SLC Rail, the rail station specialist, is delighted that Leicester City Council has been successful with its bid for £17.6 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to transform Leicester railway station.
The successful bid which SLC Rail supported with earlier this year, will go towards a £22million scheme to remodel the station’s entrance and create a more attractive new gateway to the city centre.
The station would be effectively restored to its Victorian glory by forming a new entrance onto Station Street, directly facing the city centre, and restoring the booking hall to its original size to create more space for train passengers.
The area immediately outside the new entrance will be remodelled with a ramp and steps leading to a large new glazed entrance to the main concourse. The building’s original Station Street façade will also be restored.
The covered entrance hall areas on London Road – known as a port cochère – would be transformed into an attractive new plaza for retail, food and drinks, with the existing taxi ranks reallocated nearby on Station Street.
David Beale, Development Manager at Leicester City Council said: “Working with SLC on this Levelling Up Fund bid enabled us to showcase the importance of this project for the people living and working in Leicester.
“They helped us by bringing together all the disciplines needed for the application, including for engineering designs and plans, and provided us with support to make the process easier to navigate. It has been fantastic working with a team of people who are so passionate about helping us to improve our city.”
SLC creates rail strategies and funding bid documents for many local authorities in the UK, using a team of experts with experience of building new railway infrastructure.
