£50m to convert Waterloo's Eurostar platforms

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The terminal was originally built at a cost of £135million but it has been defunct since Eurostar was transferred to St Pancras at the end of last year.

The Department for Transport wants domestic services to run into the five platforms at what was Waterloo International.

The move would be a boost to hard-pressed travellers, whose plight has been highlighted by the Evening Standard's Seat for Every Commuter campaign.

But the cost of converting it to allow South West Trains to boost services from the station - used by 300,000 passengers every day - has been revealed in a report from the Office for Rail Regulation.

It says Network Rail has asked for £54 million for the refurbishment but the ORR has recommended £49 million.

The former chairman of London TravelWatch, Brian Cook, had previously said it would cost just £5 million to make the platforms suitable for domestic trains.

However, a spokesman for NR said the platforms had been designed to cope with longdistance, low frequency operations rather than commuter services.

The ORR said work to bring the five quarter-mile long platforms into use should start soon so that domestic services can use the station by the end of the year.

South West Trains, which operates Britain's most overcrowded services, wants to use the platforms for its longerdistance trains, serving Exeter, Southampton and Portsmouth.

A DfT spokesman said: "Work to bring one of the platforms into use should start soon, with a limited number of domestic services expected to use the station by the end of the year. With regard to medium-term use we are currently considering use of the remaining platforms as part of the wider development of the station and it is too early to state costs."

The spending estimates were contained in June's periodic review by the ORR but it is still in draft form and a final announcement is due in three months.

But the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "[Waterloo International] cost a staggering amount to build so it's beyond belief that it cannot be used for the commuter services that are so urgently needed."

There are also plans to lengthen station platforms across the network, especially on suburban rail networks, to help ease overcrowding.