South Wigston railway station serves the suburb of
South WigstonSouth Wigston is a suburb of Leicester in England. It is outside of the city boundary, forming part of the Oadby and Wigston district of Leicestershire.-Geography and administration:...
near
LeicesterLeicester is a city and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England. It is the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
,
EnglandEngland 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 and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
The station is located on the
Birmingham to Peterborough LineThe Birmingham to Peterborough Line is a cross-country railway line in the United Kingdom, linking the Midlands to East Anglia.-Services:Passenger services are provided by CrossCountry, with a very small number of East Midlands Trains London and Local services east of Leicester...
3 km (1¾ miles) south of
Leicester stationLeicester railway station serves the City of Leicester in Leicestershire, England.-Background:The first station on the site opened in the Victorian era, in 1840, though this was replaced in 1894 by a new station...
.
The first station was built by the
Midland Counties RailwayThe Midland Counties Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1832 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR system connected with the North Midland Railway and the...
in 1840 on its line to
RugbyRugby is a market town in Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England, on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
. The present station was built in 1986. Only selected trains running between
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
and Leicester stop here.
The station is unmanned so passengers have to purchase their tickets on the train.
South Wigston railway station serves the suburb of
South WigstonSouth Wigston is a suburb of Leicester in England. It is outside of the city boundary, forming part of the Oadby and Wigston district of Leicestershire.-Geography and administration:...
near
LeicesterLeicester is a city and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England. It is the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
,
EnglandEngland 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 and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
The station is located on the
Birmingham to Peterborough LineThe Birmingham to Peterborough Line is a cross-country railway line in the United Kingdom, linking the Midlands to East Anglia.-Services:Passenger services are provided by CrossCountry, with a very small number of East Midlands Trains London and Local services east of Leicester...
3 km (1¾ miles) south of
Leicester stationLeicester railway station serves the City of Leicester in Leicestershire, England.-Background:The first station on the site opened in the Victorian era, in 1840, though this was replaced in 1894 by a new station...
.
The first station was built by the
Midland Counties RailwayThe Midland Counties Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1832 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, to London. The MCR system connected with the North Midland Railway and the...
in 1840 on its line to
RugbyRugby is a market town in Warwickshire, in the West Midlands of England, on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
. The present station was built in 1986. Only selected trains running between
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
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.
History
Wigston is the point where the
Midland RailwayThe 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....
diverted its line in 1857 to
RugbyRugby railway station serves the town of Rugby in Warwickshire, England. It opened during the Victorian era, in 1885, replacing earlier stations situated a little further west...
, building a new line to
HitchinHitchin railway station serves the town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire. It is located approximately north east of the town centre and north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line towards Peterborough.-Services:...
(and later to
St.PancrasSt Pancras railway station is a major railway station situated in the United Kingdom that is celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London, between the British Library, King's Cross station and the...
).
At this point the
London and North Western RailwayThe London and North Western Railway was a railway company of the United Kingdom which existed between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. During the late...
line from
BlabyBlaby is a village in central Leicestershire, England, some five miles south of Leicester city centre and with a population of around 6,240 . Its proximity to the city causes it to form part of the Leicester Urban Area....
and
NuneatonNuneaton railway station serves the large town of Nuneaton in Warwickshire, England. The station is managed by London Midland.It is situated at the point where the Birmingham - Leicester route crosses the Trent Valley Line section of the West Coast Main Line 156 km north of London Euston, with a...
, 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 JunctionWhitacre Junction railway station was opened in 1864 by the Midland Railway.The line had been opened in 1839 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway from Derby to Hampton-in-Arden joining the London and Birmingham Railway....
, 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 shedMotive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...
was added in 1873. This closed in 1934 but was reopened during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
while Leicester shed was being rebuilt and then stayed open until 1955.
Network Rail adopted a Route Utilisation Strategy for freight in 2007 which will create a new cross country freight route from
PeterboroughPeterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of as of June 2006. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. The Town Hall is north of London at Charing Cross...
(
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a 393-mile long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh....
) to
NuneatonNuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...
(
West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. It provides fast, long-distance Intercity passenger services between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and southern Scotland....
). One of the next stages (around 2013) will create additional lines through Leicester during a re-signalling scheme, during this Wigston Junction may be enhanced with a flyover which may affect the station.
Services
There is a service to Leicester (northbound) and a service to Birmingham New Street (southbound). Usually each direction is served every two hours. There is also an occasional service on the Birmingham to Cambridge and Stansted Airport route although most pass through South Wigston station but at a very low speed (50mph) due to the busy junctions nearby.