The line opened in 1832, and included a tunnel over a mile in length, and two rope-worked inclined planes; elsewhere it was locomotive-operated, and it carried passengers.

[1] As early as 1790 a railway connection from Swannington was proposed: [On 12 July 1790] a meeting was held at the castle of Leicester in order finally to determine upon a general plan of navigation in this country.

[3] Frustrated by the situation, he visited the industrial north-east of England in 1827 and observed the success of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

The Glenfield Tunnel was by any standard a major undertaking, and in 1830 called for great courage on the part of the engineer and the proprietors.

The line was to run from West Bridge, in Leicester, at a location alongside the navigable River Soar; the intention was to be able to continue the transit of coal by water.

The line was to run to the north end of Swannington village, together with three colliery branches, to Whitwick, Ibstock and Bagworth.

[6] The terrain was difficult, and due to the limited power of locomotives at the time, the line was built with two rope-worked inclined planes.

[16][10] The other was near Swannington, on a gradient of 1 in 17 against the load[note 3] The line was standard gauge, with fish-bellied rails[10] on half-round oak cross-sleepers, but longitudinal timbers were used in Glenfield Tunnel.

However, it turned out that about 500 yards (460 m) would be through sand, requiring much more expensive construction, and in fact doubling the estimated cost of the tunnel.

[18] A formal opening of the first part of the line took place on 17 July 1832; a passenger journey for proprietors and directors and their friends only, ran from the West Bridge terminus in Leicester to the summit level at Staunton Road crossing, a distance of 11 miles 55 chains (19 km).

It left West Bridge at 10:00 and reached Bagworth at 11:00 "A slight delay was caused by the engine chimney striking the roof of the tunnel at a point where the platelayers had temporarily raised the track to pack a 'low' place.

The train was halted specially at Glenfield Brook to enable the passengers, especially the ladies, to remove the effects of the enforced sojourn in the tunnel."

Apparently, special passenger trips were run for a few weeks after opening, until the novelty of a train journey had worn off.

However the stone blocks required constant packing to maintain line, level and gauge, and were considered to be harder riding than timber sleepers.

It was self-acting: the loaded wagons descended by gravity, pulling up the lighter, empty ones by means of a hemp rope.

When a train from Leicester arrived at the Bagworth station at the foot of the incline, the locomotive was detached and the empty wagons connected to the rope.

The working of the incline was entirely suspended on 7 March 1834, when the Breedon Hill lime and Peggs Green coal traffics stopped using the railways in protest against a rate increase.

The Coleorton Railway had been made to bring coal and other minerals from Worthington to Swannington, being transshipped to the L&SR, but this traffic ceased in 1860.

This branch opened on the same day as the Leicester and Swannington Railway, joining the line about halfway between Glenfield and Ratby.

The loaded wagons were pulled there from the quarries and then they ran downhill to the junction with L&SR, speed being controlled by a brakesman.

[33] However Hartley states that by November 1833 the first loads of coal from the Coleorton Railway were being worked up the Swannington incline, though by teams of horses due to problems with the winding engine.,[34] and Clinker states that L&SR traffic returns show 138 tons of coal from the Coleorton Railway were conveyed on the L&SR in November 1833 and assumes that this used the incline.

[35] The Coleorton Railway ceased working during 1860, and part of its course was operated as a siding from the Ashby to Derby line, which opened in 1874, following a similar alignment to the Ticknall Tramway.

By 1834, traffic had increased to such an extent that more powerful engines were needed and the next to be delivered was Atlas, the first ever six-coupled inside cylinder design.

The historian Clement Stretton relates that towards the close of the year 1833 a collision took place between a train at a cart crossing the line near Thornton.

Clinker is dismissive of this story for several reasons; in particular the board minutes recorded considerable detail of trivial events, yet this is not reported.

[31] The L&SR had not faced competition for some time, but in 1835 the Midland Counties Railway was proposed, for a line from collieries in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire to Leicester and Rugby.

This put the cost of coal from those regions below that for which West Leicestershire products could be sold, forcing their owners to reduce their own prices.

Later the Midland used a more powerful "Buffalo" design, but as the L&SR system was still disconnected from the general railway network, the locomotive had to be moved through the streets of Leicester by road.

[42] The Leicester passenger terminal had always been of the most basic description, but it was not until 13 March 1893 that the Midland Railway opened a new station there, at West Bridge.

[28] The original Leicester termination of the L&SR continued in use as the West Bridge branch until passenger services were withdrawn on 24 September 1928 and freight on 2 May 1966.