St Margaret's Bus Station
| St Margaret's Bus Station | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Location | |
| Locale | Gravel St, Leicester |
| Local authority | Leicester (borough) |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1985 |
| Managed by | Leicester City Council |
| No. of stands | 27 |
| Operators | Arriva Midlands Centrebus Kinchbus Paul S Winson Coaches Roberts Coaches Stagecoach in Northants Mike de Courcey Travel Trent Barton |
| Travel centre | Yes |
| Rail connection | No |
St Margaret's Bus Station is located on Gravel Street to the north of Leicester City Centre, England.
Coordinates: 52°38′21″N 1°08′03″W / 52.6393°N 1.1342°W
The 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.
Alterations to the station included an exterior repaint from red to blue, altering the toilet layout, addition of a Skills travel shop, changing the seating from plastic to metal, adding a National Express office and drivers' room etc.. There are 22 bays for local services and 5 for coaches.
More than 40 different services use the station, making more than 226,000 departures each year between them[citation needed]. At least 15 different coach companies use the bus station as their arrival and departure point for both scheduled and non-scheduled trips throughout the year[citation needed].
It is named after St. Margarets Church which stands just across Burleys Way.
Passengers using both train and buses in the city can include a PlusBus ticket with their train ticket that gives unlimited bus travel in a designated area.
Facilities include:
- Full time Security Cover
- Baby Changing Facilities
- Newspaper Vendor
- Waiting Room
- Cafeteria
- Ladies and Gents Toilets
- CCTV Cameras
- Luggage Lockers (Large and Small)
Contents |
[edit] Services
There are plenty of bus services that use St Margaret's Bus Station as well as long distance coach services. The majority of services are run by Arriva Leicester with the remainder of services run by Centrebus, Kinchbus, Roberts Coaches, Stagecoach in Northants, Travel de Courcey and Trent Barton.
From St Margaret's, buses run to Burton-upon-Trent, Coalville, Coventry, Derby, East Midlands Airport, Hinckley, Loughborough, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Northampton, Nottingham, Rugby and Swadlincote plus several parts of the Leicestershire area including Beaumont Centre, Blaby, Groby, Oadby, Ratby, South Wigston, Syston and Thurcaston.
The following table shows the bays in the bus station and which services use them:
| Bay No. | Service | Operator | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coaches Only | ||
| 2 | 100 | Centrebus | Melton Mowbray via Syston, Barkby, Gaddesby & Great Dalby |
| 128 | Melton Mowbray via Syston, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake, Thrussington, Hoby & Frisby on the Wreake | ||
| 3 | 2 | Kinchbus | Loughborough via Birstall, Cossington, Sileby, Barrow upon Soar & Quorn |
| Leicester Xprss | Trent Barton | Nottingham via West Bridgford (Limited Stop) | |
| RR6 (Wed) | Centrebus | Melton Mowbray via Hungarton, Ashby Foville, Gaddesby & Kirby Bellars | |
| 4 | X27E (M-F) | Paul S Winson | Loughborough express via Birstall |
| Railway Station | |||
| Skylink (6am-midnight) |
Kinchbus | Derby via Loughborough, East Midlands Airport & Castle Donington | |
| 5 | 26 | Arriva | Coalville via Glenfield Hospital, County Hall, Groby, Ratby, Botcheston, Thornton & Bagworth |
| 27 | Ratby via Glenfield Hospital, County Hall & Groby (Laundon Way) | ||
| 28 | Groby (Pine Tree Avenue) via Glenfield Hospital & County Hall | ||
| 6 | 29 | Coalville via Glenfield Hospital, County Hall, Groby & Markfield | |
| 29A | Coalville via Glenfield Hospital, County Hall, Groby, Markfield & Whitwick | ||
| 7 | 120 | Roberts Coaches | Coalville via County Hall, Anstey, Newtown Linford, Markfield & Stanton under Bardon |
| 8 | 126 | Arriva | Coalville via Birstall, Rothley, Mountsorrel, Loughborough & Shepshed |
| 9 | 127 | Shepshed via Birstall, Rothley, Mountsorrel & Loughborough | |
| 10 | 55 | Centrebus | Thurcaston via Avebury Avenue & Beaumont Centre |
| 153 | Arriva | Market Bosworth via Kirby Muxloe, Desford, Newbold Verdon & Barlestone | |
| 11 | 158 | Nuneaton via Earl Shilton, Barwell & Hinckley | |
| 12 | 140 | Centrebus | Rugby via Fosse Park, Narborough, Broughton Astley & Lutterworth |
| 148 | Sharnford via Grove Park, Thurlaston, Stoney Stanton & Sapcote | ||
| 13 | 84 | Arriva | Lutterworth via Aylestone, Blaby, Whetstone & Broughton Astley |
| 84A | Whetstone via Aylestone & Blaby | ||
| 14 | 85 | South Wigston via Aylestone, Blaby & Countesthorpe | |
| 15 | 47 (Mon-Sat) | Arriva | Wigston Magna via Saffron Lane, South Wigston & Little Hill |
| 16 | 48 (Mon-Sat) | Arriva | South Wigston via University Road, Wigston Magna & Little Hill |
| 17 | No Services | ||
| 18 | 747 | Centrebus | Uppingham via Thurnby, Houghton on the Hill, Billesdon & Belton-in-Rutland |
| RR1 (M-F) | Hallaton via Thurnby, Houghton-on-the-Hill, Loddington & East Norton | ||
| RR3 (Thu & Fri) | Great Easton via Oadby, Tur Langton, Slawston, Hallaton & Medbourne | ||
| RR5 (Wed) | Oakham via Hungarton & Great Dalby | ||
| RR8 (Fri) | Billesdon via Kings Norton & Gaulby | ||
| RR11 (Sat) | Oakham via Cold Newton & Halstead | ||
| RR12 (Fri) | Uppingham via Houghton-on-the-Hill & East Norton | ||
| 19 | RR4 (Tue & Thu) | Centrebus | Market Harborough via Bushby, Houghton-on-the-Hill & East Norton |
| X6 | Mike de Courcey Travel | Coventry via Fosse Park, Three Pots, University Hospital & Walsgrave | |
| X7 | Stagecoach | Northampton via Oadby, Kibworth, Market Harborough & Brixworth | |
| 20 | X3 | Arriva | Market Harborough via Oadby, Great Glen & Kibworth |
| 21 & 22 | National Express & Long Distance Coaches | ||
National Express and Megabus, part of Stagecoach are the two major coach operators.
In partnership with Germany's INIT, specialists in transportation telematics and fare collection systems, Leicester City Council also installed a Terminal Management System (TMS) to improve the performance of the bus station. The project has been considered extremely successful by both passengers and operators using the bus station.
[edit] Real time travel information
St Margarets Bus Station operates a real time travel information that tells passengers: route number, destinaton, bay number, time of timetabled departure/expected time of departure.
There are three display boards two of which are located inside the station and one located inside the national express waiting area.
National Express services are not displayed on the boards. National Express departures/arrivals times are displayed in their shop.
[edit] Future
A new bus station could be built in the city to replace both St Margaret's and Haymarket Bus Station.[1]
[edit] References
- http://www.crosbyheritage.co.uk/location/leicester/st-margarets-bus-station/ Crosby Heritage>St Margarets bus station.
