Leicester railway station Sir Robert McAlpine in 1978. The station clock is the only hand-wound station clock in the UK. A commemorative statue of Thomas Cook was placed on the pavement outside the present station in 1991 to mark the first excursions arranged by the travel agency magnate. It was sculpted by James Butler. Until the line from Matlock to Chinley through Millers Dale was closed in the Beeching era, the 'main lines' were those from London to Manchester, carrying named expresses such as "The Palatine". Express trains to Leeds and Scotland such as the "Thames-Clyde Express" tended to use the Erewash Valley
Desborough railway station line. In response to a requisition from the ratepayers of Rothwell, the Midland Railway Company decided to inaugurate a bus service between Rothwell and Desborough station in 1899. The station subsequently was renamed "Desborough and Rothwell". It closed in 1968. The station building still stands, but the goods yard area is now built-over, mainly given over to a Co-Op store and car park and Albany Sheds. Desborough railway station Desborough railway station was built by the Midland Railway on its extension from Leicester to Bedford and Hitchin. The station opened on 8 May 1857 as "Desborough". It was renamed on