That old railway station …. heaps of memories ..... and a revamp

Now as a tourist and occasional visitor to Leicester I don’t always keep up with the news, but I spotted the announcement back in March that “The city's historic railway station is set for a major revamp”*

Undated

At the time I  clocked it and moved on, but having dug up my picture of the railway station from the collection of Tuck and Son I thought it was a timely moment to post it.

My Wikipedia tells me that your railway station "was opened in 1840 by the Midland Counties Railway, and rebuilt in 1894 and 1978. 

It is on the Midland Main Line, which runs from London St Pancras to Sheffield and Nottingham. And “Leicester was one of the first cities (though then a town) to be served by a railway”.**

2020

The new plans which are “backed by the Government's levelling up fund, will completely transform the inside and outside of the station - including demolishing the buildings next door to make way for pedestrianised area and drop-off point. 

Further new images have now been released by Leicester City Council, the area outside the entrance will be remodelled with a ramp and steps leading to the main entrance.

The ticket hall will be reconfigured and opened up to provide more space and skylights will be installed to let more natural light into the building. 

The new images also show the first glimpse of the porte-cochere, which is currently used as a taxi rank and as a drop-off point for the station, being turned into a new plaza for cafes, bars, and shops”.*

2019

It all looks very exciting, but I wonder about the old parcel office which looks to be from the middle decades of the last century, and I do like that central bit.

But maybe it just isn’t distinguished enough to survive.

I hope someone can help me out on the date and offer some nice “modern” views of the station, mine range from the pedestrian to the very boring and some only feature its back, on a very indifferent Saturday in 2019.

Location; Leicester

Pictures; Leicester Railway Station,undated from Tuck and Sons, courtesy of Tuck DB, https://tuckdbpostcards.org/  in 202, courtesy of Google Maps, and in 2019 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

 *New images of Leicester railway station published in £17.6 million revamp plan, Corey Bedford,Leicester Live, March 14th, 2023, https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/new-images-leicester-railway-station-8247990

** Leicester railway station, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicester_railway_station