St Margaret's Bus Station

Bus station in Leicester, England

52°38′21″N 1°08′03″W / 52.6393°N 1.1342°W / 52.6393; -1.1342Operated byLeicester City Council
National ExpressBus stands24Bus operatorsArriva Midlands
Centrebus
Diamond East Midlands
First Leicester
Kinchbus(including Skylink Derby)
National Express
New Bharat CoachesConnectionsNational Express
New Bharat CoachesConstructionBicycle facilitiesYesAccessibleYesOther informationStation codeLEI (for National Express)Websitehttps://www.leicesterbuses.co.ukHistoryOpened3 May 1985 (original)
27 June 2022 (redeveloped station)Closed31 December 2020 (original)

St Margaret's Bus Station is located on Gravel Street to the north of Leicester City Centre, England. It is named after St Margaret's Church, which stands just across Burleys Way.

History

The use of the site as a bus station dates back to the early 1940s. The previous bus station was built in 1985 and at the time was a state-of-the-art arrival and departure point in the city. Councillor Derek Fryett, Chair of the Planning Committee opened it on 3 May 1985. The contractor was Costain Construction. Although considered one of the best stations in the country, Leicester City Council set about a programme of refurbishment in 2006. The major refurbishment was complete in March 2007 and the station was reopened by Councillor Patrick Kitterick on 24 May 2007.

Redevelopment

As part of a £14.3 million rebuilding scheme a new access road was completed in November 2020 allowing buses to access the A594 ring road directly from the bus station, shortening journey times.^[1]

During December 2020, Leicester City Council announced the bus station would close from 31 December^[2]^[3]^[4] for around 18 months to allow for a total redevelopment of the bus station and surrounding roads.

St Margaret's is the first carbon neutral bus station in the United Kingdom. An official opening day was held on Sunday 26 June 2022 by the Mayor of Leicester Sir Peter Soulsby, ahead of bus services returning the following day.^[5]^[6]

Services

Long-distance coach services operated by National Express operate from the new bus station with a purpose built travel centre and waiting facilities which opened on 5 July 2022.^[7]

Bus services serving the bus station are operated by Arriva Midlands,^[8] Centrebus, Diamond East Midlands, First Leicester and Kinchbus to outlying areas of Leicestershire including: South Wigston, Lutterworth, Rugby, Coventry, Hinckley, Market Bosworth, Coalville, Loughborough, Derby, Birstall, East Midlands Airport, Uppingham, Groby and Ratby.

Facilities

The new bus station facilities include a newsagents, cafe, public toilets, information kiosk, bicycle storage area and the National Express travel centre with waiting facilities for passengers.^[9]

An interior view of the previous station in 2015.
An exterior view of the previous station from Gravel Street in 2015.
An interior view of the new station in 2022.
New amenities and signage in the new station.
New kiosk in the new station.

References

^ Mack, Tom (13 November 2020). "New road out of bus station to slash 5 minutes off journeys". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
^ Martin, Dan (21 December 2020). "City bus station to close - here's what's happening to services". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
^ "Works begins on £13.5m St Margaret's Bus Station redevelopment". East Midlands Business Link. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
^ Gordon, Chris (29 January 2021). "St Margaret's Bus Station starts to come down". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
^ "St Margaret's Bus Station reopening". Leicester City Council. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
^ "Next-Steps". Leicester Buses. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
^ "Leicester Re-Opening". National Express. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
^ "Arriva Bus".
^ "Leicester Buses". Leicester Buses. Retrieved 26 April 2022.