Bedford railway station

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 London & North Western Railway (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.[1]

The extension to St Pancras opened in 1868. The connection to Hitchin 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.[2] 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.[3] 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, 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.[4] Bletchley trains henceforth used a bay platform (numbered 1A) on the eastern side of the station and still do currently (summer 2018).

The main entrance on 4 June 1962

The main entrance on 13 January 2007 from the car park.

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

• East Midlands Railway
• London Northwestern Railway
• Thameslink

Off-peak East Midlands Railway semi-fast services along the Midland Main Line between London St Pancras and Nottingham call at the station, as do London-Corby services. Peak East Midlands Railways services no longer call at Bedford as of May 2018, though these are due to resume calling in December 2020.[15]

The station is the northern terminus of Thameslink who operate 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 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.[16]

London Northwestern Railway operates local services to Bletchley via the Marston Vale Line using Class 230 units. There is no Sunday service on this line.[17]

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

• 2tph to Brighton via Gatwick Airport (Thameslink)
• 2tph to Gatwick Airport via Redhill (Thameslink)
• 2tph to London St Pancras (East Midlands Railway)
• 1tph to Corby (East Midlands Railway)
• 1tph to Nottingham via Leicester (East Midlands Railway)
• 1tph to Bletchley (London Northwestern Railway)

Service summary

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Wellingborough		East Midlands Railway Midland Main Line		Luton or Luton Airport Parkway
Terminus		Thameslink Thameslink		Flitwick
Bedford St Johns		London Northwestern Railway Marston Vale Line Mon-Sat Only		Terminus
Disused railways
Terminus		London, Midland and Scottish Railway Bedford to Hitchin Line		Cardington Line and station closed
Turvey Line and station closed		London, Midland and Scottish Railway Bedford to Northampton Line		Terminus
Historical railways
Oakley Line open, station closed		Midland Railway Midland Main Line		Ampthill Line open, station closed
	Future Services
Ridgmont		East West Rail Oxford-Cambridge		undecided[lower-alpha 1]

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 Bedford to St Albans City Community Rail Partnership (BSAC CRP) - has been set up (June 2019), covering the eight stations on the Midland main line between Bedford Midland and St Albans City[18]

class 150 at bedford

Bedford Station from the station footbridge - looking north. An East Midlands Railway High Speed train is leaving platform 4 heading north.

The station has the following facilities:

• 2 waiting rooms
• Cafe/newsagent/bar and coffee bar
• Telephones
• Post box
• ATM
• FastTicket machine
• Toilets
• Car park with 614 spaces
• Fully wheelchair accessible
• Ticket barriers

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

The station will be the eastern terminus for some time of East West Rail, a plan to reopen the railway from Oxford and Aylesbury. As of November 2020, extension to Cambridge and East Anglia via "a new station in the Tempsford area" is planned but not shceduled.

• Bedford St Johns railway station

• Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bedford railway station.

• Train times and station information for Bedford railway station from National Rail