Leicester railway station

This article is about the National Rail station. For other uses, seeLeicester station (disambiguation).

Leicester
Leicester railway station as seen from London Road (Northern Entrance)
General information
Location	Leicester,City of Leicester England
Coordinates	52.632°N 1.124°W/52.632; -1.124
Grid reference	SK593041
Managed by	East Midlands Railway
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	LEI
Classification	DfT categoryB
History
Original company	Midland Counties Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
5 May 1840	Opened asLeicester
1 June 1867	RenamedLeicester Campbell Street
12 June 1892	RenamedLeicester London Road
1894	First Rebuild
5 May 1969	RenamedLeicester
1978	Second rebuild
Passengers
2018/19	5.582 million
2019/20	5.323 million
Interchange	0.487 million
2020/21	1.042 million
Interchange	78,735
2021/22	3.549 million
Interchange	0.276 million
2022/23	4.870 million
Interchange	0.423 million
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail and Road

Leicester railway station(formerlyLeicester Campbell StreetandLeicester London Road) is a mainline railway station in the city ofLeicesterinLeicestershire,England. The station is managed byEast Midlands Railwayand owned byNetwork Rail.The station is served byCrossCountryand East Midlands Railway services. It is the busiest station in Leicestershire, the second busiest station in theEast Midlands,and the fifth busiest station inthe Midlandsas a whole.

Leicester station was opened in 1840 by theMidland Counties Railway,and rebuilt in 1894 and 1978. It is on theMidland Main Line,which runs fromLondon St PancrastoSheffieldandNottingham.It is 99 miles 7 chains (159.5 km) north of London St Pancras.

Background

The station featured in the Midland Counties Railway Companion of 1840

The façade as seen from London Road in 1856

The first station on the site opened on 5 May 1840. It was originally known simply asLeicester,becomingLeicester Campbell Streeton 1 June 1867, andLeicester London Roadfrom 12 June 1892.This was replaced in 1894 by a new station, also calledLeicester London Road.Following the closure ofCentralon 5 May 1969, this station was renamedLeicester. Besides London Road and Central, the city of Leicester was served byBelgrave Road,Humberstone Road andWest Bridge railway stations.

History

Leicester station in the 1900s

Leicester was one of the first cities (though then a town) to be served by a railway, when theLeicester and Swannington Railwaybuilt its terminus station atWest Bridgeon the western side ofLeicesterin 1832.The Leicester and Swannington Railway was later absorbed by theMidland Railway.

In total, Leicester had seven railway stations (eight if the two sites at West Bridge are treated separately). In addition to the current Leicester station, three other main railway stations existed. The original station atWest Bridgeclosed to passengers in 1928.Leicester Belgrave Road(on theGreat Northern Railway) closed to passengers in 1962 andLeicester Central(on theGreat Central Railway) closed in May 1969. From 1892 up until this time, the current Leicester station was known asLeicester London Road.

In addition, there were smaller stations within the city boundary atHumberstone Roadon the LMS, Humberstone on the GNR, and, from 1874 until 1918, a halt atWelford Roadwas operated on the Leicester – London main line allowing access to the Cattle Market. At this halt, passengers were allowed to leave the trains but not to board them.

The station buildings

Detail of frontage

The contract for the first station on the present site was awarded by theMidland Counties Railwayto Waterfield and Smith, and was just under £15,000(equivalent to £1,710,700 in 2023).

It was first used on 4 May 1840, when a train of four first and six second-class carriages, pulled by theLeopardsteam engine, arrived from Nottingham. As was normal in those days with a through station, the original plan was to build it to the side of the main line, but instead it was finally built on the main line with a single platform 165 yards long to handle both northbound and southbound trains. The station was designed by William Parsons in the Grecian Revival style, with a two-storey main building which was embellished with a central pediment set forward on fluted columns in front. This was flanked by short single-storey wings. It was the headquarters of the Midland Counties Railway until that railway was amalgamated into theMidland Railwayin 1844. Upstairs were the company offices and boardroom, while downstairs was the booking hall, waiting and refreshment rooms.

The opening of new routes to Leicester led to steadily increasing traffic and, by 1858, a second platform had been built to handle southbound traffic, so leaving the original platform to handle northbound traffic.In 1868, it was decided to turn the southbound platform into anisland platformto further increase capacity, but this was not possible with the northbound platform due to the presence of the main buildings and station entrance.

Further expansion was contemplated for some time, but it was not until 1890 that the go ahead was given for Campbell Street station to be replaced by the presentLeicester railway station.All that remains of the first station is a pair of gateposts in anEgyptianstyle at the end of Station Street. The offices forRoyal Mailnow occupy some of the site of the old station buildings on Campbell Street.

The Midland Railway completely rebuilt the station between 1892 and 1894 to a design by the architectCharles Trubshaw.The new booking office was opened by themayorin June 1892 when it was renamed Leicester London Road. The station was completed in 1894.The frontage on London Road featured four entrance archways. Above each of the left-hand pair the word "Departure" was inscribed and, above each of the other two, the word "Arrival" was carved in relief. These signs were to assist cab drivers when dropping passengers who intended to catch departing trains, or were plying for hire by passengers who had arrived by train.

The new station frontage on London Road remains as a well-preserved lateVictorianbuilding, but the interior of the booking hall and the structures on the platforms were reconstructed bySir Robert McAlpinein 1978.

The station clock is the only hand-wound station clock in the UK.

A commemorative statue ofThomas Cookwas placed on the pavement outside the present station in 1991 to mark the first excursions arranged by thetravel agencymagnate. It was sculpted byJames Butler.

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

Until the line from Matlock to Chinley through Millers Dale was closed by theBeeching cuts,the'main lines'were those from London to Manchester, carrying named expresses such asThe Palatine.Express trains to Leeds and Scotland such as theThames-Clyde Expresstended to use theErewash Valley Linebefore proceeding on to theSettle and Carlisle Line.Expresses toEdinburgh,such asThe Waverleytravelled through Corby and Nottingham.

View over the Down side of the station 1962

Panoramic view of station in 1975, before rebuilding

British Railways

Whensectorisationwas introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by theInterCity sectoruntil theprivatisation of British Railways.

With the advent of powersignallingin 1986, thesignal boxand the crossovers disappeared, and the tracks approaching the station were relaid to allow trains from any direction to enter or leave any platform.

Privatisation

Upon theprivatisation of British Rail,the station became owned byRailtrackand laterNetwork Rail;however, in common with most British railway stations, the day-to-day operation was contracted out to the largest user of the station, in this caseMidland Mainline.Midland Mainline continued to refurbish the station with the installation of a large electronic departure board in the station entrance hall and smaller boards on all platforms.

In 2006, work was started on the installation ofautomatic ticket gatesto cut down onfare evasion.Leicester City Council issued plans for the redevelopment of the station and the surrounding area including a total of eight platforms.

Re-surfacing of the platforms took place throughout 2010.

Station amenities

The main entrance to the station is on London Road. The ticket office and travel centre are located in theconcourse;the lost property office and lockers were formerly located here also althoughEast Midlands Trainstook these facilities away in 2009 citing cost and therecession.This concourse gives access to the main stationoverbridgeto all platforms, and via a corridor to the lifts. There is afootbridgeat the northern end of the station giving access to the long-staycar parkand Campbell Street.

The station is based on twoisland platformswhich are wide with a long series of buildings. There is a newsagent and several food outlets including a licensed restaurant. There are also toilets and a large waiting room.

Midland Mainlineerected a first class lounge at the southern end of the up island platforms during 2000. Passenger information systems were updated at the same time and now usedot matrixdisplay screens. Leicester has automated announcements, which replaced the previous manual public address system in September 2011. In 2006, automatic ticket barriers were installed on all approaches to the station.

The station has an office for theBritish Transport PoliceandCash pointin theporte-cochereas well as a taxi rank and short-stay drop-off and pick-up area.

Services

A map of East Midlands Railway's InterCity and Connect services showing the current service pattern each hour

Routes run north–south through Leicester on theMidland Main Line,south toKettering,Bedford,LutonandLondon;and north toDerby,Nottingham,Lincoln,SheffieldandLeeds.Junctions north and south of the station serve theeast-west cross country route,going east toPeterborough,CambridgeandStansted Airport;and west toNuneatonandBirmingham New Street.

Leicester station is owned byNetwork Railand operated under afranchisebyEast Midlands Railway.Most services are provided by East Midlands Railway, withCrossCountryoperating on the Birmingham to Stansted Airport corridor. Due to a 15 mph maximum speed to the south of the station, as well as the size and importance of the city, all passenger trains stop at the station. Up until the winter 2008 timetable, the morning southboundThe Master Cutlerexpress fromLeedstoLondon St Pancraswas an exception although it eventually called here prior to the service ending.

Leicester is a bottleneck station as it has only four platforms. All platforms are well utilised, especially platforms two and three which receive freight as well as passenger trains. A freight loop goes to the east of the station alongside the carriage sidings which run adjacent to platform four.

Leicester is apenalty farestation, a valid ticket orpermit to travelmust be shown when requested. The station offers thePlusbusscheme which allows bus and train tickets to be bought together at a saving.

East Midlands TrainsHigh Speed Trainawaits departure to London from platform 3 after arriving from Leeds.

Departures

• Platform one–
  • Hourly localCrossCountryservice toBirmingham New StreetviaHinckley
• Platform two–
  • Hourly fast East Midlands Railway service toNottingham
  • Hourly fast East Midlands Railway service to Sheffield
  • Hourly semi-fast East Midlands Railway service toSheffieldviaLoughborough,Long EatonandDerby
  • Hourly semi-fast East Midlands Railway service to Nottingham via Loughborough, with peak hour services toLincoln
  • HourlyCrossCountryservice toStansted AirportviaCambridge
• Platform three–
  • Hourly fast East Midlands Railway service toLondon St Pancras
  • Hourly fast East Midlands Railway service to London St Pancras through from Sheffield
  • Hourly semi-fast East Midlands Railway service to London St Pancras viaMarket HarboroughandKettering
  • Second semi-fast East Midlands Railway service to London St Pancras via Market Harborough and Kettering
  • Hourly fast CrossCountry service to Birmingham New Street
• Platform four–
  • Hourly East Midlands Railway 'Ivanhoe' service to Lincoln viaSystonandNewarkwith peak hour trains toGrimsby

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
South Wigston		CrossCountry Birmingham-Leicester		Terminus
Narborough
Nuneaton		CrossCountry Birmingham-Stansted Airport		Melton Mowbray
London St Pancras International		East Midlands Railway Midland Main Line London to Sheffield		Derby
				Loughborough
Market Harborough		East Midlands Railway Midland Main Line London to Nottingham		Nottingham
				Loughborough
Terminus		East Midlands Railway Ivanhoe Line		Syston
	Historical railways
Terminus		Midland Railway Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line		Kirby Muxloe Line open, station closed

Future

Regeneration of the station

Prospect Leicestershireled plans which aimed to regenerate the city centre area of Leicester,the station was to be incorporated into a new business quarter.Plans for the station included to rotate the passengers facilities so that they exited into a new open city plaza rather than the current busy ring road. Renewed plans were released in 2008 for the £150 million redevelopment, promising over 2,800 new jobs in the area due to the new shops and offices which would be created.However, the2008–2012 global recessionalso saw these plans fail to materialise. Network Rail and East Midlands Trains started work on a £3.5 million scheme in 2012.Platforms have been resurfaced, toilets and both first and standard class waiting areas refurbished. The majority of work has taken place in the concourse and porte corche area where a new travel centre is being provided.

Network Rail adopted a Route Utilisation Strategy for freight in 2007which will create a new cross country freight route fromPeterborough(East Coast Main Line) toNuneaton(West Coast Main Line). One of the next stages (around 2013) will create additional lines through Leicester during a re-signalling scheme. During this period additional platforms may be provided at Leicester.

Electrification

Main article:Midland Main Line railway upgrade

As of 2022 the railway through Leicester is not electrified. Plans to carry out full electrification of the Midland Mainline were pausedon 20 July 2017, after being previously announced,commenced,suspendedand resumed.From 2024, services will be operated usingbi-mode electro-diesel trainsrunning in electro-pantograph mode betweenLondon St Pancrasand Wigston, just 4 miles (6,5 km) south of Leicester railway station switching to electro-accumulator/diesel-electric mode northwards from there.

In the decade starting 2020 various events changed the prospects for the station even though improvements had been on and off the political agenda for over a decade. Various news outlets reported in December 2020 that prospects for electrification toMarket Harboroughwere improving.On 23 March 2021, the Transport Select Committee published its sixth report in the Trains fit for the Future enquiry, which called for a rolling programme of electrification.It stated theMidland Main Lineproject would be divided into eight sections.Modern Railwaysconfirmed that the project would continue north ofMarket Harboroughall the way toLeicesterandSheffield.

Another major development was the publishing of theIntegrated Rail Plan (IRP)on 18 November 2021. This included full Midland Main Line electrification and upgrades.F2Nis still being upgraded in stages.

Ivanhoe Line

After phase one of theIvanhoe Linewas completed in the mid-1990s, it was originally planned that phase two would extend the line west toBurton upon Trenton the currentfreight-only lineviaCoalvilleandAshby-de-la-Zouch.The possibility was studied in 2008and again in 2016 but in both cases the conclusion was that the cost was not justified by the benefits.

The most recent study, in 2016, costed the work at up to £175 million and claimed that an additional 206,000 houses would need to be built along the route to generate enough passengers to make the line profitable.

See also

• Leicester Central railway station
• Leicester Belgrave Road railway station
• Leicester West Bridge railway station

External links

• Train timesandstation informationfor Leicester railway station fromNational Rail
• Leicester Train Station Information
• Leicester Train Station Car Parking