Tunnels Construction
The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between Brixton in south London and Walthamstow Central in the north-east, via the West End. It is a light blue line on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run entirely below ground, the other being the Waterloo & City line.
The line was constructed in the 1960s and was the first entirely new Underground line for 50 years. It was designed to relieve congestion on other lines, particularly the Piccadilly line and the Charing Cross branch of the Northern line. The first section, from Walthamstow Central to Highbury & Islington, opened in September 1968 and an extension to Warren Street followed in December. The line was completed to Victoria station in March 1969 and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II who rode from Green Park to Victoria. The southern extension to Brixton opened in 1971, and Pimlico station was added in 1972.
The Victoria line is operated using automatic train operation, but all trains carry drivers. The 2009 Tube Stock replaced the original 1967 Tube Stock trains. The line serves 16 stations and all but Pimlico provide interchanges with other Underground lines or National Rail services. The line, the most intensively used on the Underground, is used by 200 million passengers each year.
Every Victoria line station apart from Pimlico and Blackhorse Road was built as an interchange and several stations were rearranged to allow for cross-platform interchange with the line. In some stations the Victoria line platforms were built on either side of the existing arrangement; in others, the Victoria line uses the older platforms and the existing line was diverted onto a new alignment. All platforms on the line are 132.6 metres (435 ft) long. The line has hump-backed stations to allow trains to store gravitational potential energy as they slow down and release it when they leave a station, providing an energy saving of 5% and allowing trains run 9% faster.
The stations were originally tiled in blue and grey, each decorated with tiled motifs in seating recesses for identification. Some motifs were puns e.g. the image for Brixton was a ton of bricks. During construction of the first stage of the Jubilee line in 1979, the motifs on Green Park station were replaced by others matching the design for the Jubilee line platforms.
In late 2010 and 2011, platform humps were installed on all Victoria line stations except Pimlico to provide step-free access to trains. The project was in accordance with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The Victoria line humps resemble the Harrington Hump, a type of ramp being installed on some mainline stations, but are of a masonry construction. More details
The Victoria line is operated using automatic train operation, but all trains carry drivers. The 2009 Tube Stock replaced the original 1967 Tube Stock trains. The line serves 16 stations and all but Pimlico provide interchanges with other Underground lines or National Rail services. The line, the most intensively used on the Underground, is used by 200 million passengers each year.
Every Victoria line station apart from Pimlico and Blackhorse Road was built as an interchange and several stations were rearranged to allow for cross-platform interchange with the line. In some stations the Victoria line platforms were built on either side of the existing arrangement; in others, the Victoria line uses the older platforms and the existing line was diverted onto a new alignment. All platforms on the line are 132.6 metres (435 ft) long. The line has hump-backed stations to allow trains to store gravitational potential energy as they slow down and release it when they leave a station, providing an energy saving of 5% and allowing trains run 9% faster.
The stations were originally tiled in blue and grey, each decorated with tiled motifs in seating recesses for identification. Some motifs were puns e.g. the image for Brixton was a ton of bricks. During construction of the first stage of the Jubilee line in 1979, the motifs on Green Park station were replaced by others matching the design for the Jubilee line platforms.
In late 2010 and 2011, platform humps were installed on all Victoria line stations except Pimlico to provide step-free access to trains. The project was in accordance with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non Interoperable Rail System) Regulations 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The Victoria line humps resemble the Harrington Hump, a type of ramp being installed on some mainline stations, but are of a masonry construction. More details
