Market Bosworth railway station

Market Bosworth
Location
Place Market Bosworth
Area Hinckley and Bosworth
Grid reference SK392031
Operations
Managed by Battlefield Line Railway
Platforms 2
Stations on heritage railways in the United Kingdom
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Coordinates: 52°37′28.50″N 1°25′15.50″W / 52.6245833°N 1.4209722°W

Market Bosworth railway station is a former stop on the London and North Western Railway and the Midland Railway, who jointly operated the line between Moira West Junction and Nuneaton as the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway. The station is to the west of the market town of Market Bosworth.

Nowadays it is part of the heritage Battlefield Line Railway, some 3 miles (5 km) to the south of the railway's base at Shackerstone.

Original station buildings survive on platform 1, but are used by a private garage, appropriately called Station Garage. The track in platform one is a siding, used for the storage of wagons and diesel shunters in various states of disrepair. Platform 2 is on the running line and is the only one in use. The signal box also survives, as do several semaphore signals, though this signalling is not in commission thus the station is an unsignalled halt. The waiting room was originally at Chester Road on the Birmingham Cross-City Line; when this line was electrified between 1991 and 1993, the building was dismantled and reconstructed at Market Bosworth.

Volunteers have been slowly restoring the station. The station encountered severe vandalism during Easter 2008 with one building, the Permanent Way hut was completely destroyed by arson. Any windows that were originally intact in the signalbox were smashed. Nonetheless the railway continues to restore the station. In May 2009 a passenger train (hauled by LNER Thompson Class B1 No. 61306 halted at the station for the first time in at least 10 years to allow passengers to see the progress at the station.

During the weekend of 19/20 March 2011, completion of a foot crossing at the south end of the station enabled it to be opened to the public for the first time. There is a car park in the former goods yard but only very basic facilities for passengers.

There is a long term aspiration to restore the passing loop at the station to allow two train operation over the line.

References

Preceding station   Heritage railways Following station
Shackerstone   Battlefield Line Railway   Shenton