South Wigston railway station is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

serving

South Wigston South Wigston is a large village to the south of Leicester, England. It is outside the city boundary, forming part of the Oadby and Wigston district of Leicestershire. The population of the ward rose slightly from 7,471 at the 2001 census to ...

in Leicestershire. The station is on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line about south of , on the west - north loop of Wigston Junction. South Wigston station is owned by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

and managed by East Midlands Railway (EMR) train operating company (TOC). Not all trains operating between

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

and Leicester stop here. Although the station is only served by CrossCountry, it is managed by East Midlands Railway as CrossCountry does not manage any stations. The station is not staffed, so passengers buy the full range of tickets for travel from the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

on the train at no extra cost. Facilities on the platforms are limited, consisting only of one " bus shelter" type canopy on each of the two platforms to protect passengers from the weather, as well as a time-table, audible public address system and notice board.

History

Wigston had three railway stations: on 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, Warwickshire, Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, t ...

opened in 1840 (dismantled), on the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...

opened in 1857 and on the South Leicestershire Railway opened in the 1860s. However, British Railways closed all three stations by 1968. The present South Wigston station was opened on Saturday 10 May 1986 and is at a new site about 300 metres east of the site of the former Glen Parva station. The new station cost £135,000 to build and was funded by

Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a to ...

. There has been talk of a car park for commuters on the adjacent wasteland within the Wigston railway triangle, but this has never been progressed and the land remains a haven for wildlife. There is a public car park on nearby Kirkdale Road, a 260-yard walk away, which from 2021 has been subject to car parking charges from Oadby and Wigston Borough Council. The station was managed by

Central Trains Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated a variety of local and inter-regional trains from 2 March 1997 until 11 November 2007. Overview Created out of the Central division o ...

until 2007, who operated all trains calling at the station; when the franchise ended, the station management transferred to

East Midlands Trains East Midlands Trains (EMT) was a British train operating company owned by the transport group Stagecoach, which operated the East Midlands franchise between November 2007 and August 2019. Following the Department for Transport (DfT) award of ...

, who managed the station until 2019, when their franchise ended, and the station was transferred to East Midlands Railway. All services calling are operated by CrossCountry. South Wigston station's two platforms are staggered, one each side of a wide footbridge over the railway.

Services

There are regular services to and : usually one train in each direction every hour (Monday to Sunday). There is one additional service as far as in the morning peak as well as one late evening train a day to , both on weekdays only.

References

External links

{{Railway stations served by East Midlands Railway Railway stations in Leicestershire DfT Category F2 stations Railway stations opened by British Rail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1986 Railway stations served by CrossCountry Transport in Leicester Railway stations in Great Britain not served by their managing company