Later this year, East Midlands Trains is to become East Midlands Railway as operator Stagecoach gives way to Dutch outfit Abellio who promise to invest in services, introduce better trains and make all-round improvements at stations.
A website about Ilkeston’s railway station
Welcome to the unofficial Ilkeston train station website.
This is an information resource and place to read news, views and understand what's going on.
Ilkeston was without a station for decades and had been known as the largest town in England without its own rail link. The station is placed at the former station site intersecting with Millership Way near Station Road and Coronation Road.
It opened Sunday April 2nd.
Despite various setbacks including development site flooding issues and the disturbance of a protected species of newts, residents and businesses are relieved to see the rail link finally complete and operational.
Erewash acts as a residential area to Derby and Nottingham where most of the jobs are. A 2007 study revealed there were over 60,000 residents working but only about 38,000 jobs in the area.
The feeling is that Long Eaton has always been given precedence over Ilkeston. Even the Erewash Partnership moved its headquarters to Long Eaton. A new Ilkeston station could at least make it easier to travel to work in elsewhere such as Sheffield or Nottingham.
You can see the routes here.
Recent News
Ilkeston station Junction Cafe goes from strength to strength
With the opening of the Ilkeston station in April 2017, the footfall and customers so desperately needed by the Junction Cafe finally appeared and the business is now doing well.
Excited locals get a glimpse of famous Flying Scotsman at Ilkeston Station
The famous Flying Scotsman flew through Ilkeston today bound for York from Ealing Broadway, London, and sighted by enthusiastic spectators with cameras all along the route.
Ilkeston celebrated historic station opening
Jubilant celebration ensued on Sunday 2nd April as enthusiastic crowds lined platform 2 of Ilkeston’s new station to welcome the arrival of the first train in over 50 years. Closed 2nd January 1967 due to rail expenditure cuts, the absence of the former station eventually resulted in Ilkeston being known as the largest town in […]
Ilkeston station is finally open for business
From 2nd April 2017, there’s a train from Ilkeston to Nottingham, Chesterfield, Sheffield and Leeds. If you’re from Ilkeston, you would have received the East Midlands Trains marketing literature. According to the East Midlands trains timetable, the first train leaves for Nottingham at 09:45. Ilkeston to Nottingham journey times is expected to be around 15 […]
It’s the hottest ticket in town… but no use to anyone
Despite having to wait a month before Ilkeston’s station opens, National Rail have begun issuing ‘today’ journey passes. I was the first to get my hands on such a ticket in 50 years.
Recent Views
My stubborn stance on cancelled trains
A simple trip from Skegness to Ilkeston turned into a battle to get home, showing the broken British railway system in all its embarrassing glory.
50 years waiting for a train
I’ll be heading to Ilkeston from Manchester by train on the opening day of the new station. As many people know it has been a long wait for the opening of Ilkeston Station…
A quick coffee before your train arrives? The Junction Cafe is in business
The Junction Cafe is ready to serve users of the new Ilkeston station. We’re located next to the entrance of the west car park and we’re opening on Sunday 2nd April…
Campaigning for a station at Ilkeston
It really is a scandal that it has taken nearly 50 years to get a new Ilkeston station. In the mid-1990’s Derbyshire County Council aimed to get “trains up and running by 1995”.
Ilkeston station: relief, disbelief and trepidation
It’s hard to believe that a new railway station will put Ilkeston on the map. It seems impossible to believe we are still waiting for it to open and it might not even be a success.