| Bedford St Johns | |
|---|---|
| The station, looking east | |
| Location | |
| Place | Bedford |
| Local authority | Bedford borough |
| Operations | |
| Station code | BSJ |
| Managed by | London Midland |
| Number of platforms | 1 |
| Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries |
|
| Annual rail passenger usage | |
| 2002/03 * | 710 |
| 2004/05 * | 470 |
| 2005/06 * | 361 |
| 2006/07 * | 942 |
| 2007/08 * | 12,106 |
| 2008/09 * | 14,076 |
| 2009/10 * | 11,908 |
| History | |
| 18 November 1846 | Opened (Bedford) |
| 2 June 1924 | Renamed (Bedford St Johns) |
| 1 January 1968 | Closure of Oxford to Cambridge line |
| 15 July 1968 | Closed to freight and became unstaffed halt |
| May 1984 | Resited |
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |
| A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bedford St Johns from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year. | |
Bedford St Johns is the smaller of two railway stations that serve the town of Bedford in Bedfordshire. It is on the Marston Vale line from Bletchley to Bedford Midland.
The station is unstaffed, and is operated by London Midland.
St Johns was Bedford's first station and handled traffic on the Oxford to Cambridge line. Its role diminished following the closure of that line east of the station in 1968, leaving it with a truncated route to Bletchley. The station was moved from its original site in 1984, and is now just a blue-framed shelter on a bare single platform. However, proposals to reopen the Varsity Line may yet see St Johns rebuilt on its original site.
Contents |
The station is served by London Midland local services from Bletchley to Bedford. Services are operated using Class 150/1 diesel multiple units.
Monday to Saturdays, there is generally an hourly service to Bletchley (westbound) and to Bedford Midland (eastbound) with no Sunday service. The current railway station consists of a single platform with a shelter.
| Preceding station | National Rail | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London Midland
Mondays-Saturdays only
|
Bedford St Johns station, in common with others on the Marston Vale Line, is covered by the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership,[1] which aims to increase use of the line by involving local people.
Bedford St Johns was opened in November 1846 by the Bedford Railway as the eastern terminus of its line from Bletchley; it was the first line to reach the town.[2] The station was on the west side of the A600 London Road (grid ref. TL052489), with the main station buildings on the south side of the line facing the public house. The goods yard was not built alongside the main buildings, but further west nearer the River Great Ouse to receive the 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.[3]
A second station was opened in Bedford in 1857 when the Midland Railway reached the town with a line from Leicester to Hitchin. The route chosen by the Midland took it directly across the Bedford's line at a point near the Bletchley end of the triangle where a level crossing 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 was opened in 1877 to control new interlocked signals, and block signalling was introduced throughout the Bedford line, which by now had been extended to Cambridge.[4]
Although the Second World War 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 proposed improvements to the line, believing it could act as a strategic cross-country route capable of transferring freight across three British Railways regions without having to pass through London. The policy was however to change within a few years, leaving the Bletchley Flyover as a testament of the change of course. The first attempt to close the Oxford-Cambridge 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, 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.[2]
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. Bedford St Johns, by now deprived of its through services, came under the authority of an area manager based at Bedford Midland. By March 1971 the main station buildings and water tower at the station had been demolished, leaving it as little more than a terminus halt for a truncated line to Bletchley.[5] A third attempt to close the line in 1972 was resisted by the Bedford Rail Users' Association.
In 1984, a new St Johns station was opened in the former freight yard, at the north end of the triangle, which enabled services to continue into Bedford Midland. The connection between the Marston Vale and Bedford Midland station runs over the route of the Midland's Hitchin line, which closed in 1964.[6]
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kempston and Elstow Halt | British Railways Varsity Line |
Willington | ||
The East West Rail Consortium is seeking to reinstate the entire Oxford — Cambridge route, which would include rebuilding St Johns on its original site.[7] The old station site, now covered by weeds and bushes, remains undeveloped.
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