Waterloo Eurostar platforms will be idle for years

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The Government has been accused of "incompetence" for not bringing the quarter-mile long platforms into use despite years of notice.

The last Eurostar trains will leave Waterloo tonight and switch to £800 million St Pancras tomorrow. The five Waterloo platforms will now be mothballed at a cost of £500,000 a year because ministers have yet to make up their minds what to do with them.

South West Trains, which runs local and long distance services into Waterloo, wants the platforms to ease chronic congestion. They could also be used to help ease overcrowding at Charing Cross, Cannon Street and London Bridge.

Theresa Villiers, shadow transport secretary, said: "This is plain incompetence by the Government and nothing short of a scandal. Ministers have failed to act in time."

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We are developing a strategy which could see some domestic services using the platforms from December 2008. We are also identifying a medium-term solution to maximise the benefits the platforms offer by running longer trains."