Bedford–Hitchin line
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The Bedford–Hitchin line was a branch of the Midland Railway which served stations at Cardington, Southill, Shefford and Henlow Camp in Bedfordshire, England. It opened in 1857, but was largely made redundant as a through-route to London by the extension of the Midland Main Line to St Pancras. The last passenger train ran in December 1961, yet goods services lingered on until 1964.


History


Construction

The merger of the Midland Counties Railway, the North Midland Railway, and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway in 1844 created the Midland Railway which, having no route to London of its own, relied on the
London & Birmingham Railway #REDIRECT Ampersand The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram , representing the conjunction "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters ''et''—Latin for "and". Etymology Traditionally in English, when spelling alo ...
to feed traffic through to the capital. Delays in processing traffic led to a proposal in 1847 for a line connecting
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
with
Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...
. Although authorisation for the line was obtained, the scheme was postponed until 1852 due to unfavourable economic conditions. Thomas Brassey was principal contractor on the line which included the 882-yard Warden Tunnel. The line was officially opened on 7 May 1857 and an initial service to Hitchin of four trains each way on weekdays, with freight services beginning some six months later. Through services to London were introduced from February 1858, once the Midland Railway had reached agreement with the Great Northern Railway (GNR) for the use of its rails between Hitchin and King's Cross.


Decline and closure

In 1862, the GNR formally evicted the Midland from the overcrowded sidings at King's Cross, which prompted it to seek an alternative through route to London of its own. The result was the extension of the Midland Main Line from Bedford to St. Pancras, which had the effect of reducing the Bedford to Hitchin line to rural branch status. Having been built as a trunk route, the line was little prepared to eke out an existence carrying passenger traffic between the rural communities along the route. Passenger services were subsequently reduced to a shuttle between Bedford and Hitchin, and the track was singled in 1911 except between Shefford and Southill. Traffic briefly increased during the
First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and Second World Wars, with RAF camps being set up at Cardington and
Henlow Henlow is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about south-east of the county town of Bedford. The name Henlow is believed to derive from the old English ''henna hlaw'', meaning ...
. However, competition from local bus services had an effect and by the 1950s trains comprised one carriage only; not even the introduction of 3
railbuses A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed d ...
in 1958 could halt the decline. The last passenger train departed from Hitchin at 19:00 on Saturday 30 December 1961, and goods services were withdrawn in 1964, the same year that scenes for the film ''
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines ''Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes'' is a 1965 British period comedy film that satirizes the early years of aviation. Directed and co-written by Ken Annakin, the film ...
'' were shot near Warden Tunnel, using an ex- Highland Railway locomotive and set of coaches disguised as a train of France's Chemin de Fer du Nord. On 5 Oct 1963 The Wandering 1500 Railtour London Broad Street via Hichin, Bedford and Northampton to Stratford on Avon with B12 4-6-0 61572 was the very last passenger train to use the branch, returning via the Leamington Spa to Rugby branch line and the LNWR main line back to Broad Street.


The line today

The station building at Southill has been converted into a private residence, with the platform area, sidings and cattle pen now incorporated into the garden. At
Old Warden Old Warden is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England, about south-east of the county town of Bedford. The 2011 census shows its population as 328. The ...
, the tunnel remains in decent condition, although blocked off, and is now surrounded by a nature reserve. The site of Henlow Camp station has been obliterated by redevelopment, and Shefford Industrial Park also covers part of the trackbed.Davies, R. and Grant, M.D., p. 222.


References


Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford-Hitchin line Rail transport in Bedfordshire Closed railway lines in the East of England Hitchin Railway lines opened in 1857 Transport in Bedford 1857 establishments in England