The South Leicestershire Railway was founded in 1850 as the Nuneaton and Hinckley Railway, with Parliamentary powers to build a 4.5 miles (7 km) railway from on the London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

 to in Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

. In 1860 Parliament authorised the company to extend its line to Wigston Junction

Wigston Magna railway station

Wigston Magna railway station was a railway station serving Wigston Magna in Leicestershire.In 1857 the Midland Railway opened its new main line to , diverging from the Midland Counties Railway main line at a junction slightly north of its Wigston station...

 on the Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

 and to rename itself the South Leicestershire Railway. The extension was completed in 1864 which included stations at Elmesthorpe (for Earl Shilton and Barwell), Croft, Narbourough, Blaby and Wigston aswell as sidings for the granite quarries at Stoney Stanton, Croft and Enderby.

The South Leicestershire Railway was taken over in 1867 by the LNWR, which in turn became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...

 in the 1923 grouping

Railways Act 1921

The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...

.

In the 1960s British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

ways closed all of the South Leicestershire Railway's stations except Hinckley. However, public objections led BR to reopen in 1970. Leicestershire County Council

Leicestershire County Council

Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a total of 55 councillors. The council is controlled by...

opened a new station in 1986 at , about 300 metres east of the South Leicestershire Railway's former station.