Information on London Victoria Station



London Victoria is a large fascinating and cosmopolitan station which originated as the West End Terminus of two major railway systems. It is the second busiest railway terminus in London (and the UK) after Waterloo and is a major National Rail, London Underground and Coach station located in the City of Westminster. It is named after the British monarch Queen Victoria.

London Victoria has an extensive commuter business and also serves large numbers of travellers to and from the Channel Ports, and many others using the special trains which link the station to Gatwick Airport via the ‘Gatwick Express’. London Victoria is also the Southern Region’s ‘Royal’ terminal, where the Queen welcomes visiting Heads of State or where she joins the Royal Train on Derby Day due to it close location to Buckingham Palace.

The original Victoria Station was the work of the Victoria Station & Pimlico Railway, a terminal company formed to extend the main line railway access to London across the River Thames. The LC&DR and LB&SCR were shareholders in the smaller company although the ‘Brighton’ eventually opted for a separate station within the Victoria site and as the senior partners got its facilities first.

Opened as two separate stations, Central side 1860 with six platforms, ten tracks and the 300 bedroom Grosvenor Hotel, Chatham side 1862 with its nine tracks and was shared by broad gauge trains of the GWR, which would arrive via the West London Extension Joint railway from Southall, and remained that way for over 60 years until part of the wall separating the two was removed in 1924. Operationally there are still two stations:

• The eastern (Chatham) side, comprising platforms 1-8, the terminus for services to Kent on the Chatham Main Line and its connecting branches.
• The western (Brighton) side, comprising platforms 9-19, the terminus for services to Surrey and Sussex, including Gatwick Airport and Brighton on the Brighton Main Line and its connecting branches.
• Platform two is the longest platform and serves the Venice Simplon Orient Express trains.

There is an LB&SCR war memorial near the hotel side of the station entrance.
In the 1980s Victoria station was redeveloped internally, shops were added within the concourse, and above the Central platforms with “Victoria Place” shopping centre.



To the north of the mainline station concourse lies the London Underground station which is served by the Victoria, District and Circle Lines and is the busiest underground station serving nearly 80 million passengers a year.

There are proposals for a new station at Victoria which would form part of the Chelsea-Hackney Line also known as Crossrail2. 

Half a mile south-west of the railway stations is Victoria Coach station, London’s main coach terminal which serves all parts of the UK mainland and Europe.

• Gatwick Express 0845 850 1530.
• Southern 08451 27 29 20.
• Southeastern  0845 000 22 22.N
• National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50

Taxi Transfers 4U wish you a pleasant journey and hope to see you in the future.