Overview

Leicester Belgrave Road was the Great Northern Railway

Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)

The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....

 terminus in Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It was the terminus of the GNR's branch line from the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway

Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway

The Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway was a joint railway owned by the Great Northern Railway and the London and North Western Railway in east Leicestershire.-Location:...

 at Marefield Junction. It opened on 2 October 1882. Marefield Junction was triangular and allowed through running north or south.

Services

The main services from Leicester were to Peterborough

Peterborough railway station

Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...

 and Grantham

Grantham railway station

Grantham railway station serves the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, England and lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross.-Description:Junctions near the town also connect to branches to Nottingham, and to Sleaford and Skegness...

, but the station was also well provided in summer with specials, especially to Skegness

Skegness railway station

Skegness railway station serves the seaside resort of Skegness in Lincolnshire, England.Services are operated by East Midlands Trains which run to and from Nottingham, where services originate or terminate.-History:...

 and Mablethorpe

Mablethorpe railway station

Mablethorpe railway station was a station in the town of Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire which is now closed....

.

The Peterborough trains were stopped as a war economy in 1916. Local traffic was never heavy, and by 1950 there were only two Grantham trains remaining, one of which was a semi-fast with limited stops which connected with the Flying Scotsman

Flying Scotsman (train)

The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...

 at Grantham. This train was withdrawn in 1951, the remaining stopping train survived until the end of regular services over the joint line in 1953.

Summer specials, however, continued to run until 1962, in the later years with severe speed restrictions on the Leicester branch.

Closure

The line closed in 1962 but various depots continued in use for a few years using a reinstated connection with the Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

 which had last been used for materials delivery during construction. The last of these, Catherine Street oil depot, closed on 1 January 1969.

The station site has been since been developed as a supermarket and adjoining car park.

Summary of Former Services

Sample Train Timetable for April 1910

The table below shows the train departures from Leicester Belgrave Road in April 1910.

Departure	Going to	Calling at	Arrival	Operator
07.00	Peterborough North	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, Tilton, East Norton, Hallaton, Medbourne, Rockingham, Seaton, Wakerley & Barrowden, King's Cliffe, Nassington, Wansford, Castor, Overton	08.48	GNR
07.30	Grantham	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, John O'Gaunt, Great Dalby, Melton Mowbray North, Scalford, Long Clawson & Hose, Harby & Stathern, Redmile, Bottesford, Sedgebrook	09.10	GNR
09.00	Grantham	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, John O'Gaunt, Great Dalby, Melton Mowbray North, Scalford, Long Clawson & Hose, Harby & Stathern, Redmile, Bottesford	10.28	GNR
09.45	Newark Northgate	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, John O'Gaunt, Great Dalby, Melton Mowbray North, Scalford, Long Clawson & Hose, Harby & Stathern, Redmile, Cotham	11.10	GNR
10.15	Peterborough North	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, Tilton, East Norton, Hallaton, Medbourne, Rockingham, Seaton, Wakerley & Barrowden, King's Cliffe, Nassington, Wansford, Castor, Overton	12.06	GNR
11.10	Grantham	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, John O'Gaunt, Great Dalby, Melton Mowbray North, Scalford, Long Clawson & Hose, Harby & Stathern (Mon, Wed, Sat only)	12.50	GNR
12.40	Grantham	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, John O'Gaunt, Great Dalby, Melton Mowbray North, Scalford, Long Clawson & Hose, Harby & Stathern, Redmile, Bottesford, Sedgebrook	14.12	GNR
15.45	Grantham	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, John O'Gaunt, Great Dalby, Melton Mowbray North, Scalford, Long Clawson & Hose, Harby & Stathern, Redmile, Bottesford, Sedgebrook	17.15	GNR
16.00	Peterborough North	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, Tilton, East Norton, Hallaton, Medbourne, Rockingham, Seaton, Wakerley & Barrowden, King's Cliffe, Nassington, Wansford, Castor	17.46	GNR
17.45	Grantham	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, John O'Gaunt, Great Dalby, Melton Mowbray North, Scalford, Long Clawson & Hose, Harby & Stathern, Redmile, Bottesford	19.15	GNR
18.40	Loseby	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby (Wed, Sat excepted)	19.01	GNR
18.40	Tilton	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby (Wed, Sat only)	19.06	GNR
20.20	Loseby	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby (Wed, Sat excepted)	20.42	GNR
22.45	Grantham	Thurnby & Scraptoft, Melton Mowbray North, Harby & Stathern (Sat excepted)	23.52	GNR
23.00	Melton Mowbray North	Humberstone, Thurnby & Scraptoft, Ingersby, Loseby, John O'Gaunt	23.38	GNR

External links

• GNR spur to Leicester Belgrave Road