The Railways of Leicester

Leicester possessed seven railway stations. In addition to the only survivor– London Road – three other main railway stations existed. The Leicester & Swannington station at West Bridge, which closed to passengers in 1928, was itself a replacement for the original West Bridge station that opened with the railway in 1832 but replaced by a larger station in 1893. Leicester Belgrave Road (Great Northern Railway) officially opened in 1883 and closed to passengers in 1962 and Leicester Central, part of the final major railway line to be built in the country, the Great Central Railway, opened in 1899, being closed in May 1969. In addition, there were smaller stations within the city boundary at Humberstone Road on the Midland Railway main line, Humberstone on the GNR, and from 1874 until 1918, a halt at Welford Road which comprised a single platform on the Down main line. Maps accompany each section and hopefully give the reader some idea of where the various lines of the railway passed through the city.