Victoria Coach Station

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For the bus station, see Victoria bus station. For the nearby coach station, see Green Line Coach Station.
Victoria Coach Station Bus interchange
Victoria Coach Station
Location within Central London
Location
Locale 164 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W 9TP
Local authority City of Westminster
Coordinates 51°29′35″N 0°08′55″W / 51.4931°N 0.1486°W / 51.4931; -0.1486Coordinates: 51°29′35″N 0°08′55″W / 51.4931°N 0.1486°W / 51.4931; -0.1486
Operation
Opened 1932
Managed by Transport for London
No. of stands 22
Travel centre Yes
Rail connection Victoria railway station or London Underground station 300 metres away
Annual usage 190,000 (departures)

Victoria Coach Station is the largest 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 should not be confused with the nearby Green Line Coach Station or the Victoria bus station, which serves London Buses. It is operated by Victoria Coach Station Limited[1] a subsidiary of Transport for London.

History

Victoria Coach Station was opened at its present site in Buckingham Palace Road, London, in 1932, by London Coastal Coaches, an association of coach operators. The building is in a distinctive Art Deco style, the architects for which were Wallis, Gilbert and Partners.[2]

It was originally managed by London Coastal Coaches, a consortium of coach operators. In 1970 it became a subsidiary of the National Bus Company.[2]

In 1988 ownership of Victoria Coach Station Limited was transferred to London Transport. In 2000 ownership passed to Transport for London.

People

Rough sleepers masquerade as travellers waiting for a coach, so they can sleep indoors.[3]

Travellers are offered help with their bags by luggage porters. They are licensed, but not employed by Transport for London. All of their income is in the form of tips from travellers.[3][4]

Operation

Victoria Coach Station has separate arrival and departure terminals which are located on opposite sides of Elizabeth Street. The main departures building includes food outlets, shops, left luggage facilities and ticketing. Services are operated by National Express, Eurolines, iDBUS, Megabus and Oxford Express.

There are 21 departure gates with the site covering 3.3 acres (13,000 m2). Ten million passengers use the station annually with services to 1,200 destinations in the UK and 400 in mainland Europe.[2]

Future developments

The freeholder of the site, the Grosvenor Group has announced that it wishes to redevelop the site, and relocate the coach station elsewhere in the capital.[5]

Services

Route Number Origin Intermediate stops Destination Operator
007 London Gillingham, Canterbury Dover National Express
010 London Cambridge National Express
021 London Maidstone, Ashford, Folkestone Dover National Express
022 London Whitstable, Herne Bay, Margate Ramsgate National Express
023 London Tunbridge Wells Hastings National Express
024 London East Grinstead, Uckfield, Eastbourne Hastings National Express
025 London London Gatwick Airport Brighton National Express
027 London London Gatwick Airport, Crawley, Horsham, Worthing, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis Chichester National Express
030 London Guildford, Portsmouth Southsea National Express
031 London London Heathrow Airport, Aldershot, Alton, Eastleigh, Fareham Portsmouth National Express
032 London London Heathrow Airport, Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton, Fareham Portsmouth National Express
032 London London Heathrow Airport, Winchester, Southampton, Lymington Christchurch National Express
032 London London Heathrow Airport, Basingstoke, Southampton Bournemouth National Express
032 London London Heathrow Airport, Basingstoke, Southampton Salisbury National Express
033 London London Heathrow Airport, Andover, Salisbury, Gillingham (Dorset) Yeovil National Express
035 London London Heathrow Airport, Southampton, Bournemouth Poole National Express
035 London Bournemouth, Dorchester Weymouth National Express
040 London Bristol, Weston-super-Mare Burnham-on-Sea National Express
121 London Gillingham, Canterbury, Dover, Calais (France) Paris (France) Eurolines
122 London Gillingham, Dover, Calais (France) Paris (France) Eurolines
124/129 London Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (France) Paris (France) Eurolines
140 London Lille (France), Brussels (Belgium), Rotterdam (Netherlands), The Hague (Netherlands) Amsterdam (Netherlands) Eurolines
163 London Hythe Stop 24 (Great-Britain), Lille (France), Brussels (Belgium), Frankfurt/Main Hbf (Germany), Mannheim Heinrich-von-Stephan-Straße near Hbf (Germany), Karlsruhe Hbf Southside (Germany), Stuttgart-Obertürkheim ZOB Hafenbahnstraße (Germany), Ulm Hbf (Germany), Augsburg Hbf (Germany) Munich ZOB Hackerbrücke (Germany) Eurolines
170 London Lille (France), Brussels (Belgium), Eindhoven (Netherlands), Bielefeld (Germany), Hannover (Germany), Braunschweig (Germany) Berlin (Germany) Eurolines
402 London London Heathrow Airport, Newbury, Hungerford, Froxfield, Marlborough, Beckhampton, Devizes, Melksham, Trowbridge Frome National Express
403 London London Heathrow Airport, Swindon, Chippenham Bath National Express
404 London London Heathrow Airport, Reading, Chippenham, Bath, Bristol Airport, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Torquay, Paignton, Totnes, Plymouth, Liskeard, St Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne, Hayle Penzance National Express
406 London London Heathrow Airport, Bridgwater, Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth, Bodmin Newquay National Express
420 London Solihull Birmingham National Express
420 London Coventry, Birmingham, Dudley, Wolverhampton National Express
420 London Birmingham, Walsall, Cannock Stafford National Express
420 London Birmingham, Telford, Shrewsbury, Welshpool, Newtown Aberystwyth National Express
420 London Birmingham, Telford, Shrewsbury, Oswestry Wrexham National Express
421 London London Heathrow Airport, Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon, Birmingham, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Chester, Ellesmere Port, Birkenhead, Liverpool, Preston, Blackpool, Lancaster, Penrith, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness National Express
422 London London Luton Airport, Luton, Milton Keynes, Coventry, Birmingham International Airport, Birmingham, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Manchester Airport, Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Blackburn, Accrington Burnley National Express
425 London Milton Keynes, Leeds, Harrogate, Ripon, Darlington, Durham Newcastle upon Tyne National Express
426 London Milton Keynes, Doncaster, York, Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland South Shields National Express
440 London Milton Keynes, Leicester, Loughborough, Derby, Matlock, Bakewell, Buxton, New Mills Manchester National Express
440 London Leicester, Coalville, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Swadlincote Burton-upon-Trent National Express
444 London Reading, Swindon, Cirencester, Cheltenham Gloucester National Express
447 London Peterborough, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent Lincoln National Express
448 London Peterborough Stamford National Express
448 London Peterborough, Sleaford, Cleethorpes Grimsby National Express
449 London Peterborough, Spalding, Boston, Skegness Mablethorpe National Express
450 London Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Mansfield, Worksop Retford National Express
455 London Milton Keynes Northampton National Express
465 London Nottingham, Mansfield, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Bradford, Halifax Huddersfield National Express
481 London Chelmsford, Ipswich Felixstowe National Express
484 London Colchester Clacton-on-Sea National Express
490 London Thetford, Norwich Great Yarmouth National Express
497 London Newmarket, Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft Great Yarmouth National Express
500 London London Heathrow Airport, Exeter, Plymouth, Liskeard, St Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne, Hayle, St Ives Penzance National Express
501 London London Heathrow Airport, Reading, Bridgwater, Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbot, Torquay, Paignton Totnes National Express
504 London London Heathrow Airport, Reading, Plymouth, Liskeard, St Austell, Truro, Falmouth, Helston Penzance National Express
505 London London Heathrow Airport, Reading, Plymouth, Bodmin Newquay National Express
508 London Chepstow, Bridgend, Neath, Swansea Llanelli National Express
508 London Reading, Chepstow, Bridgend, Port Talbot, Swansea, Carmarthen, Tenby, Pembroke, Pembroke Dock Haverfordwest National Express
509 London Newport, Cardiff Swansea National Express
509 London Cardiff, Pontypridd, Merthyr Tydfil Aberdare National Express
540 London Milton Keynes, Birmingham Manchester National Express
540 London Manchester, Bolton, Blackburn, Accrington Burnley National Express
540 London Milton Keynes, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale Bury National Express
545 London Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Chester, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno, Bangor, Caernarfon, Porthmadog Pwllheli National Express
550 London Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Warrington Liverpool National Express
560 London Milton Keynes, Chesterfield, Sheffield Barnsley National Express
560 London Milton Keynes, Chesterfield, Sheffield Rotherham National Express
561 London Milton Keynes, Leeds Bradford National Express
561 London Milton Keynes, Leeds, Bradford, Shipley, Keighley Skipton National Express
561 London Milton Keynes, Leeds, Harrogate Ripon National Express
561 London Milton Keynes, Leeds York National Express
562 London Milton Keynes, Doncaster, Scunthorpe Hull National Express
563 London Milton Keynes, York, Bridlington, Scarborough Whitby National Express
564 London Milton Keynes, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Dewsbury, Huddersfield Halifax National Express
570 London Milton Keynes, Birmingham, St Helens, Preston Blackpool National Express
570 London Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Preston, Lancaster, Kendal, Windermere, Keswick, Cockermouth, Workington Whitehaven National Express
588 London Milton Keynes, Penrith, Lockerbie, Glasgow, Stirling, Perth, Pitlochrie, Aviemore Inverness National Express
590 London Milton Keynes, Carlisle, Hamilton, Glasgow, Perth, Dundee Aberdeen National Express
591 London Milton Keynes, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed Edinburgh National Express
592 London London Heathrow Airport, Carlisle, Hamilton, Glasgow, Dundee Aberdeen National Express
871 London Luton, Milton Keynes, Coventry, Birmingham, Holyhead Dublin (Ireland) Eurolines
890 London Reading, Bristol, Pembroke Dock, Waterford (Ireland), Dungarvan (Ireland), Cork (city) (Ireland) Eurolines
920 London Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Manchester, Carlisle, Dumfries, Stranraer, Cairnryan Belfast Eurolines
A6 London London Stansted Airport National Express
M1 London Coventry Birmingham Megabus
M2 London Winchester, Ringwood Bournemouth Megabus
M6 London Exeter, Plymouth, Newquay Penzance Megabus
M7 London Newport Cardiff Megabus
M10 London Newport Cwmbran Megabus
M11 London Manchester, Preston, Glasgow, Dundee Aberdeen Megabus
M12 London Sheffield, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Sunderland Newcastle upon Tyne Megabus
M14 London Reading, Swindon, Gloucester Cheltenham Megabus
M15 London Chester Liverpool Megabus
M16 London Birmingham, Manchester Preston Megabus
X90 London Marble Arch, Baker Street, Hillingdon Oxford Oxford Bus Company
London Gare de Lille Europe Gare de Bercy iDBUS
London Charles de Gaulle Airport Lyon iDBUS

Gallery

  • Victoria Coach Station in October 2008

  • Gates 1-9 in August 2010

  • Elizabeth Street exit in December 2007

  • Arrivals entrance in June 2009

References

  1. ↑ Companies House extract company no 205610 Victoria Coach Station Limited
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Victoria Coach Station and Hitler. Celebrating 75 years of service". Transport for London. Retrieved 26 January 2010. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Gateway to London" (in English). The Route Masters: Running London's Roads. Episode 4. 16 July 2013. BBC. BBC Two. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0379n2p. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "Station facilities". Transport for London. Retrieved 21 July 2013. 
  5. ↑ Spittles, David (21 August 2013). "Victoria's £2-billion transformation as its coach station becomes a cultural quarter with homes, shops and arts venues". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 21 August 2013. 

External links

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