Vauxhall station

For speculation that Vauxhall station was the source of the Russian word for railway station, vokzal (Вокзал), see Vauxhall § Etymology. For other uses, see Vauxhall station (disambiguation).

Vauxhall
Location	Vauxhall
Local authority	London Borough of Lambeth
Managed by	South West Trains
Station code	VXH
DfT category	B
Number of platforms	8
Accessible	Yes(National Rail only)
Fare zone	1 and 2
London Underground annual entry and exit
2018	30.08 million
2019	32.30 million
2020	15.46 million
2021	13.62 million
2022	20.88 million
National Rail annual entry and exit
2008–09	14.590 million
2009–10	14.806 million
2010–11	16.531 million
2011–12	18.168 million
2012–13	19.066 million
2013–14	19.402 million
2014–15	21.111 million
Key dates
11 July 1848	Opened (LSWR)
23 July 1971	Opened (London Underground)
Other information
External links	TfL station info page Departures Layout Facilities Buses
London transport portal

Vauxhall (/ˈvɒksɔːl/, VOK-sawl) is a National Rail, London Underground and London Buses interchange station in central London. It is at the Vauxhall Cross road junction opposite the southern approach to Vauxhall Bridge over the River Thames in the London district of Vauxhall. The station is on the boundary of zones 1 and 2 of the London Travelcard area and, although a through station, it is a central London railway terminus for ticketing purposes.

The bus station, at ground level across the road from the rail station, has a photovoltaic roof supplying much of its electricity. It is the second busiest London bus station, after that at Victoria.

History

A 1912 Railway Clearing House map of lines around Vauxhall station

Opened by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) as "Vauxhall Bridge Station" on 11 July 1848 when the main line was extended from Nine Elms to Waterloo, then "Waterloo Bridge Station". It is on a viaduct with eight platforms.

The deep tube London Underground station is on the Victoria line, and opened on 23 July 1971.

Milk trains

Vauxhall was located next to a major creamery and milk bottling plant for United Dairies. The regular daily milk train was from Torrington, but milk trains from all over the West Country would stop at Clapham Junction in the evening, and reduce their length by half so that they did not block Vauxhall station while unloading. They would then proceed to Vauxhall, and pull into the "down" side platform, where a discharge pipe was provided to the creamery on the other side of the road. There was also pedestrian access from below the station, under the road to the depot, in the tunnel where the pipeline ran. Unloaded trains would then proceed to Waterloo, where they would reverse and return to Clapham Junction to pick up the other half of the train. The procedure was then repeated, so that the entire milk train was unloaded between the end of evening peak traffic and the start of the following morning.

Services

There is a frequent service of trains to London Waterloo and to the suburbs of south-west London. Trains to the Richmond/Hounslow direction leave from platforms 3 & 4 and return on platform 2. Trains to the Wimbledon direction leave from platform 8 and return on platform 7. Few trains call at the inner platforms (5 & 6) whose tracks are used by long-distance and "fast" suburban trains. Platform 1 is not used in regular passenger service.

National Rail

Vauxhall railway station platforms from the western end.

Vauxhall rail station is served by South West Trains to and from London Waterloo. The typical off-peak service is 26 trains per hour to/from London Waterloo, consisting of:

•  2 to Chessington South
•  2 to Dorking
•  2 to Guildford via Cobham
•  2 to Guildford via Epsom
•  2 to Hampton Court
•  2 on the Hounslow Loop Line via Hounslow and Richmond, returning to Waterloo
•  2 on the Hounslow Loop via Richmond and Hounslow, returning to Waterloo
•  2 on the Kingston Loop Line via Kingston and Richmond, returning to Waterloo
•  2 on the Kingston Loop via Richmond and Kingston, returning to Waterloo
•  2 to Shepperton
•  2 to Weybridge via Hounslow
•  2 to Windsor & Eton Riverside
•  2 to Woking

Underground

Vauxhall underground station is between Pimlico and Stockwell with a peak time service interval of about two minutes.

Vauxhall with a train to London Waterloo in 2002.

Connections

Main article: Vauxhall bus station

There is a bus station located north next to the station offering services to various parts of London.

Accidents

• On 29 August 1912, a light engine collided with a rake of nine carriages. One passenger was killed and 43 were injured.

External links

• Train times and station information for Vauxhall station from National Rail