Slightly confusing station to navigate
4
4
Date of visit: April 2026
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets and moving around.
I use or have experience of: disabled toilet, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Good
Victoria Station is one of London’s largest and busiest railway stations with a total of 19 platforms. There are a number of ways in and out of the station leading to different areas around it. It’s based in Westminster and is within walking distance of some popular theatres and even Buckingham Palace. The station is large and it can be slightly confusing to navigate and find where you need to go. There are two main areas within the station and there are information hubs in the centre of both of them. So it was really easy to find staff. The overhead signage was also helpful but because there are so many platforms, shops, entrances and even toilets, it can be quite confusing to navigate the station, even with the overhead signage.
Disabled Access In and Around
Average
Most of the entrances and exits connect to the streets around the station. Most are level with those routes, although there were a couple that had a slight incline as you left the station. One exit leads to the small station car park where there are pedestrian crossings that lead through the car park and connect to the station entrance. Another leads to Terminus Place where there is a taxi rank and a small bus station. Again, there are pedestrian crossings that provide routes across these. One of the ways in and out of the station was via a shopping centre called Victoria Place. I entered Victoria Place and there was a small platform lift to take me from one of the entrances up to the level of the shops. I followed the signs for the station, however when I got to the other end, the only way down into the station was via an escalator. I turned back and followed some signage for lifts but I was only able to find lifts that took me out of the shopping centre. So it seemed that the only step-free route from the Victoria Place shopping centre into the station was by leaving the shopping centre, walking around the outside of the station and then using another entrance. This is a really large station that almost feels like two buildings put together. I had seen online that there are supposedly different coloured lines on the floor that provide a visual route to certain parts of the station. However, I didn’t see any of these lines when I visited. In both main areas of the station there was an information desk in a very central spot, so it was very easy to find a member of staff. The overhead signage is the same style of signage that you see in most railway stations in the UK. They have a dark blue background with white lettering and some also have symbols, such as toilets, tickets, information points, etc. There were a huge number of shops and food vendors in the station, they were all around the edge of the station and there were even some on an upper level which could be accessed via escalators or lifts. There were two main toilet areas in the station. One was much larger and this one had three accessible toilets and a Changing Places toilet. This was clearly marked with clear, bright signage above the entrance to this area and the overhead signage also had the Changing Places toilet symbol to help find it. There was a huge bank of ticket machines that I found were really easy to locate. There was a ticket office area as well which had manned desks. I couldn’t see any lowered counters at the ticket office. As well as the information hubs in central parts of the station, I also saw signs around the station which gave directions on how to get to the Passenger Assistance meeting point which was by platform seven. The floors were all really smooth throughout the station so it was really comfortable for me to travel around it in my wheelchair. I didn’t see a lot of seating in the station. There was one area that had some seating but it wasn’t a lot. I also didn’t see much in terms of alternative formats. I didn’t see a tactile map of the station or a BSL board which I’ve come to see quite regularly in UK railway stations.
Accessible facilities: Lift to some areas, Step-free entrance, Step-free access to most areas
Parking & Transport
Excellent
I travelled to this place by walk or wheel
There are three train operators that run from Victoria Station. Southeastern, Southern and the Gatwick Express all run regular trains from here. From these operators there are trains to Orpington, Gravesend, Ramsgate, Dover Priory, Gillingham, Ashford International, London Bridge, Epsom Downs, West Croydon, Dorking, East Grinstead, Reigate, Bognor Regis, Portsmouth Harbour, Littlehampton, Eastbourne, Brighton and Gatwick Airport. There is also an Underground station connected to the railway station. The Victoria, District and Circle lines run through the underground station. On the Circle Line you can get services to Edgware Road and Hammersmith. On the District Line you can get westbound services to Wimbledon, Richmond, and Ealing Broadway and eastbound services to Upminster. On the Victoria Line you can get services to Walthamstow Central and Brixton. There is a small car park connected to the station which has a total of 81 spaces. It has five accessible parking spaces as well as some EV charging bays. There are even two additional accessible EV parking spaces within the bank of EV charging bays. It is a paid car park. Victoria Coach Station is 550 metres away from the railway station and there are a large number of bus and coach services available from here. There is a taxi rank where black cabs are available to pick up passengers. It seems that there is a fairly constant queue of cabs that stop and wait here. This is located in Terminus Place. Taxis are also able to drop off and pick up by the station car park which is between platforms 13 and 14. Just outside the Terminus Place exit is a small bus station where there are four different stops with different buses available. The stops are all quite long, as some of the buses will terminate here and wait before beginning a new route. They have canopies and seating. The bus 52 stops at Stop A and provides services to Green Park, Oxford Circus, Camden Town and Kentish Town. Stop B is where the bus 3 terminates. Stop C is where the bus 390 terminates. Stop D is where the buses 38 and N38 stop. The daytime services, 38, has routes that go to Hackney Central and Clapton Pond. The night services, N38, terminates at Victoria and then provides services to Walthamstow Bus Station.
Accessible facilities: Electric Vehicle Charging, Drop-off or pick up point, Dedicated on-site parking
Accessible Toilets
Average
I saw two different banks of toilets in the station but one was much larger. The larger one was marked with clear symbols overhead including a Changing Places symbol. In this area there were three accessible toilets and a Changing Places toilet. I wasn’t able to get into the Changing Places toilet when I visited as there was a sign saying it was being refurbished. One of the accessible toilets was really large and provided lots of space inside. The other two seemed much smaller and one of them actually felt slightly dangerous as a wheelchair user. The door opened inwards but was located next to a flight of stairs that went down. Because of the size of the toilet, the weight of the door and the angle I then had to reverse out of the toilet I felt much too close to the top of the stairs. As I was also dealing with the heavy door it felt very dangerous to be struggling with that so close to the top of the stairs. I won’t be using that toilet again myself and I don’t recommend it for others in wheelchairs. There were lights over each of the accessible toilets which were green when the toilet was free and went red when it was in use. The two smaller accessible toilets didn’t require a RADAR key. The larger toilet was next to the Changing Places toilet. It was accessed via a RADAR key and the door opened outwards. There was a vertical grab rail on the outside to assist with opening the door. On the inside, a handle pushed upwards to lock the door from the inside and there was another vertical grab rail. To the right of the door, there were two coat hooks at different heights. The toilet was located at the back of the room on the left-hand side. It had space for a left-side transfer however, there was a baby-changing table to the left of the toilet and a large nappy bin had been placed in the transfer space. This meant the transfer space was almost completely obstructed. There was a height-adjustable grab rail that came down next to the toilet and another horizontal grab rail was on the other side, beneath the toilet paper dispenser. There was a plastic backrest behind the toilet but no lid. The flush was an automatic sensor on the wall behind the toilet. I had to wave my hand in front of it to trigger it but it was easy to reach as it was on the same side as the transfer space. In front of the toilet was a small sink with a single tap on the left of it. The tap was automatic with movement sensors detecting when to turn the tap on. Above the sink was a manual soap dispenser and to the right was an automatic hand dryer. There was a grab rail on either side of the sink. Opposite the toilet was a long, narrow shelf. It was a bit high for someone that was seated. To the right of the shelf was a floor to ceiling mirror on the wall. The red emergency cord had been looped around the height-adjustable grab rail so it wasn’t hanging to the floor. I made sure to fix this and attached a Euan’s Guide Red Cord Card.
Facilities: Accessible toilet, Changing Places toilet
