The Victoria line's Pimlico station, often dismissed as 'useless' and 'irrelevant' by frustrated commuters, recorded an average of 163,790 taps in and out each day in 2025—a figure comparable to Bermondsey (7,038,981 annual entries and exits) and Clapham Common (7,452,584). Despite this, a wave of social media videos and online debates question whether the affluent area is even real, with some Londoners calling for the stop to be scrapped entirely.
Why do Londoners call Pimlico 'useless'?
Charlie Sawyer, a lifestyle reporter who rides the Victoria line almost daily from Brixton, describes the frustration she feels every time the train pulls into Pimlico: 'The train stops, the doors open, no one gets off, no one gets on, the doors close, and we move on.' Despite an approximate population of 21,000 residents, the platforms are rarely crowded, and she notes that you never see commuters 'clawing their way onto the Tube' or groups of girls piling into the last carriage to eat their Morleys in peace.
On TikTok, dozens of videos describe Pimlico as a 'concept', with users debating whether the destination is real. Ibrahim Diallo, 28, a South London content creator, has lived in the area his entire life and claims there's 'never been a time where [he's] met someone who's said they're from Pimlico'. In a video shared last year, he filmed the train's stop at Pimlico to prove that no one got on or off. He tells Metro: 'I've been using the Victoria Line my whole life so I'm down there every week. Why was Pimlico added to the Victoria line?'
The history behind Pimlico's addition to the Victoria line
Pimlico was a late addition to the Victoria line, added in the late 1960s after intense lobbying by local political figure Sir Alan Dawtry. The station was included solely to please the rich and influential residents of the area, which, like neighbouring Belgravia, is considered affluent and upscale, home to beautiful Victorian town houses. However, it is also densely populated, and the station has become a vital transport hub for thousands of residents.
Ibrahim adds: 'If I'm honest with you, I've never known anyone that's got off at that station and said "yeah, this is where I live". And if I have ever seen someone get on, it'll be one or two people maximum. It's a massive waste of a tube stop.' He says he's 'always known that there was something off about Pimlico', and that when he started talking about how no one lives there, 'a whole bunch of people began saying they did', but he believes they're 'probably just joking'.
Residents and TfL data tell a different story
Anna Prudden, 29, a Trade Marketing Manager, lived in Pimlico for just under a year in 2022, right next to the station. She tells Metro: 'It's only about a 12 minute walk to Victoria, so to be honest, you might as well just walk and get on there? Whenever I would get off at Pimlico I never saw anymore than three or four other people get off at the same time.' While she found her commute to King's Cross an 'absolute delight', she 'totally understands' why others find the stop irrelevant.
Yet TfL data paints a different picture. In 2025, Pimlico station saw 7,641,420 annual entries and exits, a level of foot traffic comparable to Bermondsey (7,038,981) and Clapham Common (7,452,584). This suggests that, despite the online mockery, the station serves a significant number of passengers each day, challenging the notion that it is entirely useless.
