Market Harborough railway station explained

Market Harborough
Symbol Location:gb
Symbol:rail
Borough:Market Harborough, Harborough
Country:England
Coordinates:52.48°N -0.9094°W
Grid Name:Grid reference
Manager:East Midlands Railway
Platforms:2
Code:MHR
Classification:DfT category C2
Opened:1 May 1850
Footnotes:Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road
Embedded:
Embed:yes
Designation1:Grade II
Designation1 Feature:Market Harborough Railway Station
Designation1 Date:25 March 1975
Designation1 Number:1074404

Market Harborough railway station is a Grade II listed station which serves the town of Market Harborough in Leicestershire, England. It is situated to the east of the town centre and lies on the Midland Main Line, 16 miles (26 km) south-east of Leicester.

History

The original station was opened on 1 May 1850[1] by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) on the Rugby to Stamford branch of its main line from London Euston to Birmingham and the north-west. The Midland Railway shared this station from 1857 when it built its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin. On 16 February 1859 the LNWR opened a further branch line, from Northampton to Market Harborough, which also used the same station.

The station was the scene of a serious accident on 28 August 1862.[2] An excursion train bound for Burton-upon-Trent stopped to pick up water, and a second train bound for Leicester collided with the rear of it. The accident resulted in the death of one person and seventy were injured.

As traffic built up, the Midland opened a new line on 26 June 1885 at a higher elevation, crossing the LNWR and then running parallel to a new joint station in the present position.

The new station building was opened on 14 September 1884.[3] It was built by Parnell and Sons of Rugby from designs by John Livock and Millbank. The engineer was Hirst of Rugby.[4]

Market Harborough was the largest station within the county boundary south of Leicester. Such was the volume of traffic, a junction for five different directions at its height, by 1870 plans for an engine shed were released in addition to the already provided loco pit, turntable and water tank. A shed was never built but this did not stop it becoming a sub-shed of Leicester in later years.

The service on the original LNWR line was drastically reduced in 1960 and it finally closed in June 1966. Freight traffic on the line to Northampton continued until closure in August 1981, when the station ceased to be a junction. The Midland line continues, with the platform buildings and canopies replaced with modern designs in the sixties. The main building survived, however, and was carefully restored in 1981.

Stationmasters

The station was operated jointly from 14 September 1884[5] although two station masters remained until 1908 when the London and North Western Railway did away with their post.

LNWR stationmasters

Midland station masters

Services

Market Harborough is served by the fast and semi-fast East Midlands Railway Class 222 "Meridian" services. Trains to London are around every half hour and all off peak trains now start or end at Nottingham. All off peak trains towards London call initially at before running non stop to London St Pancras International. Fast services north to Nottingham call at only, whereas semi-fast services also call at, and . In the morning and evening some services are extended to Lincoln via Newark.[18]

With a journey time to London of just over one hour, the frequency of trains to the capital in the morning and evening peak is excellent for commuting, with a train running (occasionally non stop) every twenty minutes with the quickest journeys taking fifty-five minutes.

Bus services depart from outside the station and operate throughout the town and also to both Lutterworth, Hinckley and Leicester.

The initial specification for the East Midlands Trains franchise, which started in 2007, would have seen a big reduction in the number of trains calling at Market Harborough.[19] These plans were fought against by the Harborough Rail Users' Group, and, as a result, the final specification saw no reduction in services.[20]

Stagecoach promised as part of their bid that they would create additional car parking spaces at stations along their route, Market Harborough's new larger car park opened early in 2008.[21]

Market Harborough is a Penalty fare station, meaning that as there are facilities to buy tickets at the station, a valid ticket or Permit to travel must be shown when requested, rather than being able to buy tickets on the train.

Future

Market Harborough Line Speed Improvement project

Market Harborough station is located on a large curve on the Midland Main Line and as a result of this line speeds through the station have always been relatively slow, at around 60mph. The track layout is set to change significantly as Network Rail engineers set about straightening the line as part of their overall plan to increase line speeds. It is also planned that both platforms will be extended. This work was originally scheduled to be complete by no later than 2012[22] but was completed by the end of 2019.

The Market Harborough Line Speed Improvement project will deliver:

Electrification

See main article: Midland Main Line railway upgrade.

The railway through Leicestershire is not electrified and therefore all services are operated by diesel trains. Plans to electrify this part of the line (as part of the wider Electric Spine project), announced in 2012[24] and later resumed after a pause in 2015,[25] were cancelled in 2017.[26] However, in February 2019 Andrew Jones, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, announced that electrification would be extended northwards from Kettering up to Market Harborough, enabling the connection of the railway to a new power supply point at Braybrooke.[27] [28] On 21 December 2021 the DfT officially announced that work would start on 24 December 2021 on electrification of the section of line between Kettering and Market Harborough.[29] [30] [31]

The next phase of major work will see a 12-mile section electrified between Market Harborough and Wigston in Leicestershire. A programme of piling will run until August 2023 to ready the line for electric wires to be installed throughout 2023.[32]

Notes and References

  1. News: . Market Harborough. The Rugby and Stamford Railway. subscription . Northampton Mercury . British Newspaper Archive . 4 May 1850 . 6 July 2016 .
  2. News: . Dreadful accident on the Midland Railway at Market Harborough. subscription . Leicestershire Mercury . British Newspaper Archive . 30 August 1862 . 6 July 2016 .
  3. Book: Leleux, Robin. A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Volume 9 . David & Charles. Newton Abbot . 107 . 0715371657.
  4. News: . Market Harborough. The new railway station . subscription . Stamford Mercury . British Newspaper Archive . 19 September 1884 . 6 July 2016 .
  5. . 1876 . 1876-1892 Joint Staff . Midland Railway Miscellaneous Depts . 147 . 20 January 2022.
  6. . 1833 . 1833-1857 Salaried Officers . London and North Western: Operating, Traffic, Coaching Depts . 61 . 29 January 2022.
  7. . 1841 . 1841 - 1878 Coaching . London and North Western: Operating, Traffic, Coaching Depts . 337 . 29 January 2022.
  8. . 1961 . 1861-1912 No.3 Coaching, Police . London and North Western: Old Northampton . 23 . 29 January 2022.
  9. . 1914 . 1859-1866 . Midland Railway Miscellaneous Depts . 174 . 29 January 2022.
  10. . 1881 . 1881-1898 Coaching . Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts . 699 . 29 January 2022.
  11. . 1899 . 1899-1908 Coaching; Piece 1027 . Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts . 665 . 29 January 2022.
  12. News: . Mr. Thomas Johnson . Rugby Advertiser . England . 21 April 1925 . 29 January 2022 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  13. News: . Retirement of Stationmaster . Market Harborough Advertiser and Midland Mail . England . 17 July 1942 . 29 January 2022 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  14. News: . Retirement of Stationmaster . Leicester Evening Mail . England . 31 March 1948 . 29 January 2022 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  15. News: . Mr. P.F. Markham retires from railway service . Burton Observer and Chronicle . England . 9 August 1951 . 29 January 2022 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  16. News: . Harborough . Leicester Evening Mail . England . 10 July 1959 . 29 January 2022 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  17. News: . New stationmaster at Harborough . Leicester Evening Mail . England . 9 September 1963 . 29 January 2022 . British Newspaper Archive . subscription .
  18. Web site: Lincoln to Newark North Gate. East Midlands Railway .
  19. Web site: East Midlands Franchise Consultation Document June 2006 . 15 October 2006 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060723042155/http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_railways/documents/page/dft_railways_611833.pdf . 23 July 2006.
  20. Web site: Passengers fight back over rail cuts. Harborough Today.
  21. Web site: East Midlands Trains provides 100 extra car park spaces at Market Harborough train station. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100922065052/http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/EMTrains/AboutUs/News/_ExtraCarParkSpacesAtMarketHarborough.htm. 22 September 2010. 14 December 2007.
  22. Web site: Network Rail CP4 Delivery Plan 2009 Enhancements programme: statement of scope, outputs and milestones . 2010-03-18 . Network Rail . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110607022101/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/6182_Enhancements%20Document%20Dec%202009.pdf . 7 June 2011.
  23. Web site: Market Harborough Line Speed Improvement project. Network Rail. 19 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190325142158/https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/lne-and-em/midland-main-line-improvement-programme/market-harborough-line-speed-improvement-project/. 25 March 2019.
  24. Investing in rail, investing in jobs and growth . 16 July 2012 . Department for Transport.
  25. News: TransPennine and Midland Mainline electrification works to resume . 30 September 2015 . Department for Transport.
  26. News: Sheffield, Swansea and Windermere electrification cancelled. Railway Gazette. 20 July 2017.
  27. News: Electrification to reach Market Harborough. Railway Gazette. 5 March 2019.
  28. News: UK to extend electrification of Midland Main Line. Railway Technology. 7 March 2019.
  29. Web site: Spades in ground as government delivers on rail investment promise for North and Midlands. 2021-12-21. GOV.UK. en.
  30. Web site: 2021-12-21. Main works on next stage of Midland Main Line electrification due to begin. 2021-12-21. RailBusinessDaily. en-US.
  31. Web site: Rail industry welcomes progress on Midland Mainline electrification. 2021-12-21. www.riagb.org.uk.
  32. Web site: Work begins to electrify the next phase of the Midland Main Line between London and Leicester . Network Rail . 3 November 2022 .

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