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 (TfL). 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 (2008 to 2018) by 47% from 9.5 million (2008) to 14 million (2018). Coach numbers have risen by 20% over the same period - from 394,000 (2008) to 472,000 (2018).
Services.
Services are operated by:
Connections.
London Buses routes 11, 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.