Great Central Railway bosses are planning to build a £10 million museum, it was revealed today.
The attraction would increase the number of visitors to the city by more than 200,000 people a year.
The plan, which the GCR is working on with Leicester City Council and the National Railway Museum, in York, would create about 100 jobs in construction and about 50 full-time posts at the museum itself.
The GCR's Leicester North station, near Station Road, Birstall, has been earmarked for the museum, which would show off locomotives, carriages and other railway artefacts from the York collection, one of the largest of its kind in the world.
The GCR's managing director, Bill Ford, said yesterday: "We are talking about a major project and what we think will be a huge attraction for the city.
"We want it to be a major national attraction."
He said he envisaged the attraction as a significant annex to the York museum, which attracts 750,000 visitors annually. It will tell the story of how the railways helped Leicester become a thriving industrial city.
Exhibition halls and galleries would have direct access to the GCR track, allowing engines and rolling stock to move in and out of the museum – and allow visitors to get close to the exhibits and experience the workings of a heritage railway.
Mr Ford said the three parties had been in discussions for a number of months, and had signed a deal to press ahead with the scheme.
The aim is to fund the project through bids to the Heritage Lottery Fund and for European Union cash. "The deal is signed and the hard work really begins on Monday morning," said Mr Ford. "We have been promised 10 locomotives from the National Railway Museum's collection.''
The GCR, with its other heritage stations in Loughborough, Quorn and Rothley, draws in 120,000 visitors a year.
With the new museum, scheduled to open in five years, that would increase to 350,000.
"The railways played a huge role in establishing Leicester as a major industrial force, opening up vast export markets for goods made in the city," said Mr Ford. "This attraction will bring together priceless locomotives and historical artefacts to tell that story in a way that will appeal to both railway enthusiasts and to anyone with an interest in the city and its heritage."
Paul Kirkman, acting director of the National Railway Museum, said: "The prime objective of the National Railway Museum is to ensure the national collection is properly cared for and is accessible to the public.
"However, much of our collection is in store, out of sight of the public, or dispersed across various sites due to a lack of space. This new centre in Leicester would make it possible for us to share more of our historic artefacts with a much wider audience."
City mayor Peter Soulsby said: "The museum would house items which are of both national importance and local interest, complementing the nearby National Space Centre and Abbey Pumping Station and helping to enhance the city's reputation as an important visitor destination."
