Melton Mowbray railway station

The station on the Syston and Peterborough Railway opened as Melton on 1 September 1846 when two sections were opened, the first from Leicester to Melton, and the second from Stamford to Peterborough. The section from Melton to Stamford had been delayed due to the opposition from Lord Harborough.[1]

The station building with the later porte-cochère

The station building is thought to have been designed by William Parsons and Sancton Wood.[2] It was constructed by the contractor Herberts for a cost of £3,021 (equivalent to £294,700 in 2019).[3] The porte-cochère is an addition added later by the Midland Railway in an attempt to improve the station in response to the competition of the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway who opened Melton North in 1879.

The station was badly damaged by a snowstorm on Tuesday 11 April 1876. The corrugated iron roof which spanned the two platforms and lines was about 60 yards (55 m) long and 28 yards (26 m) wide. The weight of snow caused the roof to collapse shortly after the passage of a goods train through the station. Fortunately there were no passengers on the platforms so there were no fatalities. A small section of the roof remained standing, but was in a poor condition so the company attached a long chain to it and, using a locomotive, pulled it down.[4] The line was cleared in around three hours.

On 1 November 1876 the station was renamed Melton Mowbray. In 1923 it was renamed Melton Mowbray South. From 1957 the station was known as Melton Mowbray Town to distinguish it from the former Melton Mowbray North on the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway, which closed to regular traffic in 1953.

It was refurbished in 2011 with new glass in the platform canopies, resurfaced platforms, passenger information screens, improved disabled access to the barrow crossing, a full repaint and a new footbridge to replace the original which was superannuated. The refurbishment of the platforms retained their original size and means that previous plans to extend these by up to 14 yards (13 m) by no later than 2012[5] did not go ahead to the original timescale.

A CrossCountry Class 170 operating to Birmingham

From Melton Mowbray there is an hourly service off-peak in both directions operated by CrossCountry. Westbound, trains run to Birmingham via Leicester, Nuneaton and Coleshill. Eastbound, trains run to Stansted Airport via Peterborough, Ely and Cambridge. Additional trains run at peak times, with some terminating at Cambridge.[14]

Although the next station westbound is Syston, there are no direct services between the two stations.[14]

Despite managing the station, East Midlands Railway (EMR) only operates a limited number of services to the station. A single daily return service to London St Pancras commenced on 27 April 2009 running via Corby[15] and is notable for being the first regular passenger service to cross the spectacular and historic Welland Viaduct on the Oakham to Kettering line since 1966. The company introduced a further return service from Derby via East Midlands Parkway (for East Midlands Airport) from May 2010. Further services may be introduced in the future.[16] There are two daily services to/from London with one calling at Oakham, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, and Luton. Whilst the other train calls at Oakham, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton and Luton Airport Parkway.[17]

In addition, a handful of local services operate at either end of the day (mainly for train crew route knowledge retention purposes). A morning service runs from Nottingham to Norwich and an evening service operates from Spalding to Nottingham via Peterborough.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Leicester		CrossCountry Birmingham - Stansted Airport		Oakham
Loughborough		East Midlands Railway Nottingham - Norwich (via Loughborough) Limited Service		Oakham
East Midlands Parkway		East Midlands Railway Derby-London (via Corby) Limited Service		Oakham
Terminus

According to the Official Handbook of Stations the following classes of traffic were being handled at this station in 1956: G, P, F, L, H, C and there was a 7-ton crane. [18]

Just outside Melton Mowbray station the main line is joined by the Old Dalby Test Track. This runs towards Nottingham via Old Dalby, but stops short of Nottingham railway station at the edge of the suburb of West Bridgford. This is electrified with overheads, has its own control centre and dates from when the British Rail Research Division developed it as a test track for the Advanced Passenger Train, having been taken out of use some years before. It has, more recently, been used for testing Virgin Trains' Pendolino units and later for the testing of new stock for London Underground built by Derby Litchurch Lane Works.

Railway station lavatories have never been noted for the luxury of their appointments, but the toilet of the former first class waiting room had a hot-water pipe coursing through the seat.[19]

Melton Mowbray station won "highly commended" award at the National Rail Awards 2014 for Small station of the year.[20]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Melton Mowbray railway station.

• Train times and station information for Melton Mowbray railway station from National Rail