St Margaret's Bus Station
St Margarets Bus Station is located on Gravel Street to the north of Leicester City Centre, England.
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.It was opened by Councillor Derek Fryett,Chair of the Planning Committee on May 3rd 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 opened by Councillor Patrick Kitterick on 24 May 2007.
The alterations made to the station included exterior repaint from red to blue, alter toilet layout,add Skills travel shop,alter seating from plastic to metal,add 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 {fact}. 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 {fact}.
It is named after St. Margarets Church which stands just across Burleys Way.
Passengers using the train as well as busses in the city can include a PlusBus ticket with their train ticket which 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
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 Fox County with the remainder of services run by Centrebus, Kinchbus, Stagecoach Northants, Stagecoach Warwickshire and Travel De Courcey.
From St Margaret's, buses run to Burton-upon-Trent, Coalville, Coventry, East Midlands Airport, Hinckley, Loughborough, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Northampton ,Nottingham and Swadlincote plus several parts of the Leicestershire area including Beaumont Centre, Blaby, Groby, Oadby, Ratby, South Wigston, Syston and Thurcaston.
The bus services that use St Margaret's Bus Station and its Stand Number are: (Places in bold are where services terminate)
| No. | Operator | Destination | Mon-Sat Daytime Stand | Evenings & Sundays Stand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Mon-Sat daytime: Kinchbus Evenings/Sundays: Centrebus |
Loughborough via Birstall, Sileby, Barrow upon Soar and Quorn | 3 | 3 |
| 12 | Premiere Travel | Nottingham via Syston, Willoughby-on-Wold, Keyworth and Tollerton | 2 | - |
| 27 | Arriva Fox County | Ratby via Glenfield Turn | 7 | 71 |
| 28 | Arriva Fox County | Groby via Glenfield Turn | 8 | - |
| 28A | Arriva Fox County | Coalville via Groby, Markfield and Whitwick | 8 | 81 |
| 28B | Arriva Fox County | Coalville via Groby and Markfield | 8 | - |
| 47 | Arriva Fox County | South Wigston circular via Saffron Lane and Wigston Magma | 15 | 15 |
| 48 | Arriva Fox County | South Wigston circular via Wigston Magma and Little Hill | 16 | 16 |
| 55 | Centrebus | Thurcaston via Beaumont Centre | 10 | - |
| 80 | Arriva Fox County | Oadby, Halls of Residence | 19 | 191 |
| 84 | Arriva Fox County | Lutterworth via Blaby, Whetstone, Broughton Astley and Dunton Bassett | 13 | 132 |
| 84A | Arriva Fox County | Whetstone via Blaby | 13 | - |
| 85 | Arriva Fox County | South Wigston via Blaby and Countesthorpe | 14 | 14 |
| 100 | Centrebus | Melton Mowbray via Syston, Barsby, Gaddesby and Twyford | 2 | - |
| 120 | Roberts Tours | Coalville via Glenfield, Anstey, Markfield and Ellistown | 9 | - |
| 121 | Centrebus | Loughborough via Beaumont Centre, Anstey, Woodhouse Eaves and Quorn | - | 6 3 |
| 123 | Centrebus | Loughborough via Glenfield, Anstey, Thurcaston, Woodhouse Eaves and Quorn | - | 6 1 |
| 127 | Arriva Fox County | Coalville via Birstall, Rothley, Montsorrell, Loughborough and Shepshed | 54 | 5 |
| 128 | Centrebus | Melton Mowbray via Syston, Thrussington and Frisby on the Wreake | 2 | - |
| 131 | Arriva Fox County | Market Harborough via Oadby, Great Glen, Fleckney and Kibworth | - | 191 |
| 140 | Centrebus | Rugby via Fosse Park, Narborough, Broughton Astley and Lutterworth | 12 | - |
| 152 | Arriva Fox County | Coalville via Kirby Muxloe, Desford, Barlestone and Ibstock | 10 | - |
| 153 | Arriva Fox County | Market Bosworth via Kirby Muxloe, Desford and Barlestone | 10 | 10 |
| 158 | Arriva Fox County | Nuneaton via Earl Shilton and Hinckley | 11 | 115 |
| 217 | Arriva Fox County | Ashby via Groby, Ratby, Markfield, Whitwick, Coalville and Swannington | - | 8 6 |
| 218 | Arriva Fox County | Swadlincote via Glenfield, Ratby, Groby, Markfield, Whitwick, Coalville and Ashby | - | 8 6 |
| 747 | Arriva Fox County | Uppingham via Thurnby, Billesdon and East Norton | 18 | - |
| Skylink | Arriva Fox County | East Midlands Airport via Braunstone, County Hall, Markfield and M1 motorway | 47 | 47 |
| X1 | Arriva Fox County | Coalville via Braunstone Crossroads, Ratby, Thornton and Ellistown | 9 | - |
| X2 | Arriva Fox County Arriva Midlands |
Burton on Trent via Markfield, Coalville, Ashby and Swadlincote | 9 | - |
| X3 | Arriva Fox County | Market Harborough via Oadby, Great Glen and Kibworth | 20 | - |
| X4 | Arriva Fox County | Fleckney via Wigston Magma | 17 | - |
| X6 | Travel de Courcey | Coventry via Fosse Park and M69 motorway | 18 | - |
| X7 | Stagecoach Northants | Northampton via Oadby, Great Glen, Kibworth, Market Harborough, Kelmarsh and Brixworth | 19 | 19 |
| X40 | Stagecoach Warwickshire | Rugby via Blaby, Dunton Bassett and Lutterworth | - | 123 |
Notes:
| 1 | Monday-Saturday evening only |
|---|---|
| 2 | Evening and Sunday journeys run to/from Broughton Astley only |
| 3 | Sunday daytime only |
| 4 | Monday-Saturday daytime journeys terminate at Loughborough or Shepshed only |
| 5 | Evening and Sunday journeys run to/from Hinckley only |
| 6 | Sundays only |
| 7 | Journeys between midnight and 4am depart from Gravel Street not Bus Station |
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.
References
http://www.leicester.gov.uk/your-council--services/transport--traffic/transport-development/sustainable-team-homepage/buses--public-transport/re-development-of-st-margarets-bus-station/ Re-development of St Magarets Bus Station>Leicester City Council http://www.crosbyheritage.co.uk/location/leicester/st-margarets-bus-station/ Crosby Heritage>St Margarets Bus Station.