Commuters and travellers in south west London have suffered three and a half weeks of hardship, with the Waterloo Upgrade severely reducing the number of trains running.

Even yesterday, when the station returned to a full schedule, the morning rush hour was disrupted when work testing the new signalling system overran.

During the £800million upgrade, workers toiled for 180,000 hours, 1,270 metres of track was laid, 230 metres of pre-cast concrete was installed, 160 metres of new platform was built and seven miles of cable was laid.

Waterloo is the busiest station in the UK; more than 99 million journeys were made in 2016, and South Western Railway operates the busiest commuter line in Europe, with 651,000 passengers every day.

Becky Lumlock, route managing director at Network Rail, said: “The work we have completed in three and a half weeks this August will benefit passengers for decades to come. The longer platforms will create space for longer trains, making journeys more comfortable for passengers, particularly at the busiest times of day.

“Over the next 16 months we’ll turn our attention to the final stages of the redevelopment of the former International Terminal. We’ll be working behind the scenes so that we can, by the end of next year, permanently bring the five extra platforms back into use for what will become a modern, high frequency commuter terminal fit for the twenty-first century.

“I’d like to personally thank passengers for their patience over the last few weeks, and apologise to disruption to their journeys [on Tuesday]. I’d also like to pay tribute to our 1,000-strong army of engineers and track workers who have delivered such an enormous project.”