Leicester Central railway station
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Leicester Central was a railway station in Leicester. It was situated to the west of the city centre, on Great Central Street which is today just off the inner ring road.
The station was opened on 15th March 1899 on the Great Central Railway, and had links to Marylebone in London to the south, and Nottingham Victoria railway station in the north.
The Great Central Railway largely duplicated the existing Midland Main Line, which also ran from London via Leicester to Nottingham, and the Beeching Axe led to Leicester Central being closed. On September 5th 1966 the Great Central line south of Rugby and north of Nottingham Victoria was closed to passenger traffic, and Leicester Central served a sparse local service between Nottingham and Rugby only. Leicester Central finally closed completely on May 5 1969.Leicester Belgrave Road railway station had already closed in 1962, leaving Leicester London Road as Leicester's only railway station.
The station buildings remained largely intact until the 2000s, but are now planned to be restored as part of the regeneration of the waterside area the arches will be made in to shops. The front taxi waiting area is still there and has original lights and glass roof. The booking office with ticket windows is intact and old timetables and signs are still on the wall. There is a sign above the entrance to the parcels office.
Several associated bridges still survive. Particularly noticeable is the Braunstone Gate bridge (the Bowstring Bridge), which is due to be knocked down by the City Council because of the lack of funds to repair it. [1]
