South Wigston railway station

* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at South Wigston from Office of Rail Regulation statistics.

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South Wigston station serves the suburb of South Wigston near Leicester, England The station is located on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line 3 km (1¾ miles) south of Leicester station.

The first station was built by the Midland Counties Railway in 1840 on its line to Rugby. The present station was built in 1986. Only selected trains running between Birmingham and Leicester stop here.

The station is unmanned so passengers have to purchase their tickets on the train. Facilities on the platform consist of two "bus shelter" like canopies to protect passengers against the weather and a time-table notice board.

[edit] History

Wigston is the point where the Midland Railway diverted its line in 1857 to Rugby, building a new line to Hitchin (and later to St.Pancras).

At this point the London and North Western Railway line from Blaby and Nuneaton, which had its own station Glen Parva, joined the Midland in a northerly direction. The station on the old Midland Counties Railway line was renamed Wigston South, while a new station Wigston Magna was built on the main line slightly south of the junction. In 1860 the Midland acquired running powers on the Nuneaton line, which was later extended to Whitacre, and a south curve was added in 1872. All of these stations closed in 1968 to be replaced by the present South Wigston situated on the North Curve of the triangular junction.

In its heyday, Wigston was an important interchange point with a large sidings and wagon repair shop. A locomotive shed was added in 1873. This closed in 1934 but was reopened during World War II while Leicester shed was being rebuilt and then stayed open until 1955.

[edit] Services

Mondays to Saturdays, there is generally a two-hourly service off-peak and hourly peak service northbound to Leicester and southbound to Birmingham New Street. On Sundays, there is generally an hourly service in each direction.