London bus crash: 17 injured as double-decker mounts pavement outside Victoria Station

posted by: Alistair Penwood | on 5 September 2025

Seventeen injured after rush-hour bus mounts pavement at Victoria

Seventeen people were hurt when a Route 24 double-decker left the carriageway and hit street furniture outside London Victoria Station just after 8:20am on Thursday. The crash, on Victoria Street near the Victoria Palace Theatre, happened at the height of the morning commute and sent a stream of ambulances, police units and firefighters into one of the capital’s busiest transport hubs.

Fifteen people were taken to hospital and two others were treated at the scene. Police said none of the injuries are believed to be life‑threatening. The driver was among those hurt. Crossbench peer Lord Alton, a former Liverpool MP, was also injured and treated for head wounds, according to a spokesperson.

People nearby described a sudden swerve and the bus mounting the pavement. One commuter who was seated on the lower deck said the vehicle felt faster than expected before it veered and struck a fixed object, sending shattered glass across the aisle. Another bystander who was walking along Victoria Street recalled frantic screams as passengers were thrown forward.

Images from the scene showed a smashed windscreen and heavy damage to the bus’s front end. Diesel spilled onto Allington Street, prompting officers to impose a no‑smoking order in the cordoned area while firefighters made the vehicle safe. London’s Air Ambulance responded alongside multiple ambulance crews and advanced paramedics.

Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah, who is overseeing the early phase of the inquiry, appealed for dashcam and mobile phone footage from anyone in the area at the time. No arrests have been made. The Metropolitan Police collision investigators are working with Transport for London (TfL) and the operator, Transport UK, to determine what happened.

Victoria Station stayed open for rail and Underground services, but the immediate streets were sealed off for several hours. At least 14 bus routes were diverted in both directions, and stops around the station were suspended, adding long delays across Westminster’s road network.

What investigators will look at, and why this location is so sensitive

The questions now are familiar: did a mechanical fault, a medical episode, driver error, or the road layout play a part? Investigators will pull CCTV from inside and outside the bus, examine telematics, and check maintenance and inspection records. They will map tyre marks and impact points, work through witness statements, and assess whether speed, surface conditions, or sight lines were a factor. Standard post-collision checks for large passenger vehicles include a detailed vehicle inspection and reviews of the driver’s recent duty pattern and training history.

The vehicle was operating Route 24, a core trunk route that runs through central London between the north of the city and Pimlico, passing Parliament Square and Victoria Street. At that hour, footfall is heavy: office workers, tradespeople, and tourists converge on a small grid of streets where buses swing in and out of stops within metres of crowded pavements. That density magnifies risk when something goes wrong, even for a few seconds.

Local context matters here. Since 2021, two pedestrians have lost their lives in separate bus collisions around Victoria. That history does not mean Thursday’s crash shares the same causes, but it explains the heightened concern. TfL’s Vision Zero strategy sets a target of eliminating deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads, and buses have been a major focus, with speed‑limiting technology, enhanced mirrors and camera systems, and revised driver training rolled out across the fleet in recent years.

Even so, buses are large, heavy vehicles operating inches from kerbs where people wait to board or cross the street. When a bus mounts the pavement, the margin for error disappears. The damage visible on Thursday — the caved‑in front, the shattered glass, the fuel spill — is typical of high‑energy frontal impacts that can injure bystanders as well as passengers who are standing or seated without restraints.

Eyewitness accounts point to a short, sharp loss of control. One passenger described a quick lateral movement before impact, with people thrown forward onto seats and into stanchions. On the lower deck, falling glass caused minor cuts and shock. On the upper deck, the sudden stop can translate into a whip‑like effect that sends riders into the seatbacks ahead. Early reports suggest injuries ranged from head wounds and facial cuts to suspected fractures and soft‑tissue traumas common in abrupt decelerations.

Emergency teams followed a familiar choreography. First responders triaged on the pavement, tagging patients for treatment priority and spreading them between hospitals to avoid overloading any single emergency department. Firefighters isolated the bus’s power, contained the diesel, and checked for structural hazards. Police taped off a broad area to keep pedestrians and gawkers away, preserving the roadway for forensic mapping and allowing medics room to operate.

For commuters, the practical fallout was immediate. Diversions rippled across Westminster and Victoria as buses were rerouted away from the cordon. Journey times lengthened, stops were out of use, and drivers faced gridlock along nearby corridors. For businesses around the station, a late‑morning lull followed the initial chaos as the road closure kept footfall down until mid‑day.

Transport UK, the operator running Route 24, confirmed it is cooperating with the police and TfL. Rosie Trew, TfL’s head of bus service delivery, said a joint investigation is underway and support will be offered to passengers, staff, and witnesses who were affected by the crash. That usually means access to counseling services and follow‑up welfare checks for the driver and any staff on board.

As with any serious collision, the timeline now stretches beyond the clean‑up. Engineers will inspect the bus in detail once it is recovered to a secure facility. Investigators will test components that commonly feature in loss‑of‑control events — steering, brakes, suspension, and throttle systems — and cross‑check those findings with onboard data and maintenance logs. If an underlying defect is found, it could trigger checks on sister vehicles. If human factors are identified, the focus will turn to training, scheduling, and whether existing safeguards worked as designed.

Victoria’s geography adds a complication. The streets outside the station are a knot of crossings, bus stands, one‑way systems and service entrances for theatres, shops and offices. Sight lines change quickly with the ebb and flow of buses pulling in and out, and the mix of tourists with luggage and commuters on autopilot can make split‑second decisions harder for drivers. Road design tweaks — from tightened turns to bollards and forgiving kerbs — have helped elsewhere in central London and may come under review here too.

Public anxiety after a high‑profile crash is understandable, but it sits alongside a broader trend: London’s buses move millions of people safely every week. When something rare but serious happens, the expectation is that authorities explain clearly and act quickly. That means publishing findings, updating on any enforcement action, and setting out changes — whether that is software updates to speed assist systems, extra route‑specific driver briefings, or physical changes to the street.

For now, police say no one is critically injured and there have been no arrests. Detectives are asking anyone who saw the collision, or who captured it on a phone or dashcam between 8:10am and 8:30am around Victoria Street and Allington Street, to share footage to help build the timeline. If you were on board or nearby and feel shaken, TfL says support is available. And if you are heading through the area, check for diversions: road restrictions were expected to ease only after forensic work wrapped up and the diesel was cleared.

This was a jolt to the heart of the city at the busiest time of day — a reminder of why central London’s safety drive cannot ease up. The investigation will tell us why this bus left the road. The bigger task is making sure it does not happen again on these cramped streets outside Victoria, a few blocks from Buckingham Palace, where buses, cabs and crowds share every inch of space.

Key facts at a glance:

• Time and place: about 8:20am, Victoria Street near Victoria Palace Theatre
• Casualties: 17 injured; 15 to hospital, two treated at scene; none life‑threatening
• Notable casualty: Lord Alton sustained head injuries
• Vehicle and route: double‑decker on Route 24, operated by Transport UK
• Response: major presence from ambulance, police, fire, and London’s Air Ambulance
• Disruption: at least 14 bus routes diverted; local streets closed for hours
• Hazards: diesel spill on Allington Street; temporary no‑smoking order
• Status: no arrests; police appeal for witness footage; investigation ongoing

The phrase everyone will search for today is London bus crash. Behind it are people who went to work, to appointments, to school — and a reminder that when a big vehicle goes wrong by a small margin, the consequences are felt across a whole neighborhood.