Coalville Town railway station

Coalville Town was a railway station at Coalville in Leicestershire on the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line. Passenger business was carried out at the "Railway Hotel" when the line opened in 1833 until the first Coalville station was opened by the Midland Railway in 1848, replaced in 1894 and closed in 1964, although the line remains in use for freight.[2]

Coalville Town
Remains of Coalville Town station, 1969
General information
LocationCoalville, North West Leicestershire
England
Coordinates52.724°N 1.372°W / 52.724; -1.372
Grid referenceSK425142
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLeicester and Swannington Railway
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
27 April 1833Passengers purchase tickets at the "Railway Hotel" on Long Lane
27 March 1848Station opened as Coalville
2 June 1924Renamed Coalville Town
7 September 1964station closed[1]

History
Freight train crossing High Street/Hotel Street in the centre of Coalville, July 2016. The building in the background was previously the "Railway Hotel" where passengers could buy tickets for the trains until the Midland Railway opened Coalville station just beyond in 1848.

The Leicester and Swannington Railway was originally built to carry coal and there was little provision for any passenger traffic. When the railway opened at Long Lane, now Coalville, in 1833 passenger business had to be carried out at the "Railway Hotel" adjacent to the level crossing.[2] The first proper Coalville station was opened in 1848 after the line had been taken over by the Midland Railway. This in turn was rebuilt in 1894, being renamed Coalville Town in 1924 to distinguish it from Coalville East on the rival Charnwood Forest Railway. British Railways closed Coalville Town on 7 September 1964 when passenger services were ended on the line. The line remains open for freight only.[1] Coalville Town was the most important station between Leicester and Burton-on-Trent and was built to fuller dimensions to reflect this.

The station was to the north of the A50 road beside the level crossing, which was controlled by a signal box[3][4] that was removed in 1986 and re-erected at the former Snibston Colliery.[5] All the other station buildings have been demolished. The former Railway pub next to the level crossing is now a children's nursery.

Stationmasters
  • William Spriggs until 1861[6]
  • R. Caton 1861 - 1864[6]
  • Francis Jowett 1864[6] - 1877[7]
  • Robert Bunting 1877[7] - ca. 1885
  • George Tomblin 1887 - 1909
  • Henry Lewis 1909[8] - 1917[9] (afterwards station master and district cashier at Swansea)
  • Thomas Maidens 1918 - 1921[10]
  • Walter Bennett 1921[11] - 1939[12]
  • Walter Lea 1939[13] - 1941
  • R.W. Masters from 1941[14] - 1948 (afterwards station master at Macclesfield)
  • H. Humphreys 1948 - 1953[15] (formerly station master at Bedworth)

Motive power depot

British Railways closed Mantle Lane motive power depot at Coalville in 1990. Its "Category A" status was a clerical error, and it should have been "Category C". The British Railways depot on the site was unusual in that it had no fuelling points, fitters or any other shed facilities. Locomotives would be taken in ferries to nearby Burton-on-Trent (until it closed) or Leicester for refuelling, water and sandbox filling. This perhaps shows why it was a surprise to find it as an A-listed depot. Little remains at the site which hints at its formerly busy railway past. Two tracks remain where once lay four 'on shed' as it were.

Reopening proposals

In the 1990s BR planned to restore passenger services between Leicester and Burton as the second phase of its Ivanhoe Line project. However, after the privatisation of British Rail in 1995 this phase of the project was discontinued. In 2009 the Association of Train Operating Companies published a £49 million proposal to restore passenger services to the line that would include reopening a station at Coalville.[16]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Bardon Hill
Line open, station closed		   Midland Railway
Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line		   Swannington
Line open, station closed
Hugglescote
Line open, station closed		     branch to Coleorton Tramway
Line and station closed

References
  1. Butt, RVJ (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1.
  2. Clinker, C.R. (1977) The Leicester & Swannington Railway Bristol: Avon Anglia Publications & Services. Reprinted from the Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological Society Volume XXX, 1954.
  3. Churchman, Peter M. "Coalville Crossing in 1975". Signalling: British Railways: The Peter Churchman Collection. Tillyweb.
  4. "Coalville Leicestershire". Flickr. 13 March 1979.
  5. "Snibston Coalville Leicestershire". Flickr. 13 July 2010.
  6. "1859-1866". Midland Railway Miscellaneous Depts: 159. 1914. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  7. "1871-1879 Coaching". Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts: 701. 1871. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  8. "Midland Railway Stationmasters". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. England. 7 January 1909. Retrieved 26 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Happenings in the county". Leicester Chronicle. England. 22 December 1917. Retrieved 26 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Coalville". Leicester Daily Post. England. 12 January 1921. Retrieved 26 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Coalville". Leicester Daily Post. England. 25 February 1921. Retrieved 26 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "Railmen Honour Stationmaster". Leicester Evening Mail. England. 14 August 1939. Retrieved 26 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "In a few lines". Northampton Mercury. England. 5 May 1939. Retrieved 26 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. "Coalville's New Stationmaster". Leicester Evening Mail. England. 30 October 1941. Retrieved 26 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. "Gift to Coalville Stationmaster". Leicester Evening Mail. England. 1 April 1953. Retrieved 26 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. "Connecting Communities – Expanding Access to the Rail Network" (PDF). London: Association of Train Operating Companies. June 2009. p. 19. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
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