Plans for a new entrance to station and a food court inside

THE area around Leicester railway station could be transformed as part of a £100 million revamp of the area.

Leicester City Council is bidding for Government cash to fulfil a long-held ambition of “pivoting” the London Road station.

Money could be available to the council as part of Whitehall’s Transforming Cities fund.

Full details of a draft bid are yet to be revealed but key elements of the scheme are:

■ Moving the entrance from London Road to Station Street, where it was built by the Victorians.

■ Moving the pick up/drop off area and taxi rank from the porte-cochere to Station Street, opening up space for a potential food court and shops.

■ Building a multi-storey on the station car park, freeing up the site for a large office and commercial development while maintaining the number of spaces.

■ Improvements to make the station more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.

Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the plan was in its early stages but the city council was working with Network Rail, which owns the station, and Abellio, which has been awarded the new franchise to run trains on the Midland Mainline.

He said: “The area around Leicester station has enormous potential.

“We have been working closely with Network Rail and the operator and have been encouraged by Abellio’s enthusiasm for the changes we would like to see.

“We have amazing connectivity to London with journey times of just an hour, but I don’t think anyone would pretend the station works very well as it is.

“There is not enough room for the taxis and people hate driving in there to pick up and drop off.

“There is the prospect of turning the station round and making better use of the area vacated by the taxis.

“I think it’s fair to say the improvements made outside the main entrance a couple of years ago have not worked as anyone would have wished so there is the potential to make better use of that space.

“There is potential to have a quality office development on the station car park by turning surface-level spaces into multi-storey provision.”

“It is early days and nobody is writing any cheques yet.

“It would require considerable Government funding and we are looking at tens of millions of pounds, some council funding as well as investment from a third party.”

Director of planning, transportation and economic development Andrew Smith told a council meeting on Thursday: “Leicester railway station is a major transport hub – the number of passengers going through it each year at last count was about 5.4 million. That has grown significantly and it is set to grow further because of the natural growth in railway patronage but also because of the additional investment in rail.

“The schemes that improve east/ west connectivity, HS2, improvements to the Midland Mainline will bring additional passengers.

“The new franchisee has committed to to investing significant amounts to improve the station.

“We want to work alongside it to ensure the station has better integration as a transport hub.

“It is probably fair to say the station doesn’t work as well as it could as part of the transportation structure and as a gateway to the city.

“There is an opportunity to improve public realm at the station.”

He said there was also a challenge to deliver additional office space in the city centre and said: “One of the opportunities could present itself in and around the rail station.”