| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by IndustryInsider at 18:02, 19th November 2025 |     |
Fenny Stratford closure could perhaps be mitigated by a new entrance on the east side of Bletchley station, which may even be planned anyway; when I was last there a few months ago walking to the only entrance involved a depressing trek under the entire West Coast main line (one of those bridges that always seems to be dripping even during a drought), then doubling back up an unpleasant staircase and past a couple of staff car parks.
Agreed it's a grim walk, and there are plans for a new entrance on the east side provided it's funded by third parties.
East West Rail say in their report today:
Following further analysis of future passenger demand at Bletchley station and taking account of the consultation feedback, we’ve developed our design proposals to improve the station and increase its capacity. The proposed station upgrade now includes:
A new accessible footbridge at the south end of the station, with lifts and stairs to all platforms.
Extended platforms and improved emergency exits for platforms 6, 7 and 8.
An expanded western ticket hall and gate line, along with upgrades to the station forecourt.
In addition to these improvements, we’re now considering including an eastern entrance to the station within our design, although the construction of this entrance would be subject to securing third-party funding.
If delivered, the eastern entrance would benefit users of the station and the wider area, especially travellers accessing the station from the town centre. It would support a longstanding priority for Milton Keynes City Council and the wider community. It would:
Improve connectivity through the town, providing a gateway to destinations like Bletchley Park and Stadium MK enabling access to rail services for residents affected by the closure of Fenny Stratford station.
Support wider regeneration plans, including road network upgrades and redevelopment of the Brunel Shopping Centre.
Reduce walking distance between EWR platforms and the town centre by approximately 600 metres.
Whilst this entrance is not required to accommodate EWR passenger demand, it is being included in our proposals because of the potential to secure third-party funding for this, and due to the additional benefits and connectivity it could bring. If third-party funding is not secured then the inclusion of an entrance in our plans would be reviewed.
More details will be provided when we consult in 2026.
A new accessible footbridge at the south end of the station, with lifts and stairs to all platforms.
Extended platforms and improved emergency exits for platforms 6, 7 and 8.
An expanded western ticket hall and gate line, along with upgrades to the station forecourt.
In addition to these improvements, we’re now considering including an eastern entrance to the station within our design, although the construction of this entrance would be subject to securing third-party funding.
If delivered, the eastern entrance would benefit users of the station and the wider area, especially travellers accessing the station from the town centre. It would support a longstanding priority for Milton Keynes City Council and the wider community. It would:
Improve connectivity through the town, providing a gateway to destinations like Bletchley Park and Stadium MK enabling access to rail services for residents affected by the closure of Fenny Stratford station.
Support wider regeneration plans, including road network upgrades and redevelopment of the Brunel Shopping Centre.
Reduce walking distance between EWR platforms and the town centre by approximately 600 metres.
Whilst this entrance is not required to accommodate EWR passenger demand, it is being included in our proposals because of the potential to secure third-party funding for this, and due to the additional benefits and connectivity it could bring. If third-party funding is not secured then the inclusion of an entrance in our plans would be reviewed.
More details will be provided when we consult in 2026.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by Ralph Ayres at 17:55, 19th November 2025 | |
Closing Bow Brickhill does seem mad, and Grahame's theory about the suggestion being part of the planning game may be correct, though the bridge problem may prove insurmountable. Maybe they'll manage to come up with a new station design that works. Fenny Stratford closure could perhaps be mitigated by a new entrance on the east side of Bletchley station, which may even be planned anyway; when I was last there a few months ago walking to the only entrance involved a depressing trek under the entire West Coast main line (one of those bridges that always seems to be dripping even during a drought), then doubling back up an unpleasant staircase and past a couple of staff car parks.
That “some of the lowest usage in the country” statement is pushing it a bit, none of them being in the lowest 100 and Fenny Stratford at least should have scope for increased usage even if Bow Brickhill apparently wouldn't. If closing stations to improve the service to others is now in vogue, a better case could be made for closing at least a couple on the Barnstaple branch, which might help with the situation discussed in another thread https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=31055.0.
...and don't get me started on "Parliamentary" services. The current closure process provides no real protection, and just results in the expense of providing the occasional train which is of no use to anyone other than us enthusiasts.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by IndustryInsider at 17:20, 19th November 2025 | |
Google "satellite" view shows that there's a fair amount of housing in the surrounding area with potential for even more close to the Bow Brickhill Station site. A case for mothballing rather than closure perhaps? Do NR do station mothballing?
It seems to be more about the current stations proximity to the road which will likely need to be replaced with a bridge.
East West Rail says the following:
At Bow Brickhill, we’re determining whether we need to provide a new road bridge which would split the existing station in half. While we’ve explored how the station could be relocated around this bridge, we’ve found that it would not be possible to expand the station without impacting neighbouring properties, businesses and developments. The overbridge itself could also act as a physical barrier to people trying to reach the station from its opposite side. Without space for essential facilities, like parking and drop-off areas and bus connections, it is likely that passenger numbers would remain low, even with development to the south and south-east of the station.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by The Tall Controller at 16:55, 19th November 2025 | |
Parliamentary services work when there is just one station that needs to be closed. But closing 5 stations gives the government better value for their time/effort/money. 1 stone, 5 birds!
Having said that, is it that hard to fit all-stations services around the fast/semi-fast services?
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by Oxonhutch at 16:33, 19th November 2025 | |
... Do NR do station mothballing?
Or run a Parliamentary service once a week like Stockport - Stalybridge.
I have to say that Graham's "Planners Compromise" could be on the mark - considering all the housing nearby and the uplift in traffic with an improved service.
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by Witham Bobby at 16:27, 19th November 2025 | |
Not many closure proposals involving five stations all at once in the past 50 years
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by johnneyw at 15:58, 19th November 2025 | |
Google "satellite" view shows that there's a fair amount of housing in the surrounding area with potential for even more close to the Bow Brickhill Station site. A case for mothballing rather than closure perhaps? Do NR do station mothballing?
| Re: Closure proposal - five intermediate stations on Marston Vale line Posted by Red Squirrel at 13:06, 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
[...]
...or even Bletchley!
[...]
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?
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?
Able-bodied people will walk about 1km to a station, or 1.6 at a push. Anything beyond that needs a bus. But the post-Beeching experience of permanently replacing rail services with buses is that these services don't last long.
| 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?
| 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 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 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 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.
| 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.
