Campbell Street and London Road Railway Stations

The coming of the railways

The Midland Counties Railway Act (1836) led to the building in 1840 of Leicester’s first mainline railway station, Leicester Campbell Street, on land behind London Road. In 1844 the Midland Counties Railway Company merged with two other companies to form the Midland Railway. The line connected Leicester to Derby and Nottingham, and Rugby to the south, enabling Leicester to capitalise on its central location, and eventually providing direct access to London.

Thomas Cook and Campbell Street Station

It was from Campbell Street Station that Thomas Cook ran his first railway excursion in 1841, to a temperance (anti-alcohol) meeting in Loughborough. This event is commemorated by a statue of Thomas Cook outside this station. Excursions to Scotland, Europe and further afield soon followed, including the first round-the-world tour in 1872-73.

The columned frontage of Campbell Street Station. Leicestershire Record Office

Famous visitors to Campbell Street Station

Famous people who used Campbell Street Station included Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1843 on their way back from Belvoir Castle, Charles Dickens in the 1850s and 60s when he came to Leicester to give public readings of his works and “Buffalo Bill” (alias Col. W.F. Cody) who brought his “Wild West” show to Leicester in 1891.

Campbell Street Station was later replaced by London Road Station which opened in 1892. All that now remains of Campbell Street Station are two stone pillars marking the entrance to Campbell Yard on Station Street.

A new station for the “prosperous borough of Leicester”

By the late 1880s the Campbell Street station was no longer adequate for the ever-increasing volume of passenger and parcel traffic. It was described as “cramped and dingy a reproach to the large and prosperous borough of Leicester” and so a new one, with a frontage to London Road, was designed by the Midland Railway architect Charles Trubshaw.

London Road Station, 1892. Leicestershire Record Office

“One of the finest booking halls in the kingdom”

New booking and parcel offices opened in June 1892 and the entire ticket operation was transferred from Campbell Street between the arrival of the train from Scotland to London at 5.25 am and bookings for the 8.15am to Market Harborough. There was no official opening of the station, but the Mayor, Alderman Thomas Wright, was invited to attend, and was issued with the first ticket from the new booking hall which he regarded as “one of the finest in the kingdom”. The station was not fully completed until 1895.

The station buildings

The frontage on Leicester London Road Station (now known as Leicester Railway Station) features four entrance archways; two for “Arrivals” and two for “Departures”. These dramatic arches make little sense now but originally assisted horse-drawn cab drivers when dropping passengers off to catch their trains or looking for business from passengers who had just arrived. Beneath the “Departure” lettering are “IN” and “OUT” panels, one featuring a cherub holding a globe and the other with a cherub sitting by a steam train.

Find out about visiting Leicester Rail Station.