Milton Keynes Central railway station

Milton Keynes Central railway station serves Central Milton Keynes and the surrounding area of Milton Keynes, England. The station is located on the West Coast Main Line about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of London. The station is served by Avanti West Coast intercity services, and by West Midlands Trains and Southern regional services.

Milton Keynes Central
Station Square, showing the frontage to Milton Keynes Central. Bus stops are in the foreground, with local and long distance buses visible.
Location302 Elder Gate,
Milton Keynes, MK9 1LA
England
Coordinates52.035°N 0.773°W / 52.035; -0.773
Grid referenceSP841380
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byLondon Northwestern Railway
Line(s)West Coast Main Line
Platforms7 (numbered 1–2, 2A, 3–6)
Other information
Station codeMKC
ClassificationDfT category B
History
Original companyBritish Rail
Key dates
17 May 1982Opened
29 December 2008Platforms 2A and 6 added
Passengers
2015/16 6.836 million
2016/17 6.851 million
2017/18 6.824 million
2018/19 7.039 million
2019/20 6.936 million
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

This station is one of the six stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.[lower-alpha 1] Milton Keynes Central, which opened on 17 May 1982,[1] is by far the busiest and most important of these, as well as being the largest in terms of platforms in use, having overtaken Bletchley when platforms 2A and 6 became operational.

History and development
The station lobby, with the huge National Rail logo above the entrance
Southbound view with bay platform 2A
The main building of the station from platform 1

A new station for Milton Keynes

A new station to delimit the western end of the new central business district of Milton Keynes was a key objective for Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC).[2] In the cash-strapped circumstances of the 1960s and 1970s, British Rail (BR) was unenthusiastic but eventually came round after a deal was done in 1978 on cost sharing.[3][2] In 1979, MKDC architect Stuart Mosscrop designed the station building and office blocks to either side,[2] framing a new Station Square and the vista uphill along Midsummer Boulevard (and the midsummer sunrise).[4]

Opening

The station opened on 14 May 1982, with an official opening by Charles, Prince of Wales conducted three days later.[2][5] The adjacent office wings were completed three years later.[2] Before Milton Keynes Central opened, Bletchley was the main station for Milton Keynes, served by British Rail InterCity services. These services moved to the new station, downgrading Bletchley.

2006–08 developments

In May 2006, the Department of Transport announced a plan to upgrade the station.[6] The first phase added a down fast line platform 6, so that the existing platform 5 could be used for stopping express trains in either direction.[6] The second phase provided an additional terminating bay platform (2A), nominally to extend the Marston Vale Line Bedford/Bletchley service via the West Coast Main Line (WCML) to Milton Keynes Central.[7] This 5-car bay platform is indented into platform 1. The original bay platform 1 line was extended northwards to become a through platform (becoming the up slow line), and platform 2 line is now a terminating and reversing line, avoiding conflicting crossing movements.[6] This work was completed on 29 December 2008.[8] As of July 2020, a direct service between Bedford and Milton Keynes is not in any published plan, being overtaken by later events (see next).

Platforms and layout
North-west facing view with platform 6 in the foreground

Milton Keynes Central has a total of seven platforms. Platforms 1 and 3 are the south and northbound slow platforms,[8] while 4 and 6 are the south and northbound fast platforms.[8] Platforms 2 and 5 are reversible, being slow and fast respectively.[8] Platform 2 is used mainly by terminating services from London Euston or East Croydon, whilst platforms 1 and 3 are used by West Midlands Trains services between Euston and Northampton, Birmingham New Street or Crewe.[8] Platforms 4, 5 and 6 are used by Avanti West Coast inter-city express services between London and the West Midlands, north Wales, the north-west or Scotland.[8]

Platform 2A is a five-car south-facing bay platform,[8] originally intended for the extension of Marston Vale Line services from Bedford into Milton Keynes Central:[7] this proposal no longer appears in plans for East West Rail, being replaced by a planned service to/from Oxford or Aylesbury (see below). Meanwhile, platform 2A is used only by exception when additional platform capacity is needed, such as when there is a service delay. To the north of the station the six lines reduce to four (two slow and two fast) and there is a mile of five-track running to the south before this also reduces back to four.[8]

The station is generally accessible: there are no unavoidable steps and there are lifts from the concourse to each platform.[9] As with all mainline railway stations, passengers with mobility limitations may need to pre-book assistance to get from the platform to the train.[10] Ticket gates are in operation.

Local facilities and interchange

The station building has a shop and café. There are other shops and restaurants on the south side of the station square. There are a number of hotels on Midsummer Boulevard (which begins opposite the station and leads up into the central business district).

The station forecourt is the terminus or key intermediate destination for many bus services; almost all local and district bus services stop there.[11][12] These services are operated mostly by Arriva Shires & Essex as well as some routes by Stagecoach East and a number of independent operators.[13] Numerous bus services each hour traverse Midsummer Boulevard, connecting the station to the shopping centre, the theatre and Xscape.[12]

Stagecoach East operate four major long-distance coach routes from here. Their route 99 express service runs to Luton Airport via Luton railway station, providing a direct link between the West Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line.[14] Route X5 route between Oxford and Cambridge stops here, as do their X4 and X7 interurban bus routes to Northampton, Leicester and Peterborough.[12] Arriva Shires & Essex also operate route X60 to Aylesbury, which terminates at the station.[12] However, National Express services run from the Milton Keynes Coachway, about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) away, served from this station by the 300 bus or the X5.[12]

The Milton Keynes redway system, a comprehensive network of cycle/pedestrian shared use paths, connects to the station and its cycle parking facilities.[15]

Also in the station forecourt, there is a taxi rank (to the left on exit) and a pick-up space for private hire cars (to the right), plus limited (very) short term parking. There are multi-storey car-parks to the north and south of the station. Parking in the surrounding streets is heavily restricted to discourage commuter parking.[16]

The station square itself is a favourite site for skateboarding and freestyle BMX and as a result the granite facings of the planting surrounds have suffered from the continuous bumping and grinding. This has lessened somewhat since the opening of a dedicated skateboarding park (Sk8 MK) close to the former central bus station.[17][18]

Services

London Northwestern Railway

Milton Keynes Central is a principal start and terminus for London Northwestern Railway (LNR) services to/from London Euston, and a major stop on others terminating/initiating at Northampton, Crewe or Birmingham New Street. During off-peak daytime hours, LNR operate five departures per hour to Euston, two trains per hour to Birmingham New Street (via Northampton), one train per hour to Crewe, and one train per hour that terminates at Northampton. There are additional LNR services during the rush hour.[19]

Avanti West Coast

Many Avanti West Coast inter-city services call here, with three calls an hour in each direction off-peak on weekdays. Southbound services are to London Euston, northbound services are to Glasgow/Edinburgh via Birmingham New Street, to Manchester Piccadilly and to Chester (with certain trains extending to Bangor and Holyhead for ferry connections to Dun Laoghaire or to Dublin Port). Additional services operate in the morning peak and evening peaks to and from Liverpool Lime Street, Preston, Glasgow Central (via Trent Valley Line), Wolverhampton and other destinations.[19]

Southern

Southern's West London Route provides an hourly service via the West London Line and Brighton Main Line to East Croydon (via Clapham Junction), avoiding Central London.[20]

East West Rail
Main article: East West Rail

From 2025, services are planned to operate (over a rebuilt Varsity line) to Oxford via Bletchley, calling at Winslow and Bicester Village.[21][22] This work will reopen Claydon Junction and thus the route to London Marylebone via Aylesbury and High Wycombe. A desire to extend services to Cambridge and beyond remains unfulfilled because it depends on a new alignment eastwards from Bedford to Cambridge. In January 2020, East West Rail announced the preferred route.[23]

Service summary
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Wolverton or
Terminus		   London Northwestern Railway
WCML London Commuter Services		   Bletchley or
Leighton Buzzard
Rugby   London Northwestern Railway
WCML Crewe – London		   London Euston
Wolverton   London Northwestern Railway
WCML Birmingham – London		   Bletchley or
Watford Junction
Coventry   Avanti West Coast
WCML Glasgow/Edinburgh – London		   London Euston
Crewe   Avanti West Coast
WCML North Wales – London		   London Euston
Stoke-on-Trent   Avanti West Coast
WCML Manchester/Liverpool – London		   London Euston
Terminus   Southern
WLR Milton Keynes Central – South Croydon		   Bletchley
  Future services  
Terminus   East West Rail
Milton Keynes Central – Oxford and Reading		   Bletchley
Terminus   East West Rail
Milton Keynes Central – Aylesbury		   Bletchley

Location
Milton Keynes Central zoom in
Mapping © OpenStreetMap

The station is at the western end of Central Milton Keynes, near the junction of the A5 with the A509. The nearest post-code is MK9 1BB.[24] In the chainage notation traditionally used on the railway, its location on the line is 49 miles 65 chains (49.81 mi; 80.17 km) from Euston.[25]

In film

The station and its plaza were used in the 1987 movie Superman IV: The Quest for Peace as a substitute for the United Nations building. Other scenes were shot in the Central Milton Keynes area.[26][27]

See also

References
  1. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 160. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  2. Bendixson, Terence; Platt, John (1992). Milton Keynes: Image and reality. Cambridge: Granta Editions. ISBN 0906782724., page 133–136
  3. No station for Milton Keynes Railway Gazette 21 February 1969 page 121
  4. Kitchen, Roger (2007). Hill, Marion (ed.). 'The story of the original CMK' … told by the people who shaped the original Central Milton Keynes (interviews). Milton Keynes: Living Archive. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-904847-34-5. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  5. "Milton Keynes Central Opened". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 128 no. 974. June 1982. p. 258. ISSN 0033-8923.
  6. West Coast Main Line: Progress Report – May 2006 Archived 6 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Oxford-Cambridge Varsity Line reopening proposals gather steam". Rail Technology Magazine. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  8. Rail Accident Investigation Branch (2010). Special Investigation: RAIB review of the railway industry’s investigation of an irregular signal sequence at Milton Keynes, 29 December 2008 (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  9. "Milton Keynes Central (MKC): Accessibility and mobility access". nationalrail.co.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  10. "Information for disabled passengers". National Rail. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  11. Network Rail; London Northwestern Railway (July 2018). "Milton Keynes Central Station: Onward Travel Information" (PDF). Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  12. "MK bus routes map" (PDF). Milton Keynes Council. August 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  13. "Timetables and routes". Milton Keynes Council. November 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  14. "99 Bus Route & Timetable: Luton Airport - Milton Keynes". Stagecoach. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  15. Helen Thakrar (June 2018). "New redway map pinpoints pedallable culture". pedallingculture.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  16. "Milton Keynes parking map" (PDF). Milton Keynes Council. July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  17. sk8m8 : Sk8MK Skate Plaza – Milton Keynes
  18. "Best practice don't repel the borders". Local Government Chronicle. 19 April 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  19. GB National Rail Timetable December 2015 – May 2016, Table 66
  20. "NEW TIMETABLE MEANS MORE SERVICES TO AND FROM EUSTON" (Press release). Network Rail. 14 December 2008.
  21. "Chancellor accepts East West Rail targets and strengthens plans with extra cash". www.railtechnologymagazine.com.
  22. Transport Secretary officially launches East West Railway Company at Bletchley Park East West Rail, 22 November 2017
  23. "'A landmark moment': Consortium delight as 'central section' route is announced". East West Rail. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  24. Streetmap.co.uk
  25. Engineer's Line References RailwayCodes.org
  26. "Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)". movie-locations.com.
  27. "Superman IV (1987)". british-film-locations.com.

Notes
  1. The others are Wolverton (north Milton Keynes), Bletchley (south Milton Keynes), Fenny Stratford (also south Milton Keynes), Bow Brickhill (south-east Milton Keynes) and Woburn Sands
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