Leicester Railway Station - Leicester Central Station

Leicester Central Station

Leicester Central was Leicester's station on the Great Central Main Line which opened in 1899 and closed in 1969. When open, the station had services between London (Marylebone) and Sheffield via Leicester and Nottingham until closure of most of the route in 1966. The section between Rugby Central and Nottingham (initially Victoria, later cut back to Arkwright Street) remained open until 1969. This service was unusual in being self-contained - none of the stations were used by trains on any other service.

Leicester Central was situated on Great Central Street which is today just off the inner ring road.

The station buildings remain largely intact, although the platforms were demolished. The large section of the former Great Central Railway alignment through Leicester is now part of route 6 of the National cycle route known locally as the 'Great Central Way'.

Today the heritage preserved Great Central Railway operates a station called Leicester North at its southern terminus in the suburb of Belgrave. The present station is situated just a few yards to the south of the site of the original Belgrave and Birstall station which was demolished. It is unlikely that the line will be extended back to Leicester Central in the future as much of the route has been built over and bridges and viaducts demolished.