BRTA is saddened by recent developments regarding rail links east of Bedford.

24-11-25

Letter received by my BRTA Colleague, Mr Simon Barber regarding 1000 houses on lands west of Willington Bedford. Please have a perusal The full planning application is yet to be submitted and we want BRTA and its supporters to be read for it:

1. It doubles the size of Willington - physical and population-wise.

2. We want a rail link east of Bedford via St John's and this development blocks both the old railway and deviation lands to avoid encroachment at Willington, a pittance contrasting East-West Northern Rail Route at 60+ houses to be demolished.

3. Our route was studied by a Bedford Borough Council paid for study and found to be viable. It goes north of Blunham (new-build) to Tempsford north or south of Station Road (aptly named!) with physical links to the north-south main line for direct running south of Peterborough, East Bedfordshire and north of Stevenage to Bedford County Town and beyond via the Oxford Corridor and those audiences, yes to Cambridge and East Anglia, but so much more INCLUDING freight by rail. Think of the environmental, trade and other social boosts it could offer. If Lidlington on Bedford-Bletchley is to retain its station, how much more should Willington have a new station with development tailored, the railway bridged and development made to fit what is available, not block out our rail option call?

If you agree, please email planning@bedford.gov.uk in support of our rail option (original letter included). We will aim to notify of planning submission for objections and comment, even though as a layman one cannot get a direct telephone call to the Planning Department at Bedford Borough Council, it goes to Customer Services instead and personally, as a layman I find the Borough's website daunting and feel one is seeking a needle of information in  a haystack of superbally!

Please give us your support. If Northern Route flounders for any reason, a fall-back would seem prudent to keep options open. Likewise, freight by any and all rails at design concept would seem prudent as well for modal shift 'new' potential as well as easing capacity on existing lines into, across and out of London, which needs that capacity for London centric growth by rail.

Please peruse our website for further background and please make a donation to help us with our efforts. Thank you.

20-11-25:

Also: https://www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/east-west-rail-plan-promises-new-bedford-station-hospital-hub-and-universal-ready-line-as-leaders-warn-big-questions-remain/

Does this mean eradication of a handful of halts like Aspley Guise and Millbrook and the end of the shuttle, which served them, to make way for semi-fast end-to-end Oxford-Cambridge passenger services and what of freight?

re: https://www.bedfordtoday.co.uk/news/transport/east-west-rail-latest-updates-new-multi-storey-car-park-to-be-accessed-via-bedfords-ford-end-road-5407817

Moving faster now, but some saying it is the result of consultation when our route was not put before the public in 2019! Unless we get a champion and see off encroachment threats, this steam-roller push seems it. However, how do we bring Northampton into the frame for Northampton-Cambridge linkages and Tempsford Interchange with physical rails for main north-south running to and from Bedford and Cambridge respectively? If new station West of Cambridge is okay, why not Newton Longville 'Bletchley West'? It is a growing catchment, Winslow okay for itself and Buckingham, but too far out for MK urban areas proliferation. Likewise BRTA wants the Claydon Parkway Station and the Aylesbury rail link for South Bucks - Milton Keynes and Northampton synergies. 

No good waiting until 2050, it needs factoring in now by design, as 10 years hence, development will consume land needed for rail access and linkages? 

There's more, but we need a champion or two to get these matters better appreciated where it counts. Email ceo@brtarail.com to be on our loop.

Update 19-11-2025

re: https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2025/11/19/6-7bn-east-west-rail-plan-ramped-up-in-design-rethink/

Concerns are:

1.  Kimberley College and Village at Stewartby, 150 users per day, will they be jeopardised for merged Kempston Hardwick and abolition of Stewartby Halt. A solution can be found, but no champions or asking our views yet.

2. Tempsford Interchange Station - over or under A1 Black Cat Roundabout, under or over Great River Ouse, duck-under ECML and nil connective tracks for Peterborough, Stevenage and East Beds direct to Bedford or Cambridge = a missed connective opportunity for passenger and freight.

3. No plans for bolt-on/integration with a new arm to Northampton. 2003 LSMMMS Study by Government included Northampton-Cambridge and Atkins study 2017 showed it was a good deal on timings and potential usage as part of a modern railway plus the freight - Northampton is a chief logistic centre with very poor radial rail links.

4. Nothing on arms to Ipswich and Norwich.

5. Nothing on the Aylesbury rail link and 

6. Nothing on Bedford Midland...silent as night! Plans have been produced of design however, we know this because we know someone who has seen them.

7. Development of 1000 houses west of Willington brings the curtain down on our preferred route to Tempsford from Bedford. That locks-in the Northern Route. If not flexible and adaptable; that cuts out rails potential reaches and ranges and throws growth to the roads, with locked-in congestion and pollution bloating NHS waiting lists. 

Otherwise good as far as it goes, but a time-line would also be welcome, so we know whether bets on 7 or 10 years for ribbon cutting is realistic, meanwhile any post 2031 Oxford-Bedford and Universal demand growth will need baying at Bedford Midland = a crunch time of where to put it all and what gives, what takes. Our option is perfectly do-able, but requires champions, political will and route protection strategies. So far, no local politicians has come to our aid on it, which betrays Bedford in terms of reach, range and scope. A railway is better than no-railway, but emergent railway is an end game for many of us and what will be, will be for a very long time for successive generations!

BRTA is saddened by recent developments regarding rail links east of Bedford.

re: https://www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/major-development-submitted-for-1000-homes-at-bedford-river-valley-park/

The British Regional Transport Association (BRTA) is concerned that its preferred rail route east of Bedford is under threat and lacks any notable champions coming forward to advocate for it despite best efforts.

From 1995-2017 it was agreed a new Bedford-Cambridge railway would go east of Bedford via the former St John’s Station area on the course of old railway. Then in 2019 the consultation on routes, abandoned the previous consensus and did not include it in the list of options for the public to engage with. The public gave support for a Northern Route E, because of the wish to link with the principal Bedford Midland Railway Station and go north and out via a new constructed rail route to Tempsford and onwards to Cambridge. 

The reasons for the abandonment of the previous ‘old’ route were:

1. The old route is built on at Blunham and Sandy

2. The Officer for Road and Rail (ORR) stipulated no new or reopened rail links would be able to have Level Crossings and would need flyovers or duck-under bridges.

BRTA believes this should be challenged with special dispensations where no other enablement to reopening can be done unless a level crossing is provided.

Alas, despite campaigning over many years, no champions have arisen from MP’s to Mayors to other leaders, and that lack of champions has left the rail route vulnerable. 

Indeed, the Bedford Borough Council did a study looking at 3 rail routes going east of Bedford and found BRTA’s route was viable and do-able given the caveats required. However, drift has meant default to the Northern Route and now 1000 houses west of Willington, Bedford will scupper the former rail route and lock-in the Northern Route which wants at least 60 houses demolished for an extra two tracks north of Bedford and faces engineering and costly challenges getting through Black Cat Roundabout on the A1 and over the River Great Ouse at Tempsford before ducking under the main north-south main line at Tempsford to go on to Cambridge.

BRTA is disappointed, BRTA CEO Richard Pill said “we are sleep walking into the Northern Rail Route and that will mean upheaval and take 10 years to build whenever permission is granted. Meanwhile the Bedford Midland Railway Station will need more tracks and platform provisions and a new passenger booking hall. Given Oxford-Bedford trains are due 2031, waiting another 8 years for the Bedford-Tempsford-Cambridge railway to be built, means sidings at Bedford for Oxford trains will be needed. Add to which, Universal’s 8-million visitors per year from 2031, will mean things are extremely busy. BRTA is sad our route is not being supported despite our many appeals and congestion looks set to get worse for years to come.”

See also our web page: https://brtarail.com/ewrail/