Leicester railway station

Detail of frontage

The contract for the first station on the present site was awarded by the Midland Counties Railway to Waterfield and Smith, and was just under £15,000[3] (equivalent to £1,364,400 in 2019).[4]

It was first used on 4 May 1840, when a train of four first and six second-class carriages, pulled by the Leopard steam 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 the Midland Railway in 1844. Upstairs were the company offices and boardroom, while downstairs was the booking hall, waiting and refreshment rooms.[5]

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.[6] In 1868 it was decided to turn the southbound platform into an island platform to 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 present Leicester railway station. All that remains of the first station is a pair of gateposts in an Egyptian style at the end of Station Street. The offices for Royal Mail now 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 architect Charles Trubshaw.[7] The new booking office was opened by the mayor in June 1892 when it was renamed Leicester London Road. The station was completed in 1894.[6] 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 late Victorian building, but the interior of the booking hall and the structures on the platforms were reconstructed by Sir Robert McAlpine in 1978.[8]

The station clock is the only hand-wound station clock in the UK.[9]

A commemorative statue of Thomas Cook was placed on the pavement outside the present station in 1991 to mark the first excursions arranged by the travel agency magnate. It was sculpted by James Butler.

Until the line from Matlock to Chinley through Millers Dale was closed by the Beeching cuts, the 'main lines' were those from London to Manchester, carrying named expresses such as The Palatine. Express trains to Leeds and Scotland such as the Thames-Clyde Express tended to use the Erewash Valley Line before proceeding on to the Settle and Carlisle Line. Expresses to Edinburgh, such as The Waverley travelled through Corby and Nottingham.

View over the Down side of the station 1962

Panoramic view of station in 1975, before rebuilding

When Sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by the Intercity Sector until the Privatisation of British Railways.

With the advent of power signalling in 1986, the signal box and the crossovers disappeared, and the tracks approaching the station were relaid to allow trains from any direction to enter or leave any platform.

Upon the privatisation of British Rail, the station became owned by Railtrack and later Network Rail, though, in common with most British railway stations, the day-to-day operation was contracted out to the largest user of the station, in this case Midland 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 of automatic ticket gates to cut down on Fare 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.[10]

• Platform one –
  • Hourly local CrossCountry service to Birmingham New Street via Hinckley
  • Hourly semi-fast East Midlands Railway service to Sheffield via Loughborough, Long Eaton and Derby
• Platform two –
  • Hourly fast East Midlands Railway service to Nottingham via East Midlands Parkway
  • Hourly fast East Midlands Railway service to Sheffield, with peak hour services to Leeds and weekend services to York and Scarborough
  • Hourly semi-fast East Midlands Railway service to Nottingham via Loughborough, with peak hour services to Lincoln
  • Hourly CrossCountry service to Stansted Airport via Cambridge
• Platform three –
  • Hourly fast East Midlands Railway service to London St Pancras
  • Hourly semi-fast East Midlands Railway service to London St Pancras via Market Harborough, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford and Luton Airport Parkway
  • Second fast East Midlands Railway service to London St Pancras via Market Harborough
  • Hourly fast CrossCountry service to Birmingham New Street
• Platform four –
  • Hourly fast East Midlands Railway service to London St Pancras through from Sheffield
  • Hourly East Midlands Railway 'Ivanhoe' service to Lincoln via Syston and Newark with peak hour trains to Sleaford

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
South Wigston		CrossCountry Birmingham-Leicester		Terminus
Narborough
Nuneaton		CrossCountry Birmingham-Stansted Airport		Melton Mowbray
St Pancras International		East Midlands Railway Midland Main Line		Derby
Market Harborough				Loughborough
Market Harborough		East Midlands Railway Midland Main Line		East Midlands Parkway
				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

Prospect Leicestershire led plans which aimed to regenerate the city centre area of Leicester, the station was to be incorporated into a new business quarter.[20] 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.[21] However, the 2008–2012 global recession also saw these plans fail to materialise. Network Rail and East Midlands Trains started work on a £3.5 million scheme in 2012.[22] 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 2007[23] which will create a new cross country freight route from Peterborough (East Coast Main Line) to Nuneaton (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.[24]

See also Electrification of the Midland Main Line

The railway through Leicester is not electrified. Plans to carry out electrification of the Midland Mainline were finally cancelled[25] on 20 July 2017, after being previously announced,[26] commenced,[27] suspended[28] and resumed.[29] From 2022, services will be operated using bi-mode electro-diesel trains running in electro-pantograph mode between London St Pancras and Market Harborough, switching to electro-accumulator/diesel-electric mode northwards from there.[30]

After phase one of the Ivanhoe Line was completed in the mid-1990s, it was originally planned that phase two would extend the line west to Burton upon Trent on the current freight-only line via Coalville and Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The possibility was studied in 2008[31] and 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.[32]