Victoria station (London)

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Victoria station in London is a London Underground and National Rail station in the City of Westminster. It is in Travelcard Zone 1.


Contents

National Rail

Victoria Mainline
Image:VictoriaStation.jpg
Management
Managed by Network Rail
Location
Place Pimlico
Local authority Westminster
Statistics
Annual entry/exit 61.647 million
Zone 1
Platforms in use 19
History
Key dates Opened 1862

The eastern side, comprising platforms 1 - 8 is the terminus for services to Kent, and the western side comprising platforms 9 - 19 is the terminus for lines running from Surrey and Sussex, including Gatwick Airport and Brighton. Although this split is still generally held to, there are various crossovers allowing trains to access any platform. As the western "Brighton" side is the busier of the two, slight disruption on that line sometimes results in some of its suburban services using the eastern "Chatham" station.

History

Early history

Victoria station is a main line terminal station in the West End of London. Its origins lie with the Great Exhibition of 1851, when a railway called the West End of London and Crystal Palace Railway came into existence, serving the site of the exhibition halls which had been transferred to Sydenham from Hyde Park. The terminus of that railway was at Stewarts Lane in Battersea on the south side of the river. In 1858 a joint enterprise was set up to take trains over the river: it was entitled the Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway; and was 1.25 mile (2km) in length. The railway was owned by four railway companies: the Great Western (GWR); London & North Western (LNWR); the London, Brighton and South Coast (LBSCR); and the London Chatham and Dover Railways (LCDR). It was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1858.

The station was built in two parts: those on the western side, opened in 1862, with six platforms, ten tracks and an hotel (the 300-bedroom Grosvenor) were occupied by the Brighton company; whilst adjacent, and in the same year, the Chatham company were to occupy a less imposing wooden-fronted building. The latter's station had nine tracks and was shared by broad-gauge trains of the GWR, whose trains arrived from Southall via the West London Extension Joint Railway through Chelsea. The GWR remained part owner of the station until 1932, although its trains had long since ceased to use it. Each side of the station had its own entrance and a separate station master; a wall between the two sections effectively emphasised that fact. Image:Victoria Station Concourse.jpg

Rebuilding

At the start of the twentieth century both parts of the station were rebuilt. It now had a decent frontage and forecourt, but not as yet a unified existence. Work on the Brighton side was completed in 1908 and was carried out in red brick; the Grosvenor Hotel was rebuilt at the same time. The Chatham side, in a Edwardian style with baroque elements, designed by Alfred Bloomfield, was completed a year later. The two sections were eventually connected in 1924 by removing part of a screen wall, when the platforms were renumbered as an entity. The station was redeveloped internally in the 1980s, with the addition of shops within the concourse, and above the western platforms.

The station was now serving boat trains, and during WWI it became the hub of trains carrying soldiers to and from France, many of them wounded. After the war the Continental steamer traffic became concentrated there, including the most famous of those trains, the Golden Arrow. The area around the station also became a site for other other forms of transport: a bus station in the forecourt; a coach terminal to the south; and it is now the terminal for trains serving Gatwick Airport.


Preceding station Image:British Rail.gif National Rail Following station
Terminus   South Eastern   Denmark Hill
  South Eastern   Brixton
Terminus   Southern   Battersea Park
Terminus   Gatwick Express   Gatwick Airport

London Underground

Victoria Underground
Management
Managed by London Underground
Location
Place Pimlico
Local authority Westminster
Statistics
Annual entry/exit 68.863 million
Zone 1
Platforms in use 4
History
Key dates Opened 1868

The London Underground station lies to the north of the mainline station concourse. There are two ticket halls. The hall closer to the mainline station serves the Victoria Line. The other, further north along a tunnel, serves the District and Circle Lines.

History

The sub-surface Circle and District Lines opened on December 24, 1868; and the Victoria Line line came to Victoria Station with the third phase of construction of the line - the station's platforms were opened on March 7, 1969, six months after the Victoria line had started running in north London.

Preceding station Underground Lines Following station
Sloane Square   Circle Line   St. James's Park
  District Line  
Pimlico   Victoria Line   Green Park

Coach station

Main article: Victoria Coach Station

Victoria Coach Station is half a mile south-west of the railway stations. It is the main London coach terminal and serves all parts of the UK, as well as mainland Europe.

External links

British railway system - Major UK railway stations

Birmingham New Street | Birmingham Snow Hill | Bristol Temple Meads | Cardiff Central | Derby | Doncaster | Edinburgh Waverley | Exeter St Davids | Glasgow Central | Glasgow Queen Street | Leeds City | Leicester | Liverpool Lime Street | Manchester Piccadilly | Manchester Victoria | Newcastle Central | Nottingham | Reading | Sheffield | York

Stations of London

Blackfriars | Cannon Street | Charing Cross | City Thameslink | Clapham Junction | Euston | Fenchurch Street | King's Cross | King's Cross Thameslink | Liverpool Street | London Bridge | Marylebone | Moorgate | Paddington | St Pancras | Victoria | Waterloo

 

UK railway stations:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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