The large space open air bus stops outside Victoria Station could become a pedestrian plaza, under plans put forward by the local business group.

The area outside Victoria station is undeniably fairly grim, with a shabby pavement space usually filled with smokers facing onto the bus waiting area. There’s a very cramped path to the west, and a new plaza space leading to Victoria, but with several roads to cross.

The Victoria BID has put forward a number of plans to improve the wider area, one of which would see buses banished from outside the railway station to a nearby main road, and the area they used to use turned into a large pedestrian space — not unlike that outside King’s Cross station today.

The report says that experience of the temporary redistribution of bus services from Terminus Place to on-street locations during the Victoria Station Upgrade works suggests that it should be feasible to permanently redistribute those services onto roads within the vicinity of the station.

Apart from giving the area a cleaner appearance, it gives visitors a moment to pause and orient themselves without being buffeted around on the narrow pavement that station offers today.

At the moment, this is just an aspiration by the local business lobby, and it would need a lot of different groups to come together to agree it – not to mention finding the cash to pay for it.