Vauxhall tube station
Victoria line · Zones 1 and 2 · Lambeth
About Vauxhall station
The London and South Western Railway opened Vauxhall Bridge Station on 11 July 1848, when its main line was carried on a viaduct from Nine Elms to Waterloo. A fire almost destroyed it on 13 April 1856; once rebuilt, it was renamed plain Vauxhall in 1863. From 1921 milk trains from the West Country halted here to discharge their loads through a pipe running under the road to a United Dairies creamery opposite.
The Victoria line station, approved in March 1966, was opened by Princess Alexandra on 23 July 1971 as part of the extension to Brixton. The ground beneath the escalator shaft was frozen with brine to dig it, and the platforms carry a motif by George Smith recalling the 19th-century Vauxhall Gardens. In October 1982 Vauxhall trialled the Underground’s first automated ticketing, two machines called ‘Tenfare’ and ‘Allfare’, and the experiment shaped the system later rolled out across the network. A £36m upgrade in the mid-2010s installed lifts for step-free access to the Victoria line. Although it is a through station, it counts as a central London terminus for ticketing.
First and last trains from Vauxhall
Times are TfL’s published timetable departures from this station; on Saturday the list follows TfL’s “Saturdays and public holidays” timetable.
At the busiest hour on a weekday there are up to 36 Victoria trains an hour per direction from Vauxhall, counting both directions separately.
Connections
- National Rail: South Western Railway.
Station facilities
What is near Vauxhall station
At Vauxhall Cross, by the southern approach to Vauxhall Bridge, the station combines the tube, South Western Railway’s first stop out of Waterloo and Vauxhall Bus Station, about 40 m away. Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens is around 310 m off, Vauxhall Park and Riverside Gardens are both about 350 m, and Bonnington Gardens about 320 m. Effra Quay and the Isle of Effra lie within 300 m, and river boats call at nearby St George Wharf Pier.
| Place | Walk from the station |
|---|---|
| Vauxhall Bus Station | 40 m |
| Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens | 310 m |
| Bridge Command | 140 m |
| Isle of Effra | 200 m |
| Effra Quay | 270 m |
| Bonnington Gardens | 320 m |
| Riverside Gardens | 350 m |
| Vauxhall Park | 350 m |
Frequently asked questions
In October 1982 it became the first Underground station with automated ticketing, as an experiment. A ‘Tenfare’ machine sold the ten most popular single tickets and an ‘Allfare’ machine issued singles and returns to any tube station. The trial ran until July 1983 and informed the ticketing system later introduced across the network.
In 1921 United Dairies opened a creamery and bottling plant opposite the station. Milk trains from the West Country pulled into the Up Windsor Local platform, where a pipe ran under the road to the creamery, and were unloaded in halves between the evening and morning peaks.