| Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by grahame at 08:59, 19th November 2025 |     |
From Construction News
East West Rail (EWR) has confirmed its plan to cut five rail stations and rebuild four on a Bedfordshire line.
Following a consultation earlier this year, the Department for Transport (DfT) decided that revamping the Marston Vale line would “better serve local communities” in the area.
The DfT said the stations on the line have “some of the lowest usage in the country”.
The department expects to rebuild stations at Woburn Sands, Ridgmont, Lidlington and Stewartby. The latter will also serve the Universal theme park – a multibillion-pound entertainment complex that is expected to open in 2031.
A spokesperson for Universal Destinations and Experiences (UDX) – which will run the resort – said the government’s commitment to using multimodal approaches to grow the UK economy was “highly encouraging, as companies like UDX look to place major investments in the UK”.
Stations at Fenny Stratford, Bow Brickhill, Aspley Guise, Millbrook and Kempston Hardwick will be closed.
Following a consultation earlier this year, the Department for Transport (DfT) decided that revamping the Marston Vale line would “better serve local communities” in the area.
The DfT said the stations on the line have “some of the lowest usage in the country”.
The department expects to rebuild stations at Woburn Sands, Ridgmont, Lidlington and Stewartby. The latter will also serve the Universal theme park – a multibillion-pound entertainment complex that is expected to open in 2031.
A spokesperson for Universal Destinations and Experiences (UDX) – which will run the resort – said the government’s commitment to using multimodal approaches to grow the UK economy was “highly encouraging, as companies like UDX look to place major investments in the UK”.
Stations at Fenny Stratford, Bow Brickhill, Aspley Guise, Millbrook and Kempston Hardwick will be closed.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by grahame at 09:17, 19th November 2025 | |
Passenger numbers for the 2023/24 year at the five stations mentioned as closure candidates
Fenny Stratford, 6420 - https://www.passenger.chat/FEN.html
Bow Brickhill, 13274 - https://www.passenger.chat/BWB.html
Aspley Guise, 3320, https://www.passenger.chat/APG.html
Millbrook, 2312, https://www.passenger.chat/MLB.html
Kempston Hardwick, 2296, https://www.passenger.chat/KMH.html
Way, way back I would have been included in passenger numbers at Fenny Stratford and Bow Brickhill, staying at a hotel on the A5 and working for the week - commuting - to Bow Brickhill. The Martston Vale line has a chequered history of train reliability to put it mildly; although my particular journey was a very short one, the presence of a major road between my hotel and the Red Bull (motor racing) place made it impractical to do any other way.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by johnneyw at 11:06, 19th November 2025 | |
Bow Brickhill, 13274
Okay so it's not exactly London Waterloo but that's still a not inconsiderable passenger footfall and in a different league to the others proposed for closure. I don't know the area so I'm wondering if the closure is more to do with a conveniently nearby alternative station being available rather than lack of use.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by grahame at 11:15, 19th November 2025 | |
Bow Brickhill, 13274
Okay so it's not exactly London Waterloo but that's still a not inconsiderable passenger footfall and in a different league to the others proposed for closure. I don't know the area so I'm wondering if the closure is more to do with a conveniently nearby alternative station being available rather than lack of use.
That one astonished me ... and, no, no other stations near to all the places people want to go as I did just to the north of the line. I wonder if it's a "planner's compromise" station - they don't really want to close it, but put it in the plans to focus the inevitable outcry about closures onto it, and then they can be seen to give way to the public and save it - "look - we listened" while going ahead with the real original plan which was to close the other four while the focus is on Bow Brickhill.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by Red Squirrel at 11:43, 19th November 2025 | |
From my googlings Bow Brickhill is about midway between Bedford and Woburn Sands - just over 3km from each.
Closing small local stations to speed up through services is very redolent of the Beeching era. The natural instinct for many of us is to resist this. But others argue that to improve the speed and reliability of these services this is a price worth paying.
It seems clear from EWR's analysis that retaining these stations would greatly compromise their business case for Oxford - Cambridge services. There would not be enough paths for the fast trains, and few paths for local trains. That's the central conundrum of a two-track railway.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by grahame at 12:15, 19th November 2025 | |
From my googlings Bow Brickhill is about midway between Bedford and Woburn Sands - just over 3km from each.
Bedford and Woburn Sands
Closing small local stations to speed up through services is very redolent of the Beeching era. The natural instinct for many of us is to resist this. But others argue that to improve the speed and reliability of these services this is a price worth paying.
Agreed
It seems clear from EWR's analysis that retaining these stations would greatly compromise their business case for Oxford - Cambridge services. There would not be enough paths for the fast trains, and few paths for local trains. That's the central conundrum of a two-track railway.
It's single track at Fenny Stratford and over the motorway and that's a real bottleneck for a less used station. It's doubled by Bow Brickhill. You will note from the map of Bow Brickhill that there is no obvious easy walking route to the next station; as I suspect is not an entire surprise, perhaps that one should be saved?
