How East West Rail would benefit Bedford
East West Rail would make it easier to connect to other parts of the UK and get around the area with affordable connections that would stimulate local employment and support local plans to improve Bedford town centre. The new railway would also provide access to jobs and opportunities in nearby Cambridge – as well as hubs across the region – bolstering the local business environment. Recognised as one of the UK’s most entrepreneurial towns and home to global companies, Bedford has huge potential to create prosperity for all.
What improvements are being made?
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Remodelling the station and eastern entrance to create a new accessible civic plaza
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A new western entrance for the station
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A new platform for fast southbound trains to London
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A new location for the multi‑storey car park, to the west of the station on Ford End Road
In line with our ambitions to offer benefits to communities along the route as early as possible, our plans for Bedford now offer not only a more frequent and higher‑capacity service to meet the demand of the proposed Universal United Kingdom Resort to the south of Bedford, but also bring these benefits to the town earlier than previously envisaged. By changing our delivery approach, we intend that Bedford gets its new station ahead of the full‑completion of the project, and to start operating services ahead of the route‑wide service pattern. Since our 2024 consultation, we’ve updated our proposals for Bedford station, including:
You can read more in our latest consultation document here.
The existing single‑platform station at Bedford St Johns would be demolished and replaced with a new two‑platform station 130 metres to the north‑west, bringing it closer to Bedford Hospital. The new station would be an important access route to and from Bedford Hospital for staff, visitors and patients, while also supporting the area’s regeneration.
The new Bedford St Johns station concourse would be elevated above the railway and would be accessible from both the east and west. Access would be provided via passenger lifts and a pedestrian footbridge. This footbridge would be accessible to people without train tickets, and would make local walking and cycling more convenient and direct, complementing Bedford Borough Council’s plans for housing and employment growth in the immediate vicinity of the station.
You can read more about our proposals in our latest consultation document here.
We’re proposing a new location for a new multi‑storey car park which better aligns with Bedford Hospital’s proposals. This would provide like‑for‑like replacement of Bedford Hospital car parking, which would be lost due to the railway alignment. This nine‑storey car park would be next to the junction of Caudwell Street and Britannia Road. The new car park would be accessed from a new traffic light controlled-junction on Britannia Road, south of the current junction of Cauldwell Street, Kempston Road and Britannia Road. The number of car parking spaces in the hospital area would be maintained during construction, as described further below within the approach to construction section for this area.
The revised location for the new multi storey car park, along with the associated works, would require the acquisition of eight residential properties at 1‑8 Crown Place, as well as the Crown Care Home. We have closely engaged with the affected landowners and the care home to support them through the acquisition process.
You can read more about our proposals in our latest consultation document here.
After extensive work to test whether we can run services on the existing MML without adding new tracks, we’ve concluded that we need an additional two tracks north of the existing Bedford station. The current level of congestion on the existing four tracks, which are in an area officially designated as congested by Network Rail, mean additional tracks are needed to ensure EWR could serve Bedford town centre and provide a reliable service which does not conflict with other trains.
This video explains some of the reasons why two additional tracks are needed north of Bedford.
To construct these new tracks, we’d need to acquire some properties near the current railway boundary. At our 2021 consultation we thought we might need to acquire up to 97 residential properties, but we’ve continued to challenge the design in this area and have since reduced this figure by a third, to 65. Even though we’ve reduced the number of impacted properties, we continue to look for ways to further limit the impact of EWR in this area, and are helping homeowners in this area with our Need to Sell (NTS) Property Scheme.
We’re working with those whose home or business may be affected and supporting them in in a range of ways including via the NTS Scheme. Further information on the NTS Scheme can be found on our dedicated Need to Sell page here.
More information on homes, land and property is available on our dedicated Land & Property page here.