Bletchley TMD is a railway

traction maintenance depot A motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or just "sheds". Facilit ...

situated in

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 ...

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, to the north east of

Bletchley railway station Bletchley railway station serves the southern parts of Milton Keynes, England (especially Bletchley itself), and the north-eastern parts of Aylesbury Vale. It is northwest of , about east of and west of , and is one of the seven railway s ...

, on a siding off the

Marston Vale line The Marston Vale line is the line between and in England, a surviving remnant of the former Varsity Line between and , most of which was closed in the late 1960s. The line is sponsored by the Marston Vale community rail partnership. The line ...

. The depot is operated by

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a British train operating company. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trading names: within the West Midlands region as West Midlands Rai ...

(trading as

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 ...

History

The original

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 ...

locomotive shed in Bletchley was a wooden and galvanised iron building that catered for some twelve engines, with three roads accommodated within the facility. Chapter Five However during the 1870s the shed collapsed in a gale, burying stabled locomotives and was replaced by two gabled roof spans with numerous ducts and chimneys. When newly rebuilt, it would measure in length, with a maximum width of . These sheds were situated just north of the railway station on a siding to the west side of the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

, on a site now occupied by today's carpark. Towards the end of the 19th century, a number of LNWR Lady of the Lake class steam locomotives were employed as pilot engines, with ‘Bletchley Shed’ as their home depot by then considered an intermediate Loco Shed. The end of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

steam in Bletchley came on Monday, 5 July 1965 when 24 steam engines stabled in the Locomotive Shed departed for other parts of the country, the last one taking the 2pm parcels train to . This was locomotive No. 48610

LMS Stanier Class 8F The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Stanier Class 8F is a class of steam locomotives designed for hauling heavy freight. 852 were built between 1935 and 1946 (not all to LMS order), as a freight version of William Stanier's successful ...

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

, which had been stabled at

for ten years. With the end of steam, the TMD was relocated to the Bedford side of the

Varsity line The Varsity Line was the main railway line that linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway. In World War II, the line became a strategic route for freight avoiding London, a ...

flyover, in a new purpose built facility.

Present

Bletchley TMD began in the modern era in 1965 (though it had existed since 1850, in the age of steam). It closed on 30 June 2008 and its (expired) lease returned to Network Rail.End of the line for award-winning depot
''Railnews'', 1 July 2008 Bletchley had won awards for the reliability of its trains as recently as March 2007, and was said to deliver six times better than average reliability. London Midland phased in the fleet of 37 Class 350/2 Desiro trains, which are maintained by

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

at the Kings Heath Depot in Northampton. These replaced the Silverlink Class 321 fleet which had been serviced at Bletchley. Most of the engineers & technicians transferred to the Siemens site and the cleaners to London Midland. Local press expressed concern that maintenance of the trains being used on the Marston Vale Line was being transferred to Tyseley TMD in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, with consequent long delays to service resumption in the event of train failure. Bletchley depot was bought back into use by

Vivarail Vivarail was a British rolling stock manufacturer, founded in 2012 and based in Southam, Warwickshire. Vivarail's main project was the conversion of retired London Underground D78 Stock into two new classes for National Rail services. It was l ...

in September 2018 to maintain its Class 230 diesel units. These were used exclusively on the Marston Vale Line until the company failed and the trains were withdrawn in December 2022. In July 2023, three

British Rail Class 150 The British Rail Class 150 '' Sprinter'' is a class of diesel-hydraulic multiple unit passenger trains, developed and built by British Rail Engineering Limited at York Carriage Works between 1984 and 1987 for use on regional services across G ...

were transferred to Bletchley TMD, in preparation for their introduction to service on the Marston Vale Line.

Future

In April 2024,

announced that it had placed a £66M contract to upgrade the depot. When completed in autumn 2025, Bletchley TMD will "become the principal maintenance base for WMT’s newly procured Class 730 Aventra fleet".

References

* {{Railway depots in South East England Railway depots in South East England Rail transport in Milton Keynes 1850 establishments in England 2008 disestablishments in England

History

Present

Future

See also

References