Leicester Campbell Street railway station was the first proper railway station in Leicester, opened in 1840 by the Midland Counties Railway. (Although the Leicester and Swannington Railway had opened in 1832 with a terminus at West Bridge, there was no dedicated station there until 1893.)
As was normal in those days with a through station, the original plan was to build it to the side of the main line, but instead it was finally built on the main line with a single platform 165 yards long to handle both northbound and southbound trains. The station was designed by William Parsons in the Grecian Revival style, with a two storey main building which was embellished with a central pediment set forward on fluted columns in front. This was flanked by short single storey wings. It was the headquarters of the Midland Counties Railway until that railway was amalgamated into the Midland Railway in 1844. Upstairs were the company offices and boardroom, while downstairs was the booking hall, waiting and refreshment rooms.[1]
The opening of new routes to Leicester led to steadily increasing traffic, and by 1858 a second platform had been built to handle southbound traffic, so leaving the original platform to handle northbound traffic[2].
In 1868 it was decided to turn the southbound platform into an island platform to further increase capacity, but this was not possible with the northbound platform due to the presence of the main buildings and station entrance.
Further expansion was contemplated for some time, but it was not until 1890 that the go ahead was given for Campbell Street station to be replaced by the present station on London Road. With buildings designed by Charles Trubshaw, the new station was built with the platforms largely in the previous positions, but with the entrance and main buildings fronting onto London Road. The new booking office was opened by the mayor in June 1892 when it was renamed Leicester London Road. The station was completed in 1894[2].
The offices for Royal Mail now occupy some of the site of the old station buildings on Campbell Street.