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Leicester railway station

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Leicester
National Rail
BERJAYA
The station, as seen from London Road (northern entrance)
General information
LocationLeicester, City of Leicester
England
Coordinates52°37′55″N 1°07′26″W / 52.632°N 1.124°W / 52.632; -1.124
Grid referenceSK593041
ManagerEast Midlands Railway
Platforms4
Other information
Station codeLEI[1]
ClassificationDfT category B
History
Original company
Midland Counties Railway
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
5 May 1840Opened as Leicester
1 June 1867Renamed Leicester Campbell Street
12 June 1892Renamed Leicester London Road
1894First Rebuild
5 May 1969Renamed Leicester
1978Second rebuild
Passengers
2020/21Decrease 1.042 million
 Interchange Decrease 78,735
2021/22Increase 3.549 million
 Interchange Increase 0.276 million
2022/23Increase 4.870 million
 Interchange Increase 0.423 million
2023/24Increase 5.304 million
 Interchange Increase 0.462 million
2024/25Increase 5.527 million
 Interchange Increase 0.518 million
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Leicester railway station (formerly Leicester Campbell Street and Leicester London Road) is a main line railway station in the city of Leicester, in Leicestershire, England. The station is managed by East Midlands Railway and owned by Network Rail. Trains are operated by CrossCountry and East Midlands Railway. It is the busiest station in Leicestershire, the second busiest station in the East Midlands and the fifth busiest station in the Midlands as a whole.[2]

Leicester station was opened in 1840 by the Midland Counties Railway and rebuilt in 1894 and 1978. It is on the Midland Main Line, which runs from London St Pancras to Sheffield and Nottingham. It is 99 miles 7 chains (159.5 km) north of London St Pancras.[3]

History

[edit]
BERJAYA
The station featured in the Midland Counties Railway Companion of 1840

The first station on the site opened on 5 May 1840.[4] It was originally known simply as Leicester, becoming Leicester Campbell Street in June 1867[4] and Leicester London Road from 12 June 1892.[5] This was replaced in 1894 by a new station, also called Leicester London Road but usually referred to as the "Midland Station" to differentiate from Leicester Central station. Following the closure of Leicester Central on 5 May 1969, this station was renamed Leicester.[5]

Besides London Road and Central, the city of Leicester was served by Belgrave Road, Humberstone Road and West Bridge railway stations.

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.[6]

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.[4] 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.

The station buildings

[edit]
BERJAYA
Leicester station in the 1900s

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[7] (equivalent to £1,321,200 in 2025).[8]

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.[9]

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.[10] 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.[10] 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.[10] 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.[11]

The station clock is the only hand-wound station clock in the UK.[12]

Regeneration of the station

[edit]

Prospect Leicestershire led plans which aimed to regenerate the city centre area of Leicester,[13] the station was to be incorporated into a new business quarter.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] Platforms have been resurfaced, toilets and both first and standard class waiting areas refurbished.[17]

Network Rail adopted a Route Utilisation Strategy for freight in 2007[18] 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.[19]

Facilities

[edit]

The main entrance to the station is on London Road. The ticket office and travel centre are located in the concourse. This concourse gives access to the main station overbridge to all platforms, and via a corridor to the lifts. There is a footbridge at the northern end of the station giving access to the long-stay car park and Campbell Street.[20]

The station is based on two island platforms which are wide with a long series of buildings. There is a newsagent and several food outlets including a café and licensed bar. There are also toilets and a large waiting room.[21]

The station has an office for the British Transport Police and Cash point in the porte-cochere as well as a taxi rank and short-stay drop-off and pick-up area.[22]

In 2021, Leicester City Council proposed a £22 million plan to add a new platform, as well as relocate the main entrance of the concourse onto Station Street.[23]

Passenger volume

[edit]
Passenger volume at Leicester[24]
2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Entries and exits 4,456,662 4,360,891 4,778,063 4,969,109 5,132,022 4,992,390 4,953,636 4,896,018 4,797,294 4,853,908 5,052,026 5,247,140 5,422,928 5,390,776 5,582,286 5,322,728 1,042,118 3,548,600 4,869,836 5,303,830 5,527,136
Interchanges 372,261 384,983 383,370 353,101 420,563 367,430 394,301 465,579 484,786 452,471 467,456 482,988 494,187 500,788 517,295 487,203 78,735 276,360 422,690 462,423 517,869

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Services

[edit]
BERJAYA
A new Class 810, operated by East Midlands Railway, at the station in 2024

Routes run north–south through Leicester on the Midland Main Line, south to Kettering, Bedford, Luton and London; and north to Derby, Nottingham, Lincoln and Sheffield. Junctions north and south of the station serve the east-west cross country route, going east to Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport; and west to Nuneaton and Birmingham New Street.

The station offers the Plusbus scheme which allows bus and train tickets to be bought together at a saving.[25]

Monday to Friday off-peak service patterns as of June 2024 in trains per hour (tph) and trains per day (tpd):

East Midlands Railway:[26]

CrossCountry:[27]

From 14 December 2025, direct services from Leicester to Lincoln Central no longer run as a regular off-peak service due to a recast of the East Midlands Railway timetable.[28] These services will instead terminate at Nottingham, but will continue to provide a local stopping pattern calling at all stations towards Nottingham, unlike existing intercity services. Passengers who currently travel onwards to Lincoln Central or Grimsby Town via Newark Castle will instead have to change trains at Nottingham.[29]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
CrossCountryTerminus
CrossCountry
East Midlands Railway
Midland Main Line
London to Sheffield
East Midlands Railway
Midland Main Line
London to Nottingham
TerminusEast Midlands Railway
Ivanhoe Line
  Historical railways  
Terminus   Midland Railway
Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line		   Kirby Muxloe
Line open, station closed

Future

[edit]

Electrification

[edit]

As of 2025 the railway through Leicester is not electrified. Plans to carry out full electrification of the Midland Mainline were paused in July 2025[30] after being previously announced,[31] commenced,[32] suspended[33] cancelled,[34] and resumed.[35] Since 2026, services have been operated using bi-mode electro-diesel trains running in electro-pantograph mode between London St Pancras and Wigston, just 4 miles (6,5 km) south of Leicester railway station switching to electro-accumulator/diesel-electric mode northwards from there.[36]

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 to Market Harborough were improving.[37] 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.[38][39] It stated the Midland Main Line project would be divided into eight sections.[40] Modern Railways confirmed that the project would continue north of Market Harborough all the way to Leicester and Sheffield.[41]

Another major development was the publishing of the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) on 18 November 2021. This included full Midland Main Line electrification and upgrades.[42] F2N is still being upgraded in stages.

Ivanhoe Line

[edit]

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[43] 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.[44]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Railway Codes". railwaycodes.org.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "Office of Rail & Road". Archived from the original on 2 February 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  3. ↑ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (2022). Railway Track Diagrams; 4: Midlands & North West (5th ed.). Frome: TRACKmaps. p. 10. ISBN 978 1999627157.
  4. 1 2 3 Quick 2023, p. 279.
  5. 1 2 Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 141. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  6. ↑ "Leicester". spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  7. ↑ "Midland Counties' Railway". Railway Times. 2 (85): 626. 17 August 1839.
  8. ↑ UK Consumer Price Index inflation figures from 1209–2024 based on data from "Inflation calculator". Bank of England. London. 18 February 2026. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  9. ↑ Billson, P., (1996) Derby and the Midland Railway Derby: Breedon Books
  10. 1 2 3 Gough, John (1980). "Leicester (London Road) Station". In Williams, Daniel (ed.). The Adaption of Change: Essays upon the History of 19th Century Leicester and Leicestershire. Leicester: Leicestershire Museums. ISBN 978-0-85022-067-4.
  11. ↑ "UK stations have facelift". Railway Engineer International. Vol. 3–5. Mechanical Engineering Publications, Limited. 1978. p. 15.
  12. ↑ "Station upgrade - then and now". Leicester Mercury. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2016.[permanent dead link]
  13. ↑ "Home". Prospect Leicestershire. Archived from the original on 2 June 2011.
  14. ↑ "City Centre Masterplan > New Business Quarter". Prospect Leicestershire. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010.
  15. ↑ "Plans for £150m station facelift". BBC News. 6 March 2008. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  16. ↑ "All change! Sneak preview of Leicester railway station's revamp". This Is Leicestershire. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ↑ "Leicester railway station receives £6m improvement". BBC News. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2026.
  18. ↑ "Route Utilisation Strategy > Freight". Network Rail. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
  19. ↑ "East Midlands". Network Rail. Archived from the original on 17 January 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
  20. ↑ "Leicester station map". Archived from the original on 8 June 2025.
  21. ↑ "Leicester Station | National Rail". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  22. ↑ "Leicester Station | National Rail". www.nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  23. ↑ Johnston, Howard (July 2021). "Regional News". Rail (magazine). No. 935. p. 28.
  24. ↑ "Estimates of station usage | ORR Data Portal". dataportal.orr.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2026.
  25. ↑ "Leicester PLUSBUS". Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  26. ↑ "Timetables | EMR". East Midlands Railway. Archived from the original on 12 September 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  27. ↑ "Timetable - Stansted, Cambridge & Nottingham to Birmingham & Cardiff" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2024.
  28. ↑ "East Coast Main Line December 2025 Timetable". ecmltimetable.info. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  29. ↑ "Realtime Trains | Departures from Leicester all day on 15/12/2025". www.realtimetrains.co.uk. Retrieved 6 September 2025.
  30. ↑ "Dismay at government pause to Midland Mainline electrification". BBC News. 9 July 2025.
  31. ↑ "Investing in rail, investing in jobs and growth" (Press release). Department for Transport. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  32. ↑ "Midland Main Line closures for bridge works ahead of electrification". Rail Technology Magazine. 11 September 2014. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  33. ↑ "Today's House of Commons debates – Thursday 25 June 2015: Network Rail". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  34. ↑ "Sheffield, Swansea and Windermere electrification cancelled". Railway Gazette. 20 July 2017. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  35. ↑ Savage, Danny (30 September 2015). "Electrification of train lines to be restarted by Network Rail". BBC News. Sheffield: BBC English Regions. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  36. ↑ "Electrification to reach Market Harborough". Railway Gazette. 5 March 2019. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  37. ↑ "Rail Electrification to Market Harborough moves closer". Harborough FM. 8 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  38. ↑ Lancefield, Neil (23 March 2021). "MPs call for rolling programme of rail electrification projects to cut carbon". Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  39. ↑ "MP's call for immediate start of 30-year rail electrification plan". Rail Technology Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  40. ↑ Trains fit for the future? Sixth report of session 2019-2021 (Report). London: UK Parliament. 23 March 2021. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  41. ↑ "MML Wires towards Market Harborough". Modern Railways. April 2021: 23. March 2021.
  42. ↑ "Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands" (PDF) (Press release). London: Department for Transport. 18 November 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  43. ↑ "A blow to Ivanhoe hopes". Leicester Mercury. 3 December 2008. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009.
  44. ↑ Ashe, Isaac (2 June 2016). "Reopening of Ivanhoe Line between Leicester and Burton unlikely to get funding says Leicestershire County Council". The Hinckley Times. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.

Bibliography

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