Coalville Town railway station

Coalville Town
265px Site of Coalville Town station, 1988
Location
Place	Coalville
Area	North West Leicestershire
Coordinates
Grid reference	SK425142
Operations
Original company	Leicester and Swannington Railway
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms	2
History
27 April 1833	Station opened as Long Lane
27 March 1848	Renamed Coalville
2 June 1924	Renamed Coalville Town
7 September 1964	station closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Coalville Town was a railway station at Coalville in Leicestershire on the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line. It was opened in 1833 and closed in 1964, although the line remains in use for freight.

History

The station was opened as Long Lane in 1833, being renamed Coalville in 1848 and finally 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. Coalville Town was the most important station between Leicester and Burton-on-Trent and was built to fuller dimensions to reflect this.

The station straddled the A50 road with a level crossing controlled by an impressive signal box which was removed in 1986 and preserved at the former Snibston Colliery. All the other station buildings have been demolished though the nearby former Railway public house is now a children's nursery.

Motive power depot

British Railways closed Mantle Lane motive power depot at Coalville in 1990. Its "Category A" status was a clerical error, and was in fact a "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.

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

External links

• http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/