For people in Bedford and the communities across the Marston Vale area, East West Rail will enable train travel east of Bedford for the first time in more than half a century. It will also create additional train services to London with proposals included for a new platform.
As well as better connectivity, the town will also benefit from a completely modernised Bedford station, a brand new Bedford St Johns station closer to Bedford Hospital, and a transformed Marston Vale Line with new stations bringing better connections in the area. These investments will improve the quality of life for local people and deliver a huge boost to the economy.
East West Rail’s proposals enable connectivity with a fully-accessible and fit-for-purpose station at the new Universal Entertainment Resort Complex in Stewartby, which is expected to welcome more than 8 million people in its first year, adding to the infrastructure making the region one of the best connected regions in the UK.
The benefits of EWR in Bedfordshire
Stronger connections between Bedford and the Marston Vale area will strengthen Bedford’s role as a local hub, supporting a more active, better-connected local economy, making it easier for people to live and work in the area.
Bedford station will be transformed into a modern transport hub and a prominent gateway to the town, making it easier for people to travel into the town centre and attracting more visitors to help local businesses such as shops, cafés and restaurants to thrive.
Today the station can feel tucked away and difficult to reach from many parts of Bedford. The new design will open the station up and make it far easier for people across the town to access rail services.
A new Bedford St Johns station will offer a unique offering for a town centre hospital with its own direct rail links – allowing staff and patients to travel more efficiently and sustainably.
Creating a transport hub that puts Bedford at the heart of UK connectivity whilst also regenerating the town centre making transport into and around the town much more accessible.
The current single-track station at Bedford St Johns provides limited services and facilities. East West Rail will transform the connectivity with a brand new station and a ‘turn up and go’ train provision in both directions to Oxford and Cambridge with trains planned for every 12-15 minutes.
Key NHS services at Bedford Hospital will be easier to reach for staff, patients and visitors as the new station will be closer to the entrance for Bedford Hospital. East West Rail will also be delivering a new multi-storey car park for the hospital as it will displace the existing surface-level car parking as the rail tracks are realigned into Bedford.
The new, modern, fully accessible station will improve reliability and support better rail services for the area. Relocating and redeveloping the station will also support the wider regeneration of this part of Bedford and help enable the hospital’s long-term plans for growth.
East West Rail will transform the Marston Vale Line with four brand new, fully accessible stations at Stewartby, Lidlington, Ridgmont and Woburn Sands, replacing the nine smaller stations that date back to the 1840s.
The transformed Marston Vale Line will better serve people living in the area and will serve the future thousands of new homes planned across the Marston Vale region. The new stations will help to make sure this growth is sustainable and these new communities are within easy reach of all the opportunities the region has to off er by train, now and into the future.