWR main line. The Armstrong lift was taken out of use when the former Waterloo International station was built in 1992 but apparently the lift is still there but encased in concrete beneath the site of Waterloo International station. The 'new' crane off Lower Marsh came into its own in the spring of 1993 when the old Southern Railway and BR class 487 EMUs dating from 1940 were replaced by the new fleet of class 482/1992 stock which still runs on the Waterloo & City Line to this day.

There is technically one more like the island line on the Isle of Wight that would be a nice little bonus

brilliant video again thank u

Well done Good series ! more videos please

A brilliant series! Apparently back in the 1980s (when under BR), there were plans to add an intermediate station at Blackfriars, but nothing ever came to it. There were also plans to merge the line with the Moorgate to Finsbury Park branch, but that never came to anything. Due to the fact, that new platforms would have to be built at Bank. Plus I also heard plans for the line to be merged with the DLR quite a while ago. But yet again, nothing came to anything, due to again the Waterloo and City platforms at Bank (and possibly the DLR's).

Another great fact is that it was run by National Rail (or Network SouthEast as that part of it was at the time) until only a couple of decades age. Okay, that's not that great of a fact, but the interesting part is that you can still see the Network SouthEast branding on the platform edges.

You really skidaddled on us with that one

The Waterloo and City Line is nicknamed 'The Drain'. I understood the stock is smaller than other tube lines as it has smaller bore tunnels. Also the coaches are shorter to negotiate the bends. It was also not part of the London Transport tube network as such because it was owned by British Rail. Another interesting fact is that unlike all other UK railways, the Drain had a strict queuing system set by markings on the platform surface. Finalamento, It's a whole lot faster than the 76 bus.

I really wanted the caption thing to be true... Great series, enjoyed watching all of it. Thanks Geoff! 😉

I love the tube, and overground, and DLR

Great series of videos Geoff! How about now doing abandoned stations or disused sections of stations still in use? Just an idea :)

Lovely vid Geoff, I've loved the W&C for years but I've never been quite sure why. It's the odd duck of the Underground :)

Happy 125 Years to the Waterloo & City Line 1898 - 2023

Fun Facts and a few Fun Red Herrings about the London Underground. I had a great view of Waterloo station from my hotel room.

Even I used to think that the Victoria line runs entirely underground but I didn't know its depo is overground

Imagine if you use the W&C line everyday and it was closed for maintenance you'd have to take the bus which would probably take longer, or take an alternate route through Embankment on the Bakerloo and Circle/District.

Nerd, nerdier, Geoff! Well playd!

Was literally walking thru that tunnel at bank yesterday and was baffled as to what the red thing was

Sneaky little mustard! :D

The shortest train on the Underground was the single car train that shuttled between Acton Town Station and South Acton Station.

I love your channels

I'm a bit confused by one thing: it says that the tunelling shield was uncovered in 1987 when the city extension for the DLR was being built. But I've read in lots of other places that the city extension for the DLR only went ahead after it turned out that Tower Gateway station, which didn't open until 31st August 1987 with the rest of the original DLR stations, wasn't convenient enough for commuters, and they decided that an extension from the DLR to Bank would be necessary. If that's true, they wouldn't have started building the city extension until after 1987. So that story must be incorrect and they must have had plans to build the city extension for the DLR even before Tower Gateway and the DLR opened. Am I right? If so, all the reports about Tower Gateway turning out to be not fit for purpose after it opened can't be correct.

Lies! I'm aghast. Next, up will be down, cats will be dogs, Arsenal will be Spurs. (Actually, I'm not aghast, brilliant video. Also, is the fact that the W&C was used as the District line in "Sliding Doors" a secret? The blue-doored trains are something of a give-away.)

There's a documentary about the Waterloo and City Line where they show cranes replacing tube train cars. I saw it once on TV a few years ago, but I can't find it anywhere now. Anyone have more info?

More. More. More

He got me with the captions, i came up with this until i came back and realized it was a joke, he is sneaky. a i c t h t t

"The caption thing by the way is a lie" I just went through two videos trying to get one to work! Then when I was looking though this video and herd that its >.

Geoff Marshall on the waterloo & city line

One thing that seems to have been missed (in the comments as well - or, at least, as far as I got!), is that the W&C is built to a smaller loading gauge (because it has smaller tunnels than the tube) - so the carriages are smaller. So it cannot (for instance) use ex-tube stock, and extending it , or linking it to other lines , would be even more difficult. For those asking why it was built and why it was never extended, this is a clue to the answer. It was built entirely to get Waterloo passengers to the City, it was never intended to be part of the Tube, or connect to it, or anything, so the builders paid no attention to what else was going on at the time, they just built their line to meet their own needs. It is also (or was - I haven't been on the new trains) - by far the noisiest of all the underground lines!

Correction:there were 2 tube line that run entirely underground:the Victoria Line and the Waterloo and City Line

You also said , on the Heathrow express video , that the line wich connects terminal 5 and terminal 4 was the only line in London using two drivers for two stations , but the Waterloo&City line also uses two drivers for only two stations during peak hour !

The Victoria line depot is Overground 0:43

If you _had_ done that caption thing, you could've had the word 'Underground' with its 11 letters corresponding to the 11 tube lines.

Do the DLR and London Overground?

you should do the DLR overground and national rail lines that operate out of london

The trains on this line are really smart and clean

Oh thank god, I was almost about to type up every first letter of the captions in the videos.

I've just paged through some of Geoff's 'Secrets of' lines - and I think this is, by official stats , the 'Least Used'

Roding Valley on the central line still has no barrier.

A Cool Fact: At Bank station, London Underground allow the drivers to park their Waterloo and city line trains on one of the platforms, especially during the off peak quiet times, or sometimes if their is a technical fault, they can shut down the train and leave it on the platform for half an hour, then reboot. I bet during the coronavirus lockdown, Bank Waterloo and city line station will be full of parked trains

Next you should do: OVERGROUND, TRAMLINK, DLR ?? Please?? :D

1:29 I can't take the concept of Chalfont seriously, ever since I discovered a Little Chalfont, which presumably needs its own little comfy cushion. 3:03 Per comments below: I missed that, but yeah, it's there and it's sneaky and you heard correctly.

Brilliant! More, please.... I guess the DLR could be 3 or 4 videos?.....

Oh you smart smart man! even your shirts?! omg my hero.

you could have also been sneaky if you mentioned in the central line video that it's the only line to use 1992 stock coz the waterloo and city line also uses 1992 stock

I was on the Waterloo platform of the Waterloo and City this afternoon, and I looked up and saw a walkway, I couldn't remember if you had said anything about it, and you hadn't.

You lied to me, I can never trust you again :P Seriously though, loved these videos. I think they should build more lines just so you can do another series

Used to be known as "The Drain", was owned and run by British Rail and the tunnel was smaller than those on the LU and hence smaller trains were used. Has the old platform queuing system ended?

Geoff, there's NSE motifs on the platforms on this line from '92. You missed it, unbelievable!

You also said"because,IF it had been running today..."