I'm cutting and pasting here! 17-11-24

Latest plans for EWR published. Major organised opposition on Bedford -Cambridge section. Mush could have been reduced if N/Rail's proposal for extra platform on MML at Bedford had been accepted. Marston Vale line and Bicester? Sec of State at Bletchley today. OBRAC is not directly involved as is Oxford/Aylesbury focussed.

Stations could shut on part of East West Rail line

A yellow and grey train made up of three carriages is pulling into an empty platform two at a station on the Marston Vale line. The driver is wearing orange hi-vis and there is no destination listed at the front of the train. Image source,Network Rail

East West Rail is asking the public for its views on the project

Laura Foster

BBC News, Bedfordshire

Published 2 hours ago

A number of stations on the railway between Bletchley and Bedford could be closed under proposals for the East West Rail (EWR) line.

EWR said a number of stations may need to be consolidated or built to offer more services.

Trains only began running again on the Marston Vale line a year ago after a maintenance firm went bust.

A 10-week consultation on the plans,, external which could also see changes to stations in Bedford and more financial support for landowners, is under way.

EWR aims to create a railway connecting Oxford to Cambridge, via Milton Keynes and Bedford. The section between Oxford and Bletchley is due to open next year.

The project has been criticised by many local residents and politicians, but was given its backing by the government in the autumn Budget.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said: "More than £6bn in economic growth, 28,000 new jobs and tens of thousands of new homes are just some of the benefits East West Rail will deliver.

"Today marks a major milestone for the project as we encourage communities to have their say on this transformational line that will offer so much more than simply getting people from A to B."

Workers building the East West Rail line. The photo is taken from a bridge looking down at construction work, with diggers, gravel, tracks being laid and workers in hi-vis orange clothing.

The railway line is being built in sections over a number of years

Under the current proposals, there would be up to four trains per hour.

EWR said it expected them to run from 06:00-00:00 Monday - Thursday, from 06:00 - 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, and between 07:00 and 23:00 on Sundays.

Under the proposals, stations at Bedford and Bletchley would be upgraded, although Bedford St John's would be moved closer to the town's hospital - onto the former Midland Railway’s Bedford – Hitchin alignment.

But it could mean changes for the other stations on the Marston Vale Line. A new development at Stewartby (on the former brickworks site) and the Universal Studios proposal nearby at Kempston Hardwick, may also affect any likely station relocation proposaals.

Option one involves retaining the existing 12 stations in their current locations, but option two would mean building new combined stations.

Which ones would be closed and where the new ones would be built is not clear.

But EWR stated that changes to this section would provide "a three-fold increase in services and reduce journey times".

A map showing the different stops on the route from Oxford to Cambridge, including Bicester, Winslow, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Bedford, Tempsford and Cambourne.

The line will provide a direct link between the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge

EWR said it would also be giving extra financial help to anyone whose land was affected via the proposals, in the form of "statutory blight provisions".

It said this was in addition to the Need to Sell Property Scheme, external, for people who have seen the value of their homes depreciate because of the proposals.

What is happening with East West Rail?

A survey held earlier this year suggested 75% of people in Bedford supported the rail project.

Martin Yemm, who lives in Chawston and represented a campaign group on the matter, was one of the people surveyed.

Speaking in February, he told the BBC: "I find time and time again that you make a comment, that is then misconstrued completely and you get given an answer to something totally different."

Proposals for the Cambridgeshire section of the route and options for the new station at Tempsford have also been announced.

The consultation on the updated proposals run for 10 weeks, from 14 November to 24 January.

You can take part online, external or attend one of the 16 drop-in events that are being held.

The BRTA Response:

BRTA is opposed to closure of any halts on the MVR LIne. We want to see the local shuttle retained and East-West Rail semi-fasts on the back of it, not instead! Likewise we want to see the local line electrified and then freight from Watford and beyond to Corby could be done with a single electric locomotive, bringing efficiencies. Indeed a 2001 study showed were an extra station at the Retail Park Kempston was added, an extra 100 passengers per day would be added boosting ticket sales. 1 hour end-to-end local shuttle, feeding in at both ends. On Oxford-Bletchley we want a Bletchley West/Newton Longville Station, a Claydon Parkway and Islip not to be closed, but fully integrated with fast and slow trains respectively. It must be a people, community and environment central to decision making and railway identity, not top-down superimposed.

We are disappointed the Mayor of Bedford does not seem to be engaging with us nor singing with Richard Fuller MP for our route east of Bedford via St John's. That means tweaking around a single route north of Bedford, rather than giving people a choice of routes and allowing them to decide and politicians getting behind it. Some may think the BRTA view is wrong, but greater fantasy is a railway at any cost, steep gradients, expensive tunnels, rather than taking ORR to court and demanding special dispensation for one or two level crossings, which is hindering many local reopenings around the country?

We all need to rally to have a decent East-West Rail, but not throw away the shuttle between Bedford and Bletchley. Owen O'Neil says few are using it, can you not understand the constant casualty of driver shortages and bus substitutes at last minute notice, will deter relying on the train and dent figures? Please let's rally round and support our local railway being retained. 150 Kimberley College students per day need Stewartby right side of the village, Universal Theme Park for an upgraded Kempston Hardwick Station respectively, not merged near a busy access road with many lorry movements for youngsters to navigate?

I know some of us have had and do have our differences, but we do need a railway east-west and it is only Bedford-Tempsford which is disputed on route and practical grounds, not the idea as a whole. Andrew Long emailed me to say all rail groups wanted the Northern Route, but I dispute that when no alternative is being presented to the public since the 2019 consultation. Yet our route more or less was 'in' from 1995-2017! Please let me have your views.

Please give us your support when responding to the consultation: https://eastwestrail.co.uk/consultation2024

Join our email loop for updates and other rail-based news: richard.brta@gmail.com