Bedford railway station

Bedford railway station is the larger of two railway stations in the town of Bedford, in Bedfordshire, England. It is on the Midland Main Line, which connects London St Pancras with the East Midlands, and is the terminus of the Marston Vale line between Bletchley and Bedford St Johns.

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 south of the current station on Ashburnham Road.
The London and North Western Railway also had a station on its line between and. 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 opened in 1868. The connection to ceased public services during 1961, 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 on 9 October 1978. The £1 million station, which was resited about north of the original 1857 station, had a large square concourse housing a ticket office, travel centre and Travellers Fare buffet. The station car park was enlarged to cater for 450 cars plus 52 short-wait spaces in the forecourt which had separate areas for cars and taxis to set down and pick up passengers. A covered walkway linked the station with bus stops in Ashburnham Road. As part of the modernisation work, the slow lines were realigned to the west next to the 1890 fast lines to pass between two new platforms.
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 were transferred here from the old LNWR St Johns station in May 1984. A new connection, which runs along the formation formerly used by the abandoned line to Hitchin, was laid from the Marston Vale branch up to the main line to permit this. 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 on the eastern side of the station.
By 1983, Midland Main Line electrification under British Rail reached Bedford and Class 317 electric multiple units began running to. The track through platform 4 towards the East Midlands remained unelectrified until the 2020s Midland Main Line railway upgrade.

Facilities

The station has the following facilities:

Two waiting rooms
Cafe/newsagent/bar and coffee bar
Telephones
Post box
ATM
Ticket machines
Toilets
Car park
Fully wheelchair accessible
Ticket barriers

It lies in the Bedford zone of the PlusBus scheme, where train and bus tickets can be bought together to save money.

Services

The station is served by three train operating companies:

East Midlands Railway operates services that call at Bedford under the Luton Airport Express brand. This service started in May 2021 as EMR Connect and is operated by electric multiple units running on the twice hourly stopping service from London St Pancras to. Occasional inter-city services call at Bedford during peak hours and on Sunday mornings to and without requiring a connection at.
Govia Thameslink Railway operates most services to Bedord, using the Thameslink route. The station is the northern terminus with services operating to Brighton, via and. Services from the station also call at Luton Airport Parkway and Gatwick Airport. Additional services start or terminate at Gatwick Airport or. Thameslink also runs a few services a day to on the Sutton Loop Line, via both Wimbledon and Mitcham Junction.
London Northwestern Railway operates local services to Bletchley via the Marston Vale line. There is no Sunday service on this line.

The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:

2tph to via
2tph to via
2tph to London St Pancras
2tph to
1tph to

Community Rail Partnership

In common with other stations on the Marston Vale line, Bedford station is covered by the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership. It aims to increase use of the Marston Vale line by getting local people involved with their local line.
A second CRP with Bedford Midland as its northern terminus - the Beds & Herts Community Rail Partnership - has been set up, covering the eight stations on the Midland Main Line between Bedford Midland and St Albans City

Future developments

The station will be the eastern terminus for Phase 2 of East West Rail, a plan to reopen the railway between and., extension to Cambridge via "a new station in the area" is planned but not scheduled. According to the East West Rail Company, tracks will need to be laid through and to the north of the station; if approved, this will require compulsory acquisition of all or part of 66 properties on the northern approach.