Loughborough railway station

Loughborough railway station is a Grade II listed[1] railway station in the town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, on the Midland Main Line, 111 miles (179 km) north of London St Pancras. The station is north-east of the town centre.

This article is about the National Rail station in Loughborough, Leicestershire. For the station in South London, see Loughborough Junction railway station. For the heritage station on the Great Central Railway, see Loughborough Central railway station.

Loughborough
LocationLoughborough, Borough of Charnwood
England
Grid referenceSK543204
Managed byEast Midlands Railway
Platforms3
Other information
Station codeLBO
ClassificationDfT category C1
History
Opened1872
Passengers
2015/16 1.298 million
2016/17 1.317 million
2017/18 1.297 million
2018/19 1.385 million
 Interchange  61,439
2019/20 1.331 million
 Interchange  58,269
Listed Building – Grade II
FeatureLoughborough Railway Station
Designated05 May 1981
Reference no.1320325[1]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The original station (opened in 1840 by the Midland Counties Railway, which was shortly to join the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the Midland Railway) was sited a little further south.[2]

The present station was built in 1872. The ironwork was constructed by Mr. Richards of Leicester, and the stone portion by Mr. Cox of Leicester.[3] The track was quadrupled and has retained much of its characteristically Midland Railway architecture, apart from the fact that its canopies have been cut back.[4] The station is grade II listed [5]

It became known as "Loughborough Midland" when Loughborough had three stations; Loughborough Derby Road (opened 1883 on the Charnwood Forest Railway, owned by London and North Western Railway from 1923 and closed to passengers in 1931) and Loughborough Central (Great Central Railway now used by the Great Central Railway (preserved)).

In future, there is to be a Loughborough Midland High-Level in which passengers could interchange with both network rail and the heritage GCR as the line is currently undergoing a heritage regeneration project.

Station masters
  • John Carr 1840? - 1854[6]
  • Robert Michie 1854 - 1861
  • R. Brandon 1861 - 1863
  • Robert Michie 1863 - 1865 (afterwards station master at Newark Castle)
  • Alfred Fewkes 1865[7] - ????
  • A. Everett ???? - 1873
  • L.H. Simmons 1873 - 1879
  • G. Smith 1879 - 1891
  • William Goodwin 1891 - 1908 [8] (formerly station master at Swansea)
  • Andrew John Evans 1908 - 1921[9] (formerly station master at Long Eaton)
  • William E. Coates 1921 - 1926 (formerly station master at Kegworth, afterwards station master at Kettering)
  • Charles Ratclife 1926 - 1931[10] (afterwards station master at Redditch)

Facilities

The station is staffed and has a side platform layout. A third, short platform was created on the down slow line for the commencement of Ivanhoe Line passenger services in 1993.

In 2000 passenger information systems were updated and now use dot matrix display screens. In 2006 automatic ticket gates were installed on all approaches to the station in order to cut down on fare evasion, these were complemented with ticket vending machines and additional FastTicket machines. The manual Tannoy system was replaced by an automated voice on 13 July 2011. Other facilities include bicycle racks, paid car parking, a shop and snack bar, public telephones and toilets. Taxis and buses are available outside; however, the bus to East Midlands Airport was withdrawn in 2010. Although the local Skylink service still operates from the town centre.

Refurbishment

Up until 2012 access to all but platform 1 was awkward for many passengers. The station had a footbridge and a barrow crossing to access platforms 2 and 3, in addition since the early 1990s the usable length of the two main platforms was four coaches due to the A60 road bridge.[11]

Loughborough Eastern Gateway[12] a locally led project proved to be the catalyst after many years of proposals to improve the station. The scheme got underway in March 2010.[13]

A £7 million package of improvements was started at the station in June 2010.[14] Platforms were extended to accommodate the longest trains which serve the station, lifts provided to access all platforms, and refurbishment of the existing ticket office, waiting rooms and glass platform canopies. The extended platforms 1 & 2 are capable of handling 10-car trains; and the extended platform 3 can handle up to 7-car trains.[15] The new facilities were opened in good time for the 2012 British and Japanese Olympic squads basing themselves in the town.[16]

Service patterns

Rail routes run north–south through Loughborough along the route known as the Midland Main Line, going south to London; and north to Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield.[17]

East Midlands Railway (EMR) operate the station as well as all services.

The usual Monday - Saturday service pattern is as follows:

Preceding station National Rail Following station
East Midlands Railway
Midland Main Line
East Midlands Railway
Ivanhoe Line
East Midlands Railway
Nottingham-Norwich
Limited service
  Historical railways  
Hathern
Line open, station closed		   Midland Railway
Midland Main Line		   Barrow-upon-Soar
Line and station open

References
  1. Historic England, "Loughborough Railway Station (1320325)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 30 December 2016
  2. Higginson, M, (1989) The Midland Counties Railway: A Pictorial Survey, Derby: Midland Railway Trust.
  3. "Loughborough. New Railway Station - Commemorative Supper". Leicester Journal. British Newspaper Archive. 28 June 1872. Retrieved 27 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. Radford, B., (1983) Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby London: Bloomsbury Books
  5. http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/environment/loughborough-statutorylist.html#loughborough18b Archived 11 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Sudden death of the Station Master". Leicester Chronicle. England. 30 September 1854. Retrieved 22 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Midland Railway". Nottingham Journal. England. 1 March 1865. Retrieved 22 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Items of Local Interest". Nottingham Evening Post. England. 1 October 1908. Retrieved 22 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "M.R. Staff Changes". Derby Daily Telegraph. England. 9 May 1921. Retrieved 22 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Loughboro' Sationmaster's Promotion". Leicester Daily Mercury. England. 11 December 1931. Retrieved 22 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Railway Station's Future to be Discussed in Parliament". 26 June 2008.
  12. "7 Key Development Sites, Loughborough Eastern Gateway" (PDF).
  13. "A New Station Gateway for Loughborough". Prospect leicestershire. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  14. "Olympic upgrade for Loughborough station". Rail-News.com. June 2010. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  15. Rackley, Stuart (9 January 2012). "Considering Loughborough". Rail Engineer. Rail Media. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  16. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17953494 Station revamp
  17. Table 53 National Rail timetable, May 2016

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