Wigston Junction (Leicester)

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In its present form, Wigston Junction is the point where the Birmingham to Peterborough railway line temporarily joins the Midland Mainline northbound before branching eastward again shortly north of Leicester. Services on both lines stop at Leicester making it an important connection hub in the East Midlands. The southern spur connecting the two lines is used for freight traffic only as the Birmingham to Peterborough railway travels northbound up the Midland Mainline and therefore has no use for a south bound connection.

Prior to 1858, there was no direct railway route between Leicester and London. Instead, the Midland Counties Railway took passengers south to a connection with the Birmingham to London line at Rugby from which their services could continue to London. The congestion that came as a result of two major rail services using the same line into London eventually resulted in the construction of what has come to be the present day Midland Mainline route from Leicester to London via Bedford and Luton which can be seen heading south east on this view. The original railway route from Leicester to Rugby is now defunct and derelict but its course can still clearly be followed south west from Wigston Junction on the overhead view.

Wigston Junction, in its heyday, was home to a myriad of sidings and a locomotive shed on the area now occupied by Cromwell Tools just to the east of the present day junction.