Humberstone Road railway station explained

Humberstone Road
Status:Disused
Borough:Leicester, City of Leicester
Country:England
Grid Name:Grid reference
Platforms:2
Pregroup:Midland Railway
Postgroup:London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London Midland Region of British Railways
Years:1875
Events:Opened
Years1:1968
Events1:Closed

Humberstone Road station was a station to the north of Leicester, England, which opened in 1875 and closed in 1968.[1]

The line was originally opened by the Midland Counties Railway, which merged with the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the Midland Railway, which opened Humberstone Road station.[2]

The small village of Humberstone, situated some two miles further north-eastwards, was noted for its alabaster mine, but Humberstone Road station, alongside what is now the A47, served the rapidly expanding northern side of Leicester. Although the line is still a major route (the present-day Midland Main Line), there is now very little trace of the station.[3]

The station building lay derelict for many years following the station's closure. As a Grade II listed building it had to be preserved, but British Rail did not have sufficient funds for such an operation. Eventually the building was sold to Leicestershire County Council for £1 plus VAT. It was moved brick by brick to its new home at Shenton station on the Battlefield Line Railway, where it would serve as an information point for Bosworth Battlefield and a southern terminus building for the railway.

The next station northwards was at Syston, between Leicester and Loughborough. A short distance away was the similarly named Humberstone railway station, which was on the Great Northern Railway's Leicester branch.[4]

References

52.6406°N -1.114°W

External links

 

Notes and References

  1. Butt, R.V.J., (1995) The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens
  2. Higginson, M, (1989) The Midland Counties Railway: A Pictorial Survey, Derby: Midland Railway Trust.
  3. Radford, B., (1983) Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby London: Bloomsbury Books
  4. British Railways Atlas.1947. p.16