kids encyclopedia robot

London Victoria station facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Victoria Station
London Victoria station -14Oct2008.jpg
The Grosvenor Hotel, the frontage of the Brighton Main Line platforms
Victoria Station is located in Central London
Victoria Station
Victoria Station
Location of Victoria Station in Central London
Location Belgravia
Local authority City of Westminster
Managed by Network Rail
Station code VIC
Number of platforms 19
Fare zone 1
National Rail annual entry and exit
2004–05 48.047 million
2005–06 47.860 million
2006–07 66.749 million
2007–08 77.462 million
Other information
Lists of stations
Other websites
  • Departures
  • Layout
  • Facilities
  • Buses

Victoria station is a major National Rail, London Underground and coach station in the City of Westminster. It is the second busiest railway terminus in London after Waterloo. It is in Travelcard Zone 1. It is named after Queen Victoria.

National Rail

The National Rail station is officially named 'London Victoria', a name that is sometimes used outside London, but never by Londoners. The station has two separate parts:

  • The eastern (Chatham) side, platforms 1–8, is the terminus for services to Kent on the Chatham Main Line and its branches.
  • The western (Brighton) side, platforms 9–19, is the terminus for services to Surrey and Sussex, including Gatwick Airport and Brighton on the Brighton Main Line and its branches.

This split is generally held to, as the track layout does not allow much swapping, with only a small number of connecting flyovers between the main lines in the Battersea area, and a single track connection just outside the station. As the Brighton side is the busier of the two, disruption on that line sometimes results in some of its suburban services using the eastern side. This is often true of the Gatwick Express, which travels along the Brighton Main Line, as it will often divert over Chatham side tracks during engineering works in order to maintain service levels.

Victoria also serves as the London terminus for the Venice Simplon Orient Express, from Platform 2, the longest platform.

There are ticket barriers to platforms 1-12 and 15-19. Platforms 13 and 14 don't have ticket barriers and this is where the Gatwick Express service departs.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Terminus   Southeastern
Catford Loop Line
  Denmark Hill
  Southeastern
Chatham Main Line
(via Herne Hill)
  Brixton or Bromley South
Terminus   Southern
Brighton Main Line
  Battersea Park
or
Clapham Junction
Terminus   Southern
Gatwick Express
  Gatwick Airport
Terminus   Venice Simplon Orient Express
London-Paris-Venice
  Folkestone West

London Underground

The London Underground station lies to the north of the mainline station concourse.It is currently the busiest station on the system with around 76 million using the station (not including interchanging passengers) as of 2007, 60.2 million (including interchanges) using the Victoria Line platforms. There are two ticket halls. The newer hall, closer to the mainline station, serves the Victoria Line; the other, farther north, serves the District and Circle Lines. The ticket halls are connected by a pedestrian passage beneath the Bus station.

Preceding station   Underground no-text.svg London Underground   Following station
Sloane Square
towards High Street Kensington
Circle line
St. James's Park
towards Aldgate
Sloane Square
District line
St. James's Park
towards Upminster
towards Brixton
Victoria line
Proposed
Preceding station   Underground no-text.svg London Underground   Following station
Sloane Square
towards Wimbledon
Chelsea-Hackney line
Crossrail 2
Piccadilly Circus
towards Epping

Gallery

Coach and bus stations

Victoria coach station

Victoria coach station is half a mile south-west of the railway stations. It is the largest and most significant coach station in London. It serves long distance coach services and is also the departure point for many countryside coach tours originating from London. It serves all parts of the UK, and mainland Europe.

Victoria bus station

The Victoria bus station is directly outside Victoria Station. It services only London Buses, with 19 routes and 200 buses per hour at busy times. Bus 'spider' maps are available from TfL; they are designed like tube maps.

Green Line coach station

The Green Line Coach Station is another coach station near Victoria Station. The station offers long distance coach services by Green Line Coaches and Greyhound UK.

    • Mainline station
      • Exterior view of Victoria station, 1890
      • The departures board, platforms 12-14, 1933
    • Underground station
      • Original Metropolitan District Railway station, 1900
      • Victoria Underground station, 1916
      • Victoria Underground station with new construction above, 1928
      • District Line ticket hall, 1938
      • District & Circle Line ticket hall, 1971
      • Victoria Line platform, 1974
      • Busy escalators at Victoria, 1970


Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Estación de Victoria para niños

kids search engine
London Victoria station Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.