Home to one of the earliest railways in the country, the Leicester & Swannington, Leicestershire was for many years almost a private fiefdom of the Midland Railway, though later other companies made inroads. This was an area rich in mineral wealth with both coal and iron ore deposits providing much freight traffic. Today, the railways of these two counties are a pale shadow of what they once were. Whilst some stone traffic remains, the passenger network has effectively shrunk to the ex-MR main line through Leicester and the cross-country route from Nuneaton through Melton Mowbray to Peterborough. The GC and the GN and LNWR joint lines have been completely closed, although a section of the former survives as the preserved Great Central, based at Loughborough.

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