V is for Victoria

The theme for my A-Z posts this year is London Underground Stations.  I've chosen a station for each letter and at the end of each post I've listed the other stations for that letter with their Wikipedia entries.  I've tried to visit each station and take my own photos.

Well today is another fail for original photos.  I started planning my posts before Christmas but I'm realising now that the photos should have been taken last summer!  I'm slipping behind so this post wasn't scheduled and the photos were going to be taken today.  But then the sleet came!  Yes sleet at the end of April.  Come on Spring, stop playing games.

Anyway, enough waffling, Victoria Station

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Victoria is another main line terminus in London which also has an underground station serving the Circle, District and Victoria lines.  Nearby there is also Victoria Coach Station the largest coach station in London.  It's another busy complex with several entrances to the underground part of the station.

It's a great example of how railways developed in London, especially before things came under one authority.  By the mid 1800s there were lots of railway companies building lines coming into London.  There were two main line stations at Victoria that were completely independent of one another.  Gradually rail companies amalgamated and station buildings were adapted to meet the changing face of railways, especially once electrification was introduced and the railways were nationalised.  For more details on the history of the mainline station go here.

Similarly, there are two connected underground stations at Victoria, built more than a century apart.  The District and Circle line station was built first and opened in 1868.  This line was built using the cut and cover method so is under road level but not deep down.  The Victoria line, a deep level line, opened in 1969 and has since been extended to the south of London.

Image courtesy of National Rail

Victoria is the fourth busiest underground station and with annual entry and exit figures for 2014 at 86.73 million it often suffers from overcrowding, particularly on the Victoria Line.  To cope with overcrowding stations are temporarily put into "EXIT ONLY" mode, preventing people going down to the platforms until crowding has reduced.  This can be very frustrating for commuters but is a necessary safety measure. 

Victoria is currently undergoing a major renovation which will create another entrance and more escalators to alleviate this ongoing congestion problem.  In the meantime it's a place to be avoided at rush hour!

But it is very close to one of London’s most famous landmarks: Buckingham Palace.

By Diliff (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0  via Wikimedia Commons

The only other “V” station is:

Vauxhall

Next stop W is for ...? Come back tomorrow to find out.  Thanks for visiting.