Oakham railway station serves the county town of Oakham in Rutland, England. The station is situated almost halfway between Leicester – 27 mi to the west – and Peterborough – 25 mi eastward on the (as built) Syston and Peterborough Railway, the line is the Birmingham to Peterborough Line. Oakham is the only surviving passenger railway station in Rutland. The line is served by CrossCountry services between Birmingham New Street and Stansted Airport or Cambridge. There is also an infrequent East Midlands Railway service to London St Pancras.

History

The station was opened by the Midland Railway on 1 May 1848. The building was designed by the company architect, Edward Wood of London, and is Grade II listed.

Station masters

Buildings

The station building, the nearby level crossing signal box and footbridge are all listed buildings. The signal box was the prototype for the Airfix kit signal box. The station footbridge was refurbished between October 2020 and April 2021.

Services

From Oakham there is an hourly service in both directions operated by CrossCountry, with some additional peak-hour trains. Services run westbound to Birmingham New Street via Melton Mowbray, Leicester, Narborough Hinckley, Nuneaton and Coleshill Parkway whilst services eastbound run to Stansted Airport or Cambridge via Stamford, Peterborough, March, Ely and Audley End. Despite managing the station, East Midlands Railway operate only a limited number of services. A single daily return service to London St Pancras commenced on 27 April 2009 running via Corby 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 via East Midlands Parkway (for East Midlands Airport) from May 2010. An early morning service runs from Nottingham to Norwich and an evening service operates from Spalding via Peterborough to Nottingham. The station retains a ticket office which is staffed seven days a week, a car park, and help points for times where there are no staff present.

Former services

Prior to the Beeching Axe, trains used to stop at a number of smaller village destinations in Rutland. These were closed between 1961 and 1966.

Summary of former services