Leicester and Swannington Railway

The industry of Leicester was dominant in the county and the region generally, but it was limited by poor transport links. The developing industry brought about a huge demand for coal. During the closing years of the eighteenth century, the opening of turnpikes, and improvements to the River Soar – the Loughborough Navigation in 1778; the Leicester Navigation in 1791) and then in 1814 the completion of the Grand Union Canal towards Rugby – were all supportive of Leicester's development.

As early as 1790 a railway connection from Swannington was proposed:

[On 12 July 1790] a meeting was held at the castle of Leicester in order finally to determine upon a general plan of navigation in this country. Lord Rawdon opened the business of the meeting... and laid before them the outline of a plan, viz., the [River] Soar to be made navigable to Loughborough, and a cut, or railway, from Swannington and the neighbourhood to the Bason at Loughborough.

In the 1820s the Leicester Navigation was carrying 56,000 tons of coal annually for Leicester and 59,000 tons for other markets. There was good quality coal nearby around Swannington but no usable transport link, so it was cheaper to bring coal thirty miles by canal from South Derbyshire. William Stenson was part-owner of Long Lane Pit near Whitwick (close to present-day Coalville). Frustrated by the situation, he visited the industrial north-east of England in 1827 and observed the success of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Seeing a railway as a solution to his local difficulty, he enlisted the support of the wealthy weaver John Ellis, and together they travelled to see George Stephenson, who was engaged on the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson, then 25, visited Leicester by invitation in the Autumn of 1828.

Opening and early operation

First formal journey

A formal opening of the first part of the line took place on 17 July 1832; a passenger journey for proprietors and directors and their friends only, ran from the West Bridge terminus in Leicester to the summit level at Staunton Road crossing, a distance of 11 miles 55 chains (19 km). The inaugural train was drawn by the locomotive Comet and consisted of an open wagon specially covered in for use of the directors, the company's only open second-class carriage and ten new coal wagons with improvised seats, conveying in all about 400 passengers. It left West Bridge at 10:00 and reached Bagworth at 11:00 "A slight delay was caused by the engine chimney striking the roof of the tunnel at a point where the platelayers had temporarily raised the track to pack a 'low' place. The train was halted specially at Glenfield Brook to enable the passengers, especially the ladies, to remove the effects of the enforced sojourn in the tunnel." The return journey conveyed two wagons of coal in addition.

Public opening

The general public were able to travel to Bagworth and back by a second special train at 16:30. On the next day, the ordinary train service started; this usually consisted of three empty wagon trains each weekday, leaving West Bridge at 08:00, 13:00 and 16:30; the passenger carriage was attached to these and the corresponding return loaded trips. Apparently, special passenger trips were run for a few weeks after opening, until the novelty of a train journey had worn off.

Coal rates

At first only Bagworth colliery was connected to the line, and accordingly income from mineral traffic was far below what was planned. Pressing ahead with the construction of the northern section of the authorised line was called for. In addition, a rebate was offered to other coal owners whose workings were near to the open section but not connected by rail; the rebate was in recognition of the cost of road transport from those pits to the railway, and of the breakage of coal due to the additional transhipment. The rebate proved very effective and those pits forwarded considerably increased quantities.

Train operation

The usual train consisted of twenty-four wagons of 32 long hundredweight (1.6 t) each. The idea that there would be a demand from passengers came as something of a surprise to the directors, but a carriage was hastily built, and very soon the line was carrying about 60 passengers a day and their fares were repaying one per cent of the capital. In time, both first and second class was provided. On payment of the fare at the departure station, each passenger would receive a metal token marked with the destination. This would be given up on arrival and reused. Small four-wheeled wagons and coaches, painted plain blue, comprised the rolling stock.

Bagworth incline accident

In 1843 a serious accident took place on the Bagworth incline. A train of goods wagons and an empty passenger carriage was being lowered down the incline when it slipped from the incline rope, and ran at high speed down the incline and was wrecked. The company decided to discontinue the use of the incline for passenger traffic. Passengers had to disembark from their trains and walk up or down the incline to rejoin the train.