Loughborough railway station is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

railway station in the town of Loughborough,

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, on the Midland Main Line, north of London St Pancras. The station is north-east of the town centre.

History

The original station (opened in 1840 by the

Midland Counties Railway The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR s ...

, which was shortly to join the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

) was sited a little further south. The present station was built in 1872. The ironwork was constructed by Mr. Richards of Leicester, and the stone portion by Mr. Cox of Leicester. The track was quadrupled and has retained much of its characteristically Midland Railway

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, apart from the fact that its canopies have been cut back. The station is

grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed. It became known as "Loughborough Midland" when Loughborough had three stations; Loughborough Derby Road (opened 1883 on the Charnwood Forest Railway, owned by

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

from 1923 and closed to passengers in 1931) and Loughborough Central ( Great Central Railway now used by the Great Central Railway (preserved)). In future, there is to be a Loughborough Midland High-Level in which passengers could interchange with both network rail and the heritage GCR as the line is currently undergoing a heritage regeneration project.

Facilities

The station is staffed and has a

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

layout. A third, short platform was created on the down slow line for the commencement of Ivanhoe Line passenger services in 1993. In 2000 passenger information systems were updated and now use

dot matrix A dot matrix is a 2-dimensional patterned array, used to represent characters, symbols and images. Most types of modern technology use dot matrices for display of information, including mobile phones, televisions, and printers. The system is al ...

display screens. In 2006 automatic ticket gates were installed on all approaches to the station in order to cut down on

fare evasion Fare evasion or fare dodging, fare violation, rarely called ticket evasion, is the act of travelling on public transport without paying by deliberately not buying a required ticket to travel (having had the chance to do so). It is a problem in man ...

, these were complemented with

ticket vending machines A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...

and additional FastTicket machines. The manual

Tannoy Tannoy is a British manufacturer of loudspeakers and public address systems. Founded by Guy Fountain in London in 1926 as the Tulsemere Manufacturing Company, today the company is part of the Music Tribe group of brands. History Tannoy Ltd is ...

system was replaced by an automated voice on 13 July 2011. Other facilities include bicycle racks, paid car parking, a shop and snack bar, public telephones and toilets. Taxis and buses are available outside; however, the bus to

East Midlands Airport East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough (), Derby () and Nottingham (); Leicester is () to the south and Lincoln () nort ...

was withdrawn in 2010. Although the local Skylink service still operates from the town centre.

Refurbishment

Up until 2012 access to all but platform 1 was awkward for many passengers. The station had a footbridge and a

barrow crossing There are around 6,000 level crossings in the United Kingdom, of which about 1,500 are public highway crossings. This number is gradually being reduced as the risk of accidents at level crossings is considered high. The director of the UK Rail ...

to access platforms 2 and 3, in addition since the early 1990s the usable length of the two main platforms was four coaches due to the A60 road bridge. Loughborough Eastern Gateway a locally led project proved to be the catalyst after many years of proposals to improve the station. The scheme got underway in March 2010. A £7 million package of improvements was started at the station in June 2010. Platforms were extended to accommodate the longest trains which serve the station, lifts provided to access all platforms, and refurbishment of the existing ticket office, waiting rooms and glass platform canopies. The extended platforms 1 & 2 are capable of handling 10-car trains; and the extended platform 3 can handle up to 7-car trains. The new facilities were opened in good time for the 2012 British and Japanese Olympic squads basing themselves in the town.

Service patterns

Rail routes run north–south through Loughborough along the route known as the Midland Main Line, going south to London; and north to

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

East Midlands Railway Abellio East Midlands Limited, trading as East Midlands Railway (EMR), is a train operating company in England, owned by Abellio, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. History In March 2017, the Department for Transport a ...

(EMR) operate the station as well as all services. The usual Monday - Saturday service pattern is as follows: *Platform one - **Hourly East Midlands Railway service to

via

and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

**Hourly East Midlands Railway service to

via Beeston *Platform two - **Hourly fast East Midlands Railway service to

London St Pancras International St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It is ...

via

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

**Hourly semi-fast East Midlands Railway service to

via Leicester, Market Harborough and

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

*Platform three - **Hourly local East Midlands Railway service to Lincoln or Grimsby Town (alternating each hour) via

East Midlands Parkway East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

with limited extensions to

Cleethorpes Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...

**Hourly local East Midlands Railway service to

via

Syston Syston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population was 11,508 at the 2001 census, rising to 12,804 at the 2011 census. Overview There has been a settlement on the site for over 1,000 ...

References

External links

Skylink bus timetable
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loughborough Railway Station Grade II listed buildings in Leicestershire Grade II listed railway stations Railway stations in Leicestershire Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1840 Railway stations served by East Midlands Railway DfT Category C1 stations