Victoria Underground Station

Victoria Underground station is located in the City of Westminster, London, and is a major transit hub for rail and bus transport, delivering commuters and tourists to key destinations in the city.

Victoria Underground station is used by 80 million people a year and is heavily congested. This congestion is so severe in peak times that passengers are regularly held up for a few minutes behind the ticket barriers or outside the station while the platforms clear.

It is forecast that by 2016 passenger numbers will rise by 20%. The morning peak traffic will grow from the present 70,000 passengers to 84,000 and overall traffic from 80 million to 100 million a year.

In order to address the issue, Transport for London (TfL) is delivering a station upgrade as part of their investment programme.

The station will be enlarged by 50% of its current size with the aims of reducing congestion and delay during peak hours, providing easy access from the north and east sides of the station and for step-free access between platforms and the street for passengers with heavy luggage or restricted mobility.

The project is estimated to cost around £700m. London based Mott MacDonald is the project’s lead consultant.

Construction will commence in 2011 and is scheduled for completion in 2018.

Victoria Underground upgrade project

The Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) application was submitted to the Department of Transport in November 2007.

Following a three-month public inquiry, the TWAO application was approved by the Secretary of State for Transport in July 2009 and came into effect in September 2009.

By the time the TWAO powers were granted in mid-2009, TfL was required to review the budget and phasing of the works.

The first phase is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016 with the opening of the new North ticket hall and the second phase by 2018 with the opening of the enlarged South ticket hall.

Enabling works commenced in 2007 and are due to be completed by early 2011.

These works include the removal of asbestos, the replacement of a large section of the station ceiling, the upgrade of the existing ticket office and ticketing facilities, as well as large-scale utilities diversions beneath the carriageways to make room for the expansion of the South ticket hall and the creation of the new North ticket hall.

The main works construction contract was awarded to Vinci / BAM Nuttall Joint Venture (VBN) in April 2010.

The other two bidders were joint ventures of Balfour Beatty / Morgan Est and Costain / Bachy Soletanche / Laing O’Rourke. The three joint ventures were short-listed in 2008.

Construction

The main works will commence on-site in 2011 and will be completed by 2018. The works will be carried out in two phases.

The first phase includes constructing a new subterranean North ticket hall with a new passenger interchange tunnel providing access between the North and South ticket halls, and the second phase includes enlarging the existing South ticket hall.

Upon completion, the upgraded station will benefit from 50% additional capacity, with new lifts providing easier access from the street level to the platforms, nine escalators, new interchanges between the Victoria line and District & Circle line platforms, and improved interchange between the Underground and Victoria National Rail station.