Why is the Waterloo and City Line called "The Drain?"

Okay, so this is going to be a double, it's a tail of the tube, but it also explains the name or whatever from that series where I explain the name of a place. I still haven't figured out what to call it, which is ironic since it's about names, so where was it? Yes, so when you talk about Waterloo and City Line among tube enthusiasts or even some regular commuters, you may hear it referred to as the

drain

, so the question arises and indeed some of you They wondered why it is

called

that at first glance, it seems obvious, I mean, it is underground like a

drain

, but so are many

line

s and none of them are

called

drains.

I've heard several theories, so let's talk about them and discuss how individually. plausible, first of all there is the fact that it passes under the river and the tunnels can have some leaks. It is true that sometimes, when you are down there, there is a distinctly damp, musty smell that I don't remember encountering anywhere else. the network now I know that the concept of leaking tunnels sounds alarming but it is a reality in the tube that the tunnels leak and by a little I mean that they have to pump 30 million liters of water every day that London tube is full .

The rivers and the ground itself are absolutely soaked, which puts a hole in the theory that this is why the Waterloo and City

line

is called a drain. The entire system is filled with water. Nor is it the only line that runs under the Thames. the Bakerlun Northern Jubilee East London DLR and Elizabeth lines, but the Waterloo and City Line opened in 1898 and the only line that passed under the Thames before that was the East London line, the others did not yet exist or in the case of the north. The line didn't run under the river, but even the East London line was quite far from the center of the

city

, between the rather tall rather than huge docks, so it occurs to me that for many people it might have been Waterloo and City. they pass underneath. the river was a novelty, so I wouldn't rule it out completely.

A popular theory is that it is metaphorically taking travelers out of the

city

through an underground pipe like a drain. I have heard two versions of this story, one is that it is the other is that it is due to the fact that the Waterloo and City platforms at the bank are reached by a long inclined corridor that to travelers seemed like a waterfall in the hours beak. It's all very poetic. A hypothesis that I have never heard but that I am going to advance right now is what if it is a little hygiene humor? Waterloo and City Line first opened as the Waterloo and City Railway is now quite popular with railway enthusiasts. invent nicknames for companies based on their initials, so the Great Western Railway was sometimes called the big road and Somerset and Dorset were the slow and dirty ones.

Waterloo and the city have the initials WC, which also means toilet or toilet as we would say in these less delicate times and if the drain refers to that as I say I have no evidence of this it is nothing more than an idea I invented in my own head let me tell you the theory that I am in favor of something that What is mentioned several times on this channel is the fact that the Waterloo and City Line was not actually an underground line until 1994, when it was 96 years old, it was first a semi-independent railway and it was later purchased by the London and Southwestern Railway. then it became part of the Southern Railway, then the southern region of British Railways, then the South Eastern Network or, to put it simply, for the end of a century it was officially part of the national railway network, sometimes not even appeared on underground maps or when it did, it was hidden compared to the rest of the metro, it was just another line, but as part of the national rail network it stood out or, in a more literal sense, exactly the opposite, it was unusual, It was unique, it was underground.

For the workers of the London and Southwestern Railway and their successes, Waterloo and the city were the only underground line that fell within their purview, which is why they referred to it as the drain. I think this is our theory, why I have no particular evidence to support this. Theory above all others, but it seems like the kind of thing you come up with in the workplace, possibly when joking around with your colleagues, so that's the one I'm going to use, although of course you don't have to agree if you don't. you do. Well, I hope you enjoyed this tube health story.

If you did, click the like button and consider subscribing for more information. I've always been told I should say that kind of thing at the beginning of the video, but the way I see it. It was if people don't like it, I mean, they don't have to do it again. I haven't found a definitive answer because, as with much folklore, the definitive answer is very difficult to find, if not impossible, but please leave it. I know what you think. Which theory do you like? Do you have any reason to favor one in particular? Do you have any theories of your own?

Let me know in the comments section. I would like, as always, to thank my donors on Kofi and Patreon and here. on YouTube you are the bomb of my flood and I will see you all very soon for another tube story.