Melton Mowbray railway station

Melton Mowbray railway station serves the market town of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, England. It is owned by Network Rail and operated by East Midlands Railway, though CrossCountry operates most of the services as part of its Birmingham New Street to Stansted Airport route. The station is on the route of the Syston and Peterborough Railway, which is now part of the Birmingham to Peterborough Line. It has a ticket office, which is staffed part-time, a car park, and help points for times when no staff are present.

Melton Mowbray
National Rail
General information
LocationMelton Mowbray, Borough of Melton
England
Grid referenceSK752187
Managed byEast Midlands Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeMMO
ClassificationDfT category E
History
Original companyMidland Counties Railway
Pre-groupingMidland Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 September 1846 (1846-09-01)First station opened as Melton
1 May 1848Station resited
1 November 1876Renamed Melton Mowbray
1923Renamed Melton Mowbray South
25 September 1950Renamed Melton Mowbray Midland
by 13 September 1957Renamed Melton Mowbray Town
14 June 1965Renamed Melton Mowbray
Passengers
2017/18Increase 0.269 million
2018/19Increase 0.283 million
2019/20Decrease 0.277 million
2020/21Decrease 47,012
2021/22Increase 0.183 million
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

History

The station opened as Melton on 1 September 1846, with two sections of the Syston and Peterborough line, from Leicester to Melton and Stamford to Peterborough. The opening of the former had been delayed by opposition from a landowner, Lord Harborough.[1]

The station building with the later porte-cochère

The building is thought to have been designed by William Parsons and Sancton Wood.[2] It was built by the contractor Herberts at a then cost of £3,021. The porte-cochère was added later by the Midland Railway in an attempt to improve the station in response to competition from the Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway which opened its station, Melton Mowbray North, in 1879.

The station was badly damaged by a snowstorm on Tuesday 11 April 1876. The weight of snow on the corrugated iron roof that spanned the two platforms and lines, about 60 yards (55 m) long and 28 yards (26 m) wide, caused the roof to collapse shortly after a goods train had passed through. Fortunately there were no passengers on the platforms and no fatalities. A small section of remaining roof in poor condition was yanked down with a long chain, using a locomotive.[3] The line was cleared in about three hours.

The station has had several names during its existence. After opening as Melton in 1846 it was renamed Melton Mowbray on 1 November 1876 and then Melton Mowbray South in 1923. In 1957 it was renamed Melton Mowbray Town to distinguish it from Melton Mowbray North (though this had closed to regular traffic in 1953). It was given its current name on 14 June 1965.

It was refurbished in 2011 with re-glazed platform canopies, resurfaced platforms, passenger information screens, improved disabled access to the barrow crossing, a full repaint and a new footbridge. The refurbishment of the platforms retained their original length – previous plans to extend them by up to 14 yards (13 m) were omitted.[4] Following this, Melton Mowbray won a "highly commended" award at the National Rail Awards 2014 as Small station of the year.[5]

Stationmasters
  • J. Withers, c. 1849–1850,[6] former station master at Syston, afterwards at Grantham
  • John Willis, 1850–1862[7]
  • George William Earp, 1862–1864
  • W. Barker, 1864
  • W. Butterfield, from 1864
  • Robert Jeffrey, c. 1869–1873[8]
  • T. B. Symonds, 1873–1878, former station master of Berkley Road station, Gloucester, absconded after suspension on 28 November 1878[9]
  • Thomas Bedington, 1878–1908[10]
  • Lawrence Palmer Briggs, 1908–1913,[11] afterwards station master at Trent
  • James Sparling, 1913–1929,[12] former station master at Rowsley
  • Frederick Charles Robinson, 1929–1940[13]

Services
A CrossCountry Class 170 operating to Birmingham

Melton Mowbray has an hourly service off-peak in both directions operated by CrossCountry. Westbound trains run to Birmingham via Leicester, Nuneaton and Coleshill. Eastbound trains run to Stansted Airport via Peterborough, Ely and Cambridge. Additional trains run at peak times, with some terminating at Cambridge.[14]

Although the next station westbound is Syston, there are no direct services between the two.[14]

Despite managing the station, East Midlands Railway (EMR) only operates limited services to the station: a single daily return service to London St Pancras via Corby commenced on 27 April 2009.[15] It is notable as the first regular passenger service to cross the historic Welland Viaduct on the Oakham to Kettering line since 1966. The company introduced a further return service from Derby via East Midlands Parkway (for East Midlands Airport) from May 2010. Further services are being considered.[16] There are two daily services to and from London, one calling at Oakham, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, and Luton, and the other at Oakham, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton and Luton Airport Parkway.[17]

A handful of local services operate at either end of the day, mainly for train-crew route-knowledge retention purposes. A morning service runs from Nottingham to Norwich and an evening service from Spalding to Nottingham via Peterborough.

Preceding station   National Rail National Rail   Following station
CrossCountry
East Midlands Railway
Nottingham – Norwich (via Loughborough)
Limited Service
TerminusEast Midlands Railway
Limited Service

Former services

According to the Official Handbook of Stations the following classes of traffic were being handled at this station in 1956: G, P, F, L, H, C and there was a 7-ton crane. [18]

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Asfordby   Midland Railway
Leicester London Road to Peterborough		   Oakham
Grimston   Midland Railway
Nottingham direct line of the Midland Railway		   Oakham

Part of the former Nottingham direct line of the Midland Railway is now used as the Old Dalby Test Track. This leaves the Leicester line a short distance to the west of Melton Mowbray station and runs towards Nottingham via Old Dalby, continuing as far as the Nottingham suburb of Edwalton.

References
  1. "Syston and Peterborough Line". Nottinghamshire Guardian. England. 4 September 1846. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. "Syston and Peterborough Railway". The Leicestershire Historian. 1–2 (8): 2. 1967. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  3. "Terrible Snowstorm and wreck of the Melton Mowbray Railway Station". Grantham Journal. England. 15 April 1876. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Network Rail CP4 Delivery Plan 2009 Enhancements programme: statement of scope, outputs and milestones" (PDF). Network Rail. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  5. "National Rail Awards Winners 2014". Archived from the original on 1 October 2014.
  6. "Melton Mowbray". Stamford Mercury. England. 28 June 1850. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Melton Mowbray". Loughborough Monitor. England. 31 July 1862. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Melton Mowbray". Stamford Mercury. England. 31 January 1873. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Melton". Midland Railway Operating Traffic and Coaching Departments: 879. 1871–1879. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  10. "Presentation to Mr Thomas Bedington". Grantham Journal. England. 12 December 1908. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Midland Railway Appointments". Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal. England. 9 August 1913. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "Presentation to Councillor Sparling at Melton Mowbray". Grantham Journal. England. 6 July 1929. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "Retiring Stationmaster Dead". Market Harborough Advertiser and Midland Mail. England. 5 January 1940. Retrieved 7 February 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. Table 47 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  15. "Passengers from Melton Mowbray set to benefit from direct link to London". eastmidlandstrains.co.uk. 7 April 2009.
  16. "Rail service could run north of town". Northants Evening Telegraph. 21 February 2008. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  17. Table 53 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  18. Official Handbook of Stations, British Transport Commission, 1956
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