Bedford St Johns is one of two
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
s in
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
in
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
, England, on the
Marston Vale Line linking and . It is unstaffed and is operated by
London Northwestern Railway
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
.
St Johns was Bedford's first station, on the
Varsity Line
The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway.
During World War II the line was ...
(the original Oxford to Cambridge line). Its role diminished following the closure of that line, leaving it with a truncated route to Bletchley.
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
closed the original station on 14 May 1984 and diverted services from Bletchley along a new chord line (on which the current St Johns station is now situated) to
Bedford Midland station when a new bay platform was opened.
Services
The station is served by
London Northwestern Railway
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
local services from Bletchley to Bedford via the
Marston Vale Line, using
Class 230 multiple units.
Monday to Saturdays, there is generally an hourly service to Bletchley (westbound) and to Bedford Midland (eastbound) with no Sunday service.
Community Rail Partnership
In common with others on the Marston Vale Line, the station is covered by the Marston Vale
Community Rail
Community rail in Britain is the support of railway lines and stations by local organisations, usually through community rail partnerships (CRPs) comprising railway operators, local councils, and other community organisations, and rail user group ...
Partnership, which aims to increase use of the line by involving local people.
History
Opening
The station was opened in November 1846 by the Bedford Railway as the eastern terminus of its line from Bletchley, the first line to reach the town.
The station was on the west side of the
A600 London Road (), with the main station buildings on the south side of the line facing the
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
. The goods yard was further west nearer the
River Great Ouse
The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...
to receive river traffic. A second connecting line to the goods yard created a triangle which diverted drainage to produce a pond which supplied the station and small two-road
locomotive shed
The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...
.
1875 accident
![Bedford No 1 Signal Box Diagram](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Bedford_No_1_Signal_Box_Diagram.jpg)
A second station was opened in Bedford in 1857 on the
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
's to line. The route chosen by the Midland took it across the earlier line at a point near the Bletchley end of the triangle, and a
level crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...
was built. In March 1875, a Midland passenger train collided with the rear coaches of a Bedford service, killing one passenger and injuring four others. The subsequent enquiry identified a badly-positioned Bedford starter signal as a major cause of the accident. To remedy the problem a 29-lever
signal box
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
was opened in 1877 to control new interlocked signals, and
block signalling was introduced throughout the Bedford line, which had been extended to
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.
Decline and relocation
![Bedford_St_Johns_Station_(original)_2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Bedford_St_Johns_Station_%28original%29_2018.jpg)
Although the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
saw the Oxford-Cambridge line handle unprecedented levels of traffic, it suffered from a lack of investment in the post-war years. The
1955 Modernisation Plan
Events January
* January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.
* January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.
* January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
proposed improvements to the line, believing it could be a strategic cross-country route for freight across three
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
ways regions without having to pass through London. The policy was however to change within a few years, leaving the
Bletchley Flyover
The Bletchley Flyover was originally a reinforced concrete railway viaduct that carried the former Varsity line between and over the West Coast Main Line (WCML) at Bletchley railway station in Milton Keynes, England. It was retained but la ...
as a testament of the change of course. The first attempt to close the line came in 1959, but was unsuccessful in the face of local opposition. Hopes for the line thereafter rose when it did not figure in the
Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...
, but it was nevertheless proposed for closure in 1964, with the Oxford — Bletchley and Bedford — Cambridge routes closing after the last day of service on 30 December 1967.
The Bletchley - Bedford route, now known as the Marston Vale Line, survived in a downgraded form as freight facilities were withdrawn and the stations became unstaffed halts. The station, now a terminus, came under the authority of then area manager at Bedford Midland. By March 1971 the main station buildings and water tower had been demolished, leaving it as a terminus halt. A third attempt to close the line in 1972 was resisted by the Bedford Rail Users' Association.
In 1984, a replacement station was opened in the former freight yard, at the north end of the triangle, which enabled services to continue to Bedford Midland. The new connection runs over the route of the Midland's
Hitchin line, which closed in 1964. The old station site was abandoned, although some of the furniture, such as the lampposts, was not removed. The site has now been reclaimed by nature.
Future
East West Rail
East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyne ...
is seeking to reinstate the entire to route. Following a consultation process in 2019, the Company's preferred route between Bedford and Cambridge continues to use the current route via St Johns onto the Midland Main Line, then north via Bedford Midland before turning east towards (rather than following the old Varsity Line alignment through the original Bedford St Johns station site). In March 2021, plans were unveiled which, if taken forward, would see Bedford St Johns railway station relocated as the track through the station will be realigned.
References
Sources
*
External links
{{Railway stations in Bedfordshire
Buildings and structures in Bedford
Railway stations in Bedfordshire
DfT Category F2 stations
Former London and North Western Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1984
Railway stations opened by British Rail
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1984
Railway stations served by West Midlands Trains
Transport in Bedford
1846 establishments in England
East West Rail