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 an exterior repaint from red to blue, altering the toilet layout,addition of a Skills travel shop,altering the seating from plastic to metal,addition of 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 {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 buses 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 Midlands 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 following table shows the bays in the bus station and which services use them: (Places in bold are where services terminate)
| Bay No. | Service | Operator | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No Services | ||
| 2 | 12 | Premier Travel | Nottingham via Keyworth & Tollerton |
| 100 | Centrebus | Melton Mowbray via Barkby | |
| 128 | Centrebus | Melton Mowbray via Frisby | |
| 3 | 2 | Kinchbus / Centrebus | Loughborough via Birstall & Sileby |
| 4 | SKY | Arriva Fox County | East Midlands Airport via Braunstone, County Hall & Field Head |
| 5 | 127 | Arriva Fox County | Shepshed via Birstall, Mountsorrel & Loughborough |
| 6 | 121 (Suns) | Centrebus | Loughborough via Beaumont Centre, Newtown Linford & Woodhouse Eaves |
| 123 (Eves) | Centrebus | Loughborough via County Hall, Anstey, Thurcaston & Woodhouse Eaves | |
| 7 | 27 | Arriva Fox County | Ratby via Glenfield Hospital |
| 8 | 28 | Arriva Fox County | Groby via Glenfield Hospital & Groby village |
| 28A 28B | Arriva Fox County | Coalville via Glenfield Hospital, Groby & Markfield | |
| 217 (Suns) | Arriva Fox County | Ashby de la Zouch via County Hall, Markfield, Coalville & Swannington | |
| 218 (Suns) | Arriva Fox County | Swadlincote via County Hall, Markfield, Coalville & Ashbyde la Zouch | |
| 9 | 120 | Roberts Tours | Coalville via County Hall, Anstey, Newtown Linford & Markfield |
| X1 | Arriva Fox County | Coalville via Ratby & Thornton | |
| X2 | Arriva Fox County | Burton upon Trent via Coalville, Swannington, Ashby & Swadlincote | |
| 10 | 55 | Centrebus | Thurcaston via Beaumont Centre |
| 152 153 | Arriva Fox County | Coalville / Market Bosworth via Kirby Muxloe, Desford & Barleston | |
| 11 | 158 | Arriva Fox County | Nuneaton via Earl Shilton, Barwell & Hinckley |
| 12 | 140 | Centrebus | Rugby via Fosse Park, Broughton Astley & Lutterworth |
| 148 | Centrebus | Earl Shilton via Thurlaston & Stoney Stanton | |
| X40 (Suns) | Stagecoach | Rugby via Aylestone, Blaby & Lutterworth | |
| 13 | 84 84A | Arriva Fox County | Lutterworth / Whetstone via Aylestone & Blaby |
| 14 | 85 | Arriva Fox County | South Wigston via Blaby & Countesthorpe |
| 15 | 47 | Arriva Fox County | Wigston Magna via Saffron Lane & South Wigston |
| 16 | 48 | Arriva Fox County | South Wigston via University Road & Wigston Magna |
| 17 | 80 | Arriva Fox County | Oadby, The Broadway via Leicester University & Ratcliffe Road |
| X4 | Arriva Fox County | Fleckney via Wigston Magna & Kilby | |
| 18 | 747 | Arriva Fox County | Uppingham via Thurnby, Houghton on the Hill & Billesdon |
| X6 | Travel de Courcey | Coventry via Fosse Park, Three Pots & Walsgrave | |
| 19 | 131 (Eves) | Arriva Fox County | Market Harborough via Oadby, Great Glen & Fleckney |
| X7 | Stagecoach | Northampton via Oadby, Kibworth, Market Harborough & Brixworth | |
| 20 | X3 | Arriva Fox County | Market Harborough via Oadby, Great Glen & Kibworth |
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.