Great Central Railway

The Great Central Railway travels through some great countryside and allows well-behaved dogs onboard the trans. This is the only double-track heritage railway where you can experience full-sized steam train passing.

The  GCR has many special events throughout the year and check the website for details.

The Great Central Railway has four stations:

• Loughborough Central station (LE11 1RW) – Loughborough is the main station on the line and is where the Locomotive Shed is based.
• Quorn & Woodhouse station (LE12 8AW) – Quorn is a country station with a large open station yard used as a base for many of the railway’s events.
• Rothley station (LE7 7LD) – Rothley is a station with an enclosed station yard giving the real atmosphere of a country station.
• Leicester North station (LE4 3BR) – Leicester North is a new station built just south of the original Belgrave & Birstall station.

A little history. The original railway stations at Belgrave & Birstall, Rothley and Quorn & Woodhouse were closed in 1963. In 1966 the line closed and severed from the network just south of Rugby while the proud station at Nottingham Victoria was demolished.

Funding to restore started in 1971 with the first step creating a single track between Rothly and Loughborough, but today you have a double track section from Loughborough Central to Rothley and a single track to the new station at Leicester North.