Sileby railway station

Sileby railway station is a railway station serving the village of Sileby in Leicestershire, England. The station is located on the Midland Main Line, 106 miles 50 chains (171.6 km) north of London St Pancras.

Sileby
Location
PlaceSileby
Local authorityBorough of Charnwood
Grid referenceSK602151
Operations
Station codeSIL
Managed byEast Midlands Railway
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 113,626
2015/16 123,694
2016/17 116,452
2017/18 111,890
2018/19 127,642
History
1840Opened
4 March 1968Closed
27 May 1994Reopened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Sileby from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The original station was built in 1840 for the Midland Counties Railway, which in 1844 joined the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the Midland Railway[1]

The line cut the village in two connecting the halves with a substantial stone bridge.

There were complaints from local residents about the facilities provided at the station. In 1897 the parish council were petitioning the company for improvements, but the Midland Railway company were resistant.[2] By 1910 the council raised a petition to the company to resolve 5 issues[3]

  • The dangerous level crossing, stating the several accidents had been narrowly avoided.
  • The need of better accommodation for vehicular traffic. The number of vehicles using the station had increased and blocking of the road, especially by milk carts, was a danger as well as an inconvenience
  • The want of a comfortable waiting room on the up platform. There was only an open shelter with no provision for a fire in cold weather.
  • The lowness of the platforms, which were thought to be the cause of a passenger suffering a fractured ankle when alighting from a train.
  • The need for an entrance from Brook Street.

This time the council were more successful as early in 1912 they received a letter from the Railway Company confirming the improvements which would be made.[4]

  • Access from King Street to the up-platform without passengers having to cross the running lines.
  • Improved vehicular access to the station
  • The additional waiting room
  • Raising and lengthening the platforms
  • Footpath access from Brook Street.
Down empties south of Sileby in 1962

The platform structures were of timber and very little remains after closure in 1968 apart from the station house.[5]

It reopened on 27 May 1994 as part of phase one of the Ivanhoe Line.

Station masters
  • Benjamin Preston ca. 1862 ca. 1865
  • Eli Crofts ca. 1877 - 1888
  • W.J. Martin 1888 - 1892
  • W.G. Fudge 1892 - 1898[6] (afterwards station master at Wigston)
  • Henry Dring 1898 - 1907
  • T.W. Bloore 1907 - 1915[7]
  • Edward Arnold ca. 1920
  • Arthur Fourt 1922[8] - ???? (formerly station master at Borrowash)
  • J.W. Flint 1937[9] - ????
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Services

For journeys beginning at Sileby, the full range of tickets for travel for any destination in the country are purchased from the guard on the train at no extra cost. It is a penalty fare station however, so a permit to travel must be bought from the machine installed on the Leicester-bound platform before joining the train.

On Monday to Saturdays, there is an hourly service southbound to Leicester and northbound to Nottingham continuing onwards to Lincoln Central. There is no Sunday service.[10]

Services are operated by East Midlands Railway.

Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
East Midlands Railway
Ivanhoe Line

References
  1. Higginson, M, (1989) The Midland Counties Railway: A Pictorial Survey, Derby: Midland Railway Trust.
  2. "Sileby Parish Council". Leicester Chronicle. England. 30 October 1897. Retrieved 10 February 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "Sileby Parish Council. Suggested improvements at the Railway Station". Uppingham News. England. 24 November 1910. Retrieved 10 February 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Sileby Railway Station". Leicester Daily Post. England. 23 February 1912. Retrieved 10 February 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. Radford, B., (1983) Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby London: Bloomsbury Books
  6. "Sileby". Leicester Chronicle. England. 12 March 1898. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Sileby". Melton Mowbray Mercury and Oakham and Uppingham News. England. 25 March 1915. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Borrowash". Derby Daily Telegraph. England. 13 December 1922. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "L.M.S. Appointments". Nottingham Evening Post. England. 17 June 1937. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. Table 53 National Rail timetable, May 2016
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