Oakham railway station serves the town of Oakham

Oakham

-Oakham's horseshoes:Traditionally, members of royalty and peers of the realm who visited or passed through the town had to pay a forfeit in the form of a horseshoe...

 in Rutland, England. The station is situated almost halfway between Leicester

Leicester railway station

Leicester railway station serves the City of Leicester in Leicestershire, England.As of late 2009 Leicester is a Penalty fare station, a valid ticket or Permit to travel must be shown when requested.-Background:...

 – 43 km (26.7 mi) to the west – and Peterborough

Peterborough railway station

Peterborough railway station serves the city of Peterborough, England. It is located approximately north of London Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line...

 – 41 km (25.5 mi) eastward on the (as built) Syston and Peterborough Railway

Syston and Peterborough Railway

The Syston and Peterborough Railway was an early railway in England opened between 1845 and 1848 to form a branch from the Midland Counties Railway at Syston just north of Leicester to Peterborough.-Origins:...

, the line is now part of the much bigger Birmingham to Peterborough Line

Birmingham to Peterborough Line

The Birmingham to Peterborough Line is a cross-country railway line in the United Kingdom, linking Birmingham to Peterborough, via Nuneaton and Leicester....

.

Oakham is Rutland's only surviving passenger railway station. The line from Oakham to Kettering

Oakham to Kettering Line

The Oakham to Kettering Railway Line is a railway line in the East Midlands of England. For many years it was used for mainly for freight traffic, and as an important diversionary route for passenger trains travelling the Midland Main Line as well as for the occasional excursion.Recently, however,...

 via Corby

Corby

Corby Town is a town and borough located in the county of Northamptonshire. Corby Town is 23 miles north-east of the county town, Northampton. The borough had a population of 53,174 at the 2001 Census; the town on its own accounted for 49,222 of this figure...

 (which branches off just east of Oakham) until recently rarely saw use by passenger trains being used largely exclusively by freight trains. Since the opening of Corby station

Corby railway station

Corby railway station, owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains , serves the town of Corby in Northamptonshire, England. The current station, opened on 23 February 2009, replaces an earlier one dating from 1879 and first closed in 1966 .Plans for the current station, built on a...

 it sees daily use with trains from London St Pancras

St Pancras railway station

St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...

, as well as the occasional use as a diversionary route for passenger trains normally using the Midland Main Line

Midland Main Line

The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...

. The daily services to/from London serve Corby, Kettering

Kettering

Kettering is a market town in the Borough of Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. It is situated about from London. Kettering is mainly situated on the west side of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene which meets at Wellingborough...

, Wellingborough

Wellingborough

Wellingborough is a market town and borough in Northamptonshire, England, situated some from the county town of Northampton. The town is situated on the north side of the River Nene, most of the older town is sited on the flanks of the hills above the river's current flood plain...

, Bedford

Bedford

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

, and Luton

Luton

Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....

.

Buildings

Since 2007 some of the extensive station buildings have been used as the headquarters of the charitable organisation StudentForce for Sustainability.
The level crossing signal box nearby was the prototype for the Airfix

Airfix

Airfix is a UK manufacturer of plastic scale model kits of aircraft and other subjects. In Britain, the name Airfix is synonymous with the hobby, a plastic model of this type is often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even if made by another manufacturer....

 kit signal box. http://www.airfixrailways.co.uk/SignalBox.htm

Services

From Oakham there is an hourly service in both directions operated by CrossCountry

CrossCountry

CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...

, with some additional peak-hour trains. Services westbound to Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

via Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray

Melton Mowbray is a town in the Melton borough of Leicestershire, England. It is to the northeast of Leicester, and southeast of Nottingham...

, Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

, Narborough

Narborough

-Places:*Narborough, Leicestershire*Narborough, Norfolk*Narborough, Northamptonshire, a historical name for Northborough in a small village near the city of Peterborough in the East of England....

, Hinckley

Hinckley

Hinckley is a town in southwest Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 43,246 . It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council...

, Nuneaton

Nuneaton

Nuneaton is the largest town in the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and in the English county of Warwickshire.Nuneaton is most famous for its associations with the 19th century author George Eliot, who was born on a farm on the Arbury Estate just outside Nuneaton in 1819 and lived in the town for...

 and Coleshill

Coleshill, Warwickshire

Coleshill is a market town in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England, taking its name from the River Cole. It has a population of 6,343 and is situated east of Birmingham.-Location:...

. Services eastbound to Stansted Airport or Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

via Stamford

Stamford, Lincolnshire

Stamford is a town and civil parish within the South Kesteven district of the county of Lincolnshire, England. It is approximately to the north of London, on the east side of the A1 road to York and Edinburgh and on the River Welland...

, Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

, March

March, Cambridgeshire

March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. March was the county town of the Isle of Ely, a separate administrative county between 1889 and 1965, and is now the administrative centre of Fenland District Council.The town was an important...

, Ely

Ely, Cambridgeshire

Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...

 and Audley End.

Despite managing the station, East Midlands Trains

East Midlands Trains

East Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...

 (EMT) only operates a limited number of services to the station. A handful of local services operate at either end of the day (mainly for train crew route knowledge purposes). A A.M service runs from Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

 to Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

 and P.M service operates from Peterborough.

The station retains a ticket office which is staffed part time, a car park and help points for times where there are no staff present.

A single daily return service to London St Pancras

St Pancras railway station

St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...

 commenced on 27 April 2009 running via Corby

Corby railway station

Corby railway station, owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains , serves the town of Corby in Northamptonshire, England. The current station, opened on 23 February 2009, replaces an earlier one dating from 1879 and first closed in 1966 .Plans for the current station, built on a...

 and is notable for being the first regular passenger service to cross the spectacular and historic Welland Viaduct since 1966. The company introduced a further return service from Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

 via East Midlands Parkway

East Midlands Parkway railway station

East Midlands Parkway is a railway station located north of Ratcliffe-on-Soar on the Midland Main Line in the East Midlands of England. It provides park and ride facilities for rail passengers on the routes from Leicester to Derby and Nottingham...

 (for East Midlands Airport) from May 2010. Further services may be introduced in the future. The initial London service had been due to start on 14 December 2008 but because of a delay in reaching agreement with the Department for Transport

Department for Transport

In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...

 and Rolling Stock Operating Company (ROSCO)

Rolling Stock Operating Company

In the United Kingdom, a Rolling Stock Operating Company owns and maintains railway engines and carriages which are leased to Train Operating Companies who actually operate the trains....

 for the four additional trains needed for the service EMT started the service around four months later.

Former services

Prior to the Beeching Axe

Beeching Axe

The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...

 trains used to stop at a number of smaller village destinations in Rutland

Rutland

Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....

. These were closed between 1961 and 1966.

Summary of former services

Sample train timetable for July 1922

The table below shows the train departures from Oakham on weekdays in July 1922. The basic services are Peterborough to Leicester and Kettering to Nottingham. In this timetable, Oakham is served by two London to Nottingham expresses, arriving in Oakham at 10.22 and 18.55. Southbound the only direct service is at 18.09, but two additional Nottingham to London expresses call at Manton with connections from Oakham at 08.43 and 11.05.

Departure	Going to	Calling at	Arrival	Operator
07.05	Leicester	Ashwell, Whissendine, Saxby, Melton Mowbray, Asfordby, Frisby, Brooksby, Rearsby, Syston, Humberstone Road, Leicester	08.30	MR
08.11	Kettering	Manton, Harringworth, Gretton, Weldon & Corby, Geddington, Kettering	09.25	MR
08.21	Peterborough East	Manton, Luffenham, Ketton, Stamford, Uffington & Barnack, Helpston, Walton, Peterborough North, Peterborough East	09.33	MR
08.43	Manton	Manton (Connects with Nottingham to London express at Manton)	09.25	MR
08.54	Leicester	Ashwell, Whissendine, Saxby, Melton Mowbray, Asfordby, Frisby, Brooksby, Rearsby, Syston, Leicester	10.03	MR
10.11	Peterborough East	Manton, Luffenham, Ketton, Stamford, Uffington & Barnack, Helpston, Peterborough North, Peterborough East	11.20	MR
10.22	Nottingham	Melton Mowbray, Nottingham (London to Nottingham express)	11.05	MR
11.05	Peterborough East	Manton, Stamford, Peterborough North, Peterborough East (Connects with Nottingham to London express at Manton)	12.13	MR
11.15	Leicester	Melton Mowbray, Leicester	11.56	MR
11.25	Nottingham	Ashwell, Whissendine, Saxby, Melton Mowbray, Grimston, Old Dalby, Upper Broughton, Widmerpool, Plumtree, Edwalton, Nottingham	12.40	MR
13.05	Kettering	Manton, Harringworth, Gretton, Weldon & Corby, Geddington, Kettering	13.56	MR
13.09	Leicester	Ashwell, Whissendine, Saxby, Melton Mowbray, Leicester	14.00	MR
13.58	Peterborough East	Manton, Luffenham, Ketton, Stamford, Uffington & Barnack, Helpston, Walton, Peterborough North, Peterborough East	15.08	MR
14.51	Melton Mowbray	Ashwell, Whissendine, Saxby, Melton Mowbray	15.17	MR
16.28	Peterborough East	Manton, Luffenham, Ketton, Stamford, Uffington & Barnack, Helpston, Walton, Peterborough North, Peterborough East	17.37	MR
16.40	Leicester	Ashwell, Whissendine, Saxby, Melton Mowbray, Syston, Leicester	17.32	MR
17.49	Nottingham	Ashwell, Whissendine, Saxby, Melton Mowbray, Grimston, Old Dalby, Upper Broughton, Widmerpool, Plumtree, Edwalton, Nottingham	19.03	MR
17.56	Peterborough East	Manton, Luffenham, Ketton, Stamford, Helpston, Peterborough North, Peterborough East	19.02	MR
18.09	London St Pancras	Manton, Kettering, Wellingborough, Luton, London St Pancras (Nottingham to London express)	18.44	MR
18.13	Leicester	Saxby, Melton Mowbray, Asfordby, Frisby, Brooksby, Rearsby, Syston, Leicester	19.13	MR
18.55	Nottingham	Melton Mowbray, Nottingham (London to Nottingham express)	19.38	MR
19.10	Peterborough East	Manton, Luffenham, Ketton, Stamford, Helpston, Peterborough North, Peterborough East	20.20	MR
20.14	Nottingham	Ashwell, Whissendine, Saxby, Melton Mowbray, Grimston, Old Dalby, Upper Broughton, Widmerpool, Plumtree, Edwalton, Nottingham	21.33	MR
21.20	Leicester	Ashwell, Melton Mowbray, Syston, Leicester	22.08	MR
22.10	Peterborough East	Manton, Luffenham, Ketton, Stamford, Peterborough North, Peterborough East	23.05	MR

External links