Syston railway station


Syston railway station is a railway station serving the town of Syston in Leicestershire, England. The station is on the Midland Main Line from Leicester to Loughborough, down the line from London St Pancras.

Early history

The station was opened on 5 May 1840 as a minor intermediate station on the Midland Counties Railway line from Leicester to Nottingham and Derby. Shortly afterwards, the Midland Counties merged with the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the Midland Railway.
Syston became a junction station on 1 September 1846 with the opening of the Syston and Peterborough Railway to Melton Mowbray, which was extended in 1848 to Peterborough. The north to east curve was opened in 1854.
A replacement station was opened in 1874 when the Midland Main Line was increased from two to four tracks.

Closure

The station closed on 4 March 1968. The station building, having been hidden by fencing for many years, was later dismantled and rebuilt at Midland Railway - Butterley with the help of David Wilson Homes, who erected a housing estate over the old station land in 2006.

Reopening

The station reopened on 27 May 1994 as part of phase one of the Ivanhoe Line. It is served hourly in both directions by East Midlands Railway local services, running between Leicester and Lincoln via Loughborough, Nottingham and Newark. There is no Sunday service.
Express trains do not stop at Syston, as the single platform is on the bidirectional "slow" line, adjacent to the main line. Trains on the line to and from Peterborough do not call at the station either, although it is possible for them to do so.
Network Rail adopted a Route Utilisation Strategy for freight in 2007 which will create a new cross country freight route from Peterborough to Nuneaton. One of the next stages will create additional lines through Leicester during a re-signalling scheme, during this time Syston station will be rebuilt.

Services

There is an hourly service between Leicester and Nottingham on Monday to Saturday. There is no Sunday Service. Services are formed using diesel multiple units of class 153, 156 or 158