South Wigston railway station

This article is about the current railway station. For former Midland Counties Railway station, see Wigston South railway station.

South Wigston railway station serves the village of South Wigston, Leicestershire, England, on the Birmingham to Peterborough Line 4 miles (6 km) south of Leicester and the west-north loop of Wigston Junction. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway (EMR). Not all trains operating between Birmingham and Leicester stop here. Although the station is only served by CrossCountry, it is managed by East Midlands Railway as CrossCountry does not manage any stations.

South Wigston
South Wigston railway station in 2006.
General information
Location	South Wigston, Borough of Oadby and Wigston England
Coordinates	52°34′57″N 1°08′02″W / 52.5824°N 1.1339°W / 52.5824; -1.1339
Grid reference	SP587986
Managed by	East Midlands Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	SWS
Classification	DfT category F2
Key dates
1986	Opened
Passengers
2018/19	85,394
2019/20	94,054
2020/21	20,222
2021/22	67,430
2022/23	90,504
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

The station is unstaffed, so passengers have to either buy their tickets for travel from the guard on the train at no extra cost or online. Facilities at the station are limited, consisting of a "bus shelter" type shelter on each of the two platforms to protect passengers from the weather, as well as a timetable board, public address system and noticeboard.

History

Wigston once had three railway stations: Wigston South on the Midland Counties Railway opened in 1840 (dismantled), Wigston Magna on the Midland Main Line opened in 1857 and Glen Parva on the South Leicestershire Railway opened in the 1860s. However, British Railways closed all three stations by 1968.

The present South Wigston station was opened on Saturday 10 May 1986^[1] and is at a new site about 300 metres east of the site of the former Glen Parva station. The new station cost £135,000 to build and was funded by Leicestershire County Council.^[1]

There has been talk of a car park for commuters on the adjacent wasteland within the Wigston railway triangle, but this has never been progressed and the land remains a haven for wildlife. There is a public car park on nearby Kirkdale Road.

The station was managed by Central Trains until 2007, who operated all trains calling at the station; when the franchise ended, the station management transferred to East Midlands Trains, who managed the station until 2019, when their franchise ended, and the station was transferred to East Midlands Railway. All services calling are operated by CrossCountry.

South Wigston station's two platforms are staggered, one each side of a wide footbridge over the railway.^[2]

Services

There are regular services to Leicester and Birmingham New Street: usually one train in each direction every hour (Monday to Sunday).^[3][4] There is one additional service as far as Cambridge in the morning peak as well as one late evening train a day to Gloucester, both on weekdays only.

References

1. Bevan, Alan, ed. (1998). A-Z of Rail Reopenings (fourth ed.). Fareham: Railway Development Society Ltd. p. 32. ISBN 0-901283-13-4.
2. (PDF). Network Rail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
3. "Stansted, Cambridge & Nottingham to Birmingham & Cardiff - Sunday 11 December 2022 – Saturday 20 May 2023" (PDF). Cross Country Trains.
4. "Stansted, Cambridge & Nottingham to Birmingham & Cardiff - Sunday 21 May 2023 – Saturday 09 December 2023" (PDF). Cross Country Trains. 21 May 2023.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Narborough		CrossCountry Birmingham New Street — Leicester		Leicester

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to South Wigston railway station.

• Train times and station information for South Wigston railway station from National Rail