Victoria Coach Station


Victoria Coach Station is the largest coach station in London, located in the central district of Victoria in the City of Westminster. It serves as a terminus for many medium- and long-distance coach services in the United Kingdom, and is also the departure point for many countryside coach tours originating from London. It is operated by Victoria Coach Station Limited, a subsidiary of Transport for London. The station reports 14,000,000 passengers with 472,000 individual coach arrivals or departures.
It should not be confused with the nearby Green Line Coach Station for Green Line Coaches, or with Victoria bus station which serves London Buses operated by TfL.

History

Victoria Coach Station was opened at its present site in Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria, in 1932, by London Coastal Coaches, a consortium of coach operators. The building is in a distinctive Art Deco style, the architects for which were Wallis, Gilbert and Partners. As built it had space for 76 coaches plus a large booking hall, shops, buffet, restaurant, lounge, bar, the administrative offices of London Coastal Coaches Ltd and some privately let offices on the upper floors.
Most coach services were suspended during World War II and the building was requisitioned by the War Office, be returned with the resumption of coach travel in 1946.
In 1970 the coach operators' association which managed the station became a subsidiary of the National Bus Company.
In 1988, ownership of Victoria Coach Station Limited was transferred to London Transport. In 2000, Transport for London was formed and took over the station.
The freeholder of the site, Grosvenor Group, announced in 2013 that it wished to redevelop the site and relocate the station elsewhere in London. However, the building was listed at Grade II by English Heritage in 2014. Transport for London will have to give up its use of most of the site in 2023, when several leases expire, and so had been looking to relocate the station, but announced in late 2019 that they would instead stay put and change the layout of the terminal.

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 and retail outlets, left-luggage facilities and a ticket hall.
There are 21 departure gates, with the site covering. In the 12 months to March 2014, 14 million passengers travelled on 240,000 services to and from the station.

Passenger and coach numbers

The station passenger numbers have risen in the 10 years by 47% from 9.5 million to 14 million. Coach numbers have risen by 20% over the same period - from 394,000 to 472,000.
Accounting PeriodPassengers Coaches
2017/1814472
2016/1714.5476
2015/1614.5466
2014/1514460
2013/1414480
2012/1311438
2011/1210.5413
2010/1110.3399
2009/1011.8389
2008/99.5394

Services

Services are operated by:
routes 44, 170, 211, C1, C10, N11 and N44 serve the coach station. It is a short walk from Victoria railway station.

Financials

Profits for the Coach Station have increased over recent years.
Accounting PeriodRevenueProfit
2017/18£9.9 million£1.3 million
2016/17£10.0 million£1.2 million
2015/16£9.5 million£494,000
2014/15£9.2 million£123,000
2013/14£8.9 million£654,000
2012/13£8.6 million£419,000
2011/12£8.4 million£727,000