Coalville Town railway station

File:Freight train at level crossing in Coalville, July 2016.jpg

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. 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 {{rws|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 was to the north of the A50 road beside the level crossing, which was controlled by a signal box{{cite web |url= http://tillyweb.biz/pmc/Coalvillestationxing1975pmc1.jpg |last=Churchman |first=Peter M |title=Coalville Crossing in 1975 |work=Signalling: British Railways: The Peter Churchman Collection |publisher=Tillyweb}}{{cite web |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/loose_grip_99/2980137605/ |title=Coalville Leicestershire |date=13 March 1979 |publisher=Flickr}} that was removed in 1986 and re-erected at the former Snibston Colliery.{{cite web |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/loose_grip_99/4790482830/ |title=Snibston Coalville Leicestershire |date=13 July 2010 |publisher=Flickr}} All the other station buildings have been demolished. The former Railway pub next to the level crossing is now a children's nursery.

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• William Spriggs until 1861{{cite journal |author= |date=1914 |title=1859-1866 |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1728/images/32167_636897_0437-00094?ssrc=&backlabel=Return |journal=Midland Railway Miscellaneous Depts |volume= |issue= |pages=159 |doi= |access-date=12 February 2021}}
• R. Caton 1861 - 1864
• Francis Jowett 1864 - 1877{{cite journal |author= |date=1871 |title=1871-1879 Coaching |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1728/images/32167_636897_0431-00376?ssrc=&backlabel=Return |journal=Midland Railway Operating, Traffic and Coaching Depts |volume= |issue= |pages=701 |doi= |access-date=20 February 2021}}
• Robert Bunting 1877 - ca. 1885
• George Tomblin 1887 - 1909
• Henry Lewis 1909{{cite news |author= |title=Midland Railway Stationmasters | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000250/19090107/200/0005 |newspaper=Sheffield Daily Telegraph |location=England |date=7 January 1909 |access-date=26 February 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} - 1917{{cite news |author= |title=Happenings in the county | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003133/19171222/105/0011 |newspaper=Leicester Chronicle |location=England |date=22 December 1917 |access-date=26 February 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} (afterwards station master and district cashier at Swansea)
• Thomas Maidens 1918 - 1921{{cite news |author= |title=Coalville | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002148/19210112/124/0006 |newspaper=Leicester Daily Post |location=England |date=12 January 1921 |access-date=26 February 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
• Walter Bennett 1921{{cite news |author= |title=Coalville | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002148/19210225/023/0002 |newspaper=Leicester Daily Post |location=England |date=25 February 1921 |access-date=26 February 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} - 1939{{cite news |author= |title=Railmen Honour Stationmaster | url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003330/19390814/450/0010 |newspaper=Leicester Evening Mail |location=England |date=14 August 1939 |access-date=26 February 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}
• Walter Lea 1939{{cite news |author= |title=In a few lines| url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000732/19390505/075/0004 |newspaper=Northampton Mercury |location=England |date=5 May 1939 |access-date=26 February 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} - 1941
• R.W. Masters from 1941{{cite news |author= |title=Coalville’s New Stationmaster| url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003330/19411030/085/0006 |newspaper=Leicester Evening Mail |location=England |date=30 October 1941 |access-date=26 February 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} - 1948 (afterwards station master at Macclesfield)
• H. Humphreys 1948 - 1953{{cite news |author= |title=Gift to Coalville Stationmaster| url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003330/19530401/107/0008 |newspaper=Leicester Evening Mail |location=England |date=1 April 1953 |access-date=26 February 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} (formerly station master at Bedworth)

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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".{{Clarify |reason=This terminology will be obscure to most readers |date=July 2011}} 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{{Clarify |reason=This terminology will be obscure to most readers |date=July 2011}} to nearby {{rws|Burton-on-Trent}} (until it closed) or {{rws|Leicester}} for refuelling, water and sandbox filling. This perhaps shows why it was a surprise to find it as an A-listed depot.{{Clarify |reason=This terminology will be obscure to most readers |date=July 2011}} Little remains at the site which hints at its formerly busy railway past.{{when|date=December 2020}} Two tracks remain where once lay four 'on shed' as it were.{{Clarify |reason=This terminology will be obscure to most readers |date=July 2011}}

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.{{ATOCConnectingCommunitiesReportS10|page=19}}

{{Historical Rail Start}}

{{rail line two to two |previous1={{rws|Bardon Hill}}
Line open, station closed |previous2={{rws|Hugglescote}}
Line open, station closed |next1= {{rws|Swannington}}
Line open, station closed |next2= branch to Coleorton Tramway
Line and station closed |route=Midland Railway
Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line|col={{MR colour}}}}

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{{reflist}}

{{Closed stations Leicestershire and Rutland}}

Category:Disused railway stations in Leicestershire

Category:Former Midland Railway stations

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1833

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964

Category:Beeching closures in England

Category:Proposed railway stations in England

Category:Coalville