Leicester was one of the first cities (though then a town) to be served by a railway, when the
Leicester and Swannington Railway built its terminus station at
West Bridge on the western side of
Leicester in 1832. The Leicester and Swannington Railway was later absorbed by the
Midland 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 at
West Bridge closed to passengers in 1928.
Leicester Belgrave Road (on the
Great Northern Railway) closed to passengers in 1962 and
Leicester Central (on the
Great Central Railway) closed in May 1969. From 1892 up until this time, the current Leicester station was known as
Leicester London Road. In addition, there were smaller stations within the city boundary at
Humberstone Road on the LMS, Humberstone on the GNR, and, from 1874 until 1918, a halt at
Welford Road was 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 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 (). 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. 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 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. The station clock is the only hand-wound station clock in the UK. 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.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway 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.
British Rail When
sectorisation was introduced in the 1980s, the station was served by the
InterCity sector until the
privatisation of British Rail. With the advent of power
signalling in 1986, the
signal box and the crossovers disappeared; the tracks approaching the station were relaid to allow trains from any direction to enter or leave any platform.
Privatisation Upon the
privatisation of British Rail, the station became owned by
Railtrack and later
Network 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 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.
Regeneration of the station 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. 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, due to the
Great Recession these plans failed 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 2007 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. ==Station amenities==