Bedford railway station (formerly Bedford Midland Road and historically referred to on some signage as Bedford Midland) is the larger of two railway stations in the town of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England. It is on the

Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line (MML), sometimes also spelt Midland Mainline, is a major Rail transport in Great Britain, railway line from London to Sheffield in Yorkshire via the East Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras railway ...

from London St Pancras to the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

and the terminus of the Marston Vale line from

Bletchley Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, in the south-west of the city, split between the civil parishes in England, civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley, which In 2011 had a com ...

through Bedford St Johns.

History

The original station was built by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

in 1859 on its line to the Great Northern at

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

. It was on land known as "Freemen's Common" approximately south of the current station on Ashburnham Road. The

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

(LNWR) 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 £1 million station, which was re-sited 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

at Butterley in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

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 (closed to passenger traffic from 1 January 1962 and completely three years later), 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 (numbered 1A) on the eastern side of the station. By 1983, Midland Main Line electrification under British Rail reached Bedford, and Class 317

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

s began running to . The track through platform 4 towards the

remained un-electrified until the 2020s

Midland Main Line railway upgrade The Midland Main Line (MML), a major railway line in the United Kingdom, has been undergoing various upgrades since 2015. The current programme of upgrades began in 2012, although electrification was proposed a number of times previously. The cu ...

. Services through Luton Airport Parkway are operated by Luton Airport Express and

Thameslink Thameslink is a mainline route on the British railway network, running from , , , , , and via central London to , , , Rainham, , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying more than ...

using and EMUs. The Luton Airport Express is run by

East Midlands Railway East Midlands Railway (EMR; legally Transport UK East Midlands Limited) is a British train operating company owned by Transport UK Group, and is the current operator of the East Midlands franchise. Originally owned by Abellio (transport compan ...

, and became an official separate brand for their "Connect" service in 2023.

Services

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

London Northwestern Railway West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within t ...

Most

services that call at Bedford are Luton Airport Express services. This service started in May 2021 as "EMR Connect" and is operated by

Electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

s running on the twice hourly stopping service from London St Pancras to . Occasional “EMR Intercity” services do call at Bedford during the peak hours and on Sunday mornings to

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

and without requiring a connection at . The station is the northern terminus of the Thameslink route with

services operating to through and London St Pancras. Services from the station also call at and . Additional services start or terminate at Gatwick Airport or . These services use

s. Thameslink also runs a few services a day to on the Sutton Loop Line, via both

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

and Mitcham Junction. London Northwestern Railway operates local services to via the Marston Vale line using units. There is no Sunday service on this line. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour (tph) is: * 2tph to via (Thameslink) * 2tph to via (Thameslink) * 2tph to London St Pancras (Luton Airport Express) * 2tph to (Luton Airport Express) * 1tph to (London Northwestern Railway)

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. A second CRP with Bedford Midland as its northern terminus - the Beds & Herts Community Rail Partnership (formerly the Bedford to St Albans City Community Rail Partnership) - has been set up, covering the eight stations on the Midland main line between Bedford Midland and St Albans City

Facilities

Bedford Station from the station footbridge

The station has the following facilities: *2 waiting rooms *Cafe/newsagent/bar and coffee bar *Telephones *Post box * ATM *Ticket machines *Toilets *Car park *Fully wheelchair accessible * Ticket barriers The station is in the Bedford zone of the PlusBus scheme, where train and bus tickets can be bought together to save money.

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 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.

Notes

References

External links

Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford Railway Station Buildings and structures in Bedford Railway stations in Bedfordshire DfT Category C1 stations Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1859 Railway stations served by East Midlands Railway Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains 1859 establishments in England Transport in Bedford Train driver depots in England East West Rail