The Waterloo Tunnels

by Chantelle Francois

Waterloo Station. One of Britain’s busiest stations. As producer Jenny King excitably told me, 14 million people pass through Waterloo Station every month. Idly going about their business, trying to get to their final destination with minimal fuss and praying their train won’t be the one delayed.

All of these people are blissfully unaware of what is directly beneath their feet. There is another world down here. It’s like Narnia only without the White Witch and Aslan. You open the door at Platform 19 and descend into this new world. I was one of those people who never knew this existed until I started working here. Of course I knew there was something down here, but not to this extent.

On our first day, when we had the grand tour, we were told where we were and where we were definitely not allowed to go. And there were two very good reasons for that speech. One – for safety and two – so that we didn’t get lost.

We were told in no uncertain terms that you will get lost and possibly locked in somewhere if you go wondering down the many corridors. And with phone signal lacking in certain areas, the chances are you will be trapped there for some time!

Matthew Gale then proceeded to tell us of the time he and a colleague did exactly that. They went wondering through some doors which quickly locked behind them leaving them stranded and with no phone reception. I’m not sure how long they were there but they simply had to wait until a passerby saw them.

This story put ‘the fear’ in all of us assistants because if it could happen to the boss, it could happen to any of us. In the early days, there were very few people wondering around the vast corridors so who knows how long it would take for you to be found. So there was to be no exploring done by me!

Having worked here for three weeks, I thought I had seen all that Waterloo had to offer. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. Yesterday a couple of us were shown where the dressing rooms will be. It was down some more stairs I didn’t know existed and as we went down, we were introduced to another new world.

The area was big and full of potential. There were many rooms and a couple of toilets. The room which used to be the contemplation/prayer room for the workers, was now to be wardrobe space. After a splash of paint and a clean up this space will be dressing rooms for the actors, the children and some crew.

And come opening night, it will no longer be neglected underground space, but a place buzzing with nerves and excitement.