Bedford railway station

History

The original station was built by the Midland Railway in 1859 on its line to the Great Northern at Hitchin. It was on land known as "Freemen's Common" approximately 200 yards (180 m) south of the current station on Ashburnham Road.

The LNWR also had a station on its line between Bletchley and Cambridge. The Midland crossed it on the level and there was a serious collision when an LNWR train passed a red signal. (Curiously, both drivers were named John Perkins.) Following this accident, the Midland built a flyover in 1885.

The extension to St Pancras opened in 1868. The connection to Hitchin is long gone, but the line north of Bedford to Wigston Junction is still officially referred to as the Leicester to Hitchin line. At this time the station was substantially altered, with the replacement of a level crossing by the Queen's Park overbridge. In 1890 fast lines were added to the west to allow expresses to bypass the station.

Serious damage occurred during World War II when a bomb destroyed the booking hall's glass ceiling. The current station was built to replace it and was opened by Sir Peter Parker (chairman of BR) on 9 October 1978. The station was moved about 110 yards (100 m) north, the slow lines were realigned to the west next to the 1890 fast lines, to which platforms were added.

Although the intention was for what remained of the old awnings to be transferred to the Midland Railway at Butterley in Derbyshire it proved impossible to save them. Nothing remains of the original station buildings.

Services over the Marston Vale line to/from Bletchley were transferred here from the old LNWR St Johns station in May 1984. A new connection was laid from the Marston Vale branch up to the main line to permit this, which runs along the formation formerly used by the abandoned line to Hitchin (closed to passenger traffic from 1 January 1962 and completely three years later). The original St Johns station closed on 14 May 1984 with a replacement halt on the new chord opening the same day. Bletchley trains henceforth used a bay platform (numbered 1A) on the eastern side of the station and still do currently (summer 2016).

The track layout around the station is set for significant changes as Network Rail aims to make operations easier and faster, in conjunction with electrification northward to Sheffield and westward to Bletchley and Oxford. The majority of the work will be north of the station.

Services

The station is served by three operators and managed by Thameslink.

East Midlands Trains semi-fast services along the Midland Main Line between London St Pancras and Nottingham call at the station, as do London-Corby services. These services mostly use Class 222 Meridian diesel-electric multiple units. Morning and evening peaks see some Nottingham services extended to Lincoln via Newark Castle and Corby services extended to Melton Mowbray, plus some Derby and Sheffield services calling. The weekend sees trains operating to York and in the summer months these extend to/from Scarborough.

Thameslink operates Thameslink route services to Brighton through St Albans and London St Pancras. Services from the station also call at Luton Airport Parkway and Gatwick Airport. Additional services start or terminate at Gatwick Airport or Three Bridges. These services use Class 319, Class 377 or Class 700 electric multiple units. Thameslink also runs a few services a day to Sutton on the Sutton Loop line, via both Wimbledon and Mitcham Junction.

London Midland operates local services to Bletchley via the Marston Vale Line using Class 150 Sprinter and Class 153 Super Sprinter diesel multiple units. There is no Sunday service on this line.

Thameslink runs one train per day jointly service with Southeastern to Ashford International, using the Thameslink to Elephant & Castle and the Maidstone East Line from Bromley South.

Community Rail Partnership

In common with other stations on the Bedford to Bletchley Marston Vale line, Bedford station is covered by the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership. The Partnership aims to increase use of the Marston Vale line by getting local people involved with their local line.

Facilities

The station has the following facilities:

The station is in the PlusBus scheme, where train and bus tickets can be bought together to save money.

Future developments

Plans were being promoted by Network Rail and Bedford Borough Council for the redevelopment of the station quarter.

Platform 1A will be extended through the existing building to accommodate 12-car trains; presently it is only long enough to handle four-car trains and is a terminating bay.

Therefore, a new station building would be erected on the site of the former Victorian station, which was closed and bulldozed in 1978 when the current buildings opened. This area is now a council pay-and-display car park with an empty retail unit. An outline planning application for the work was submitted in April 2010, with the project complete by the end of 2011, and is under consideration by Beford Borough Council. By the end of February 2011, the former retail outlet had been demolished and the site stands empty.

The scheme would be part of an overall plan to regenerate Bedford town centre.

The station will be the eastern terminus of the East West Rail Link, a plan to reopen the railway from Oxford and Aylesbury Vale Parkway, with possible extensions to Cambridge and East Anglia by the now-closed Varsity Line. The scheme was given the go-ahead by Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in his 2011 Autumn Statement by Chancellor George Osborne with £270 million committed, due for completion in 2017.