Supporting a new Bedford-Cambridge Railway

19/03/2026

Some may find our web page of interest:

East West Rail We’re campaigning for a properly interlinked railway, high quality local and regional services with opportunity for more freight by rail. RE-LINKING OXFORD, BEDFORD AND CAMBRIDGE BRTA personnel have been active in bringing East West Rail about since 1985.Many leaps forward have been...

19/03/2026

Peruse our campaigns and tune in to local to global with 11th hour cutting noses to spite faces unless it has a sound rail basis for handling proliferated development which without rail, will create more land loss, flooding, congestion, blight and loss of open spaces: https://brtarail.com/our-campaigns/ This is Bedford, not Gotham City!!

Our Campaigns BRTA’s highest priority campaigns – click below for more details. Northampton – Market Harborough Learn more about N2MH Stratford – Honeybourne Learn more about S2HB East West Rail Learn more about EWR Bedford – Northampton Learn more about B2N South West England Learn more D...

19/03/2026

A call to action: Land at Lower Farm Road, Bromham, a development wants to block the corridor access to the Midland Main Line for a new rail link with Northampton. This is crucial to save the land for the railway, as with Universal courting 8 million people per year, 26, 000 jobs; unless we improve the local rail networks and infrastructure, land will be guzzled for new roads and endless parking!

Likewise, old Bedford-Sandy trackbed under threat from 1000 houses and other associated developments West of Willington, east of Bedford. Our rail route is much more versatile than a mooted Northern Route and we need people to email Bedford Borough Council and tell them to put the protection of the rail corridor first!

Dear All,

However:
1. Our route 'east of Bedford, via St John's' should and needs championing - ask if unsure. I am here most days for limited time.
2. Northern Route is not guaranteed either, so if we lose our route, and Northern flounders, no rail via Bedford to Cambridge.
3. We need champions for our route - maybe a dedicated page on the website can help direct objections and support in equal measure?
4. The development will block our trackbed and realignment routing of Willington
5. 1000 houses at average of 2.5 cars per household is 2500 cars on the A603 per day, it is a busy single carriageway road with congestion now.
6. No proposal to dual or upgrade the road, all ends up at Sandy A1 Junction and Bedford urban cordons underscoring gridlocked congestion, especially Rope Walk and Longholme.
7. Flood plain, flooding likely, des-res, but at a collateral cost.
For these reasons, this development must be opposed.
We do need an east-west rail link and our route has been shown to be viable.
The objections to the development stand on their own merit and so our rail route needs champions and should be supported.
I am cc'ing and bcc'ing accordingl;y for awareness. This is an 11th hour call. Simon Barber (or scroll up) for attachments, as I cannot down load at a library and re-load.
Please join BRTA and strengthen our numbers: https://brtarail.com/become-a-member/
Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill
BRTA EC Member.
Ps. BTW, for documents please see Simon Barber via [email protected]

93 dwellings land North of Lower Farm Road - The full reference number is 26/00249/MAO and the alternative reference is PP-14585723. The Case Officer is Rachel Duncan.

Land West of Willington - The full reference number is 25/01839/EIASCP (already decided in January), and an Environmental Impact Assessment is now required.

Email: to [email protected] now, it is never too late! It is worth trying. Email/copy your local MP too. It is nationwide strategic rail infrastructure we want, otherwise it is congestion gridlock, land loss, emissions and rising costs, let alone health related issues from too much traffic!

https://brtarail.com/ewrail/

British Regional Transport Association -BRTA

19/03/2026

A call to action: Land at Lower Farm Road, Bromham, a development wants to block the corridor access to the Midland Main Line for a new rail link with Northampton. This is crucial to save the land for the railway, as with Universal courting 8 million people per year, 26, 000 jobs; unless we improve the local rail networks and infrastructure, land will be guzzled for new roads and endless parking!

Likewise, old Bedford-Sandy trackbed under threat from 1000 houses and other associated developments West of Willington, east of Bedford. Our rail route is much more versatile than a mooted Northern Route and we need people to email Bedford Borough Council and tell them to put the protection of the rail corridor first!

Dear All,

However:
1. Our route 'east of Bedford, via St John's' should and needs championing - ask if unsure. I am here most days for limited time.
2. Northern Route is not guaranteed either, so if we lose our route, and Northern flounders, no rail via Bedford to Cambridge.
3. We need champions for our route - maybe a dedicated page on the website can help direct objections and support in equal measure?
4. The development will block our trackbed and realignment routing of Willington
5. 1000 houses at average of 2.5 cars per household is 2500 cars on the A603 per day, it is a busy single carriageway road with congestion now.
6. No proposal to dual or upgrade the road, all ends up at Sandy A1 Junction and Bedford urban cordons underscoring gridlocked congestion, especially Rope Walk and Longholme.
7. Flood plain, flooding likely, des-res, but at a collateral cost.
For these reasons, this development must be opposed.
We do need an east-west rail link and our route has been shown to be viable.
Whilst I have stepped down as both CEO and Bedford Area Rep due to personal circumstances beyond my control, I remain a BRTA EC Officer and due to connections with Bedford and care, remain committed to getting as many on board to make BRTA successful. The objections to the development stand on their own merit and so our rail route needs champions and should be supported.

Please join BRTA and strengthen our numbers: https://brtarail.com/become-a-member/
Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill
BRTA EC Member.
Ps. BTW, for documents please see Simon Barber via [email protected]

93 dwellings land North of Lower Farm Road - The full reference number is 26/00249/MAO and the alternative reference is PP-14585723. The Case Officer is Rachel Duncan.

Land West of Willington - The full reference number is 25/01839/EIASCP (already decided in January), and an Environmental Impact Assessment is now required.

Email: to [email protected] now, it is never too late! It is worth trying. Email/copy your local MP too. It is nationwide strategic rail infrastructure we want, otherwise it is congestion gridlock, land loss, emissions and rising costs, let alone health related issues from too much traffic!

British Regional Transport Association -BRTA

26/12/2025

https://www.bedfordrvp.co.uk/ Clearly a disaster for any hope or aspiration for a rail link to go east of via the former trackbed 'east of St John's' and thus locks-in the Northern Rail Route which many have suggested is flawed. Difficult situation, but we are at an advanced stage in the battle and by default, many have made their minds up since 2017 onwards. Time will prove whether freight, electrification and can be included in the rail design and mix. We are of course sad our proposal has been treated so shoddily, but the lie of blockages being a deterrent to new rail rebuild is a lie, whereas our route may have courted less than 10 properties for relocation, North of Bedford knocks on at least 60 such possessions potentially, which shows the old route and our revised route using part of the old route was wholly justified in being tabled. Like the Rowing Lake before this current exact same location development,it is just a deterrent against a railway with greenwashing on a flood plain and let's be real, 1000 houses at 2.5 cars per household is 2500 extra journeys per day along the busy A603 and yet no bypass for Willington, no dualling plan and what of congestion at teh Bedford and Sandy ends? Good luck NIMBYS! It is the systematic annexation of Willington and surrounds to built !

Bedford River Valley Park (BRVP) is a longstanding proposed regeneration project to create a new regional scale park between Bedford and the wider countryside around the village of Willington.

29/06/2025

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A blog about the voluntary British Regional Transport Association (BRTA)

09/06/2025

Please check if trains are operating for the date of the Winslow Forum and if not what buses from Aylesbury-Winslow to Milton Keynes. That we do not know this is disgusting, some either know and can't tell or can't tell because EWRCo is not ready even as 'special's' are allowed? Seems bizarre! Note that specials are being allowed over - Line; why not go and see them and take photos for our news media spreads? The issue as far as is concerned is: 2031 Oxford-Bedford and Universal coinciding? 10+ years for full Bedford- supposedly, where will the waitover trains at Bedford Midland go? Again, silence! It is bad form and we are not unaware of it, but what can we do? Ring the EWRCo up?! Point being that in any case, waitovers and bays at Bedford for 8-coach trains will be needed from 2031-2040? You can extend the bays by bolting rails north onto them or using them to reverse out if our preferred route defaults and prevails. We need a champion or two! But in both cases development sprawl could thwart the project at critical places like Tempsford for example. What formal protection is being made for any route now? I support a Bedford-Cambridge et al rail link, but this is surely the worst executed scheme outside HS2 mismanagement? My preference would have been incremental upgrades from 1991 when the - experiments were done via Bedford and Corby, even reversal at Oakham would have been a minor inconvenience aided by extra passengers. Alas we campaigners have been thin on the ground and ill-resourced then and now. My efforts are not wasted, thousands of respondents show a groundswell of support for an idea, but is thwarted by the small 'p' politics and the sink-in-the-ground bedevilments of gold plated demands for a railway and then a route conceived on a PC desktop in Whitehall flow chart style without recourse to the lie of the land. Chicken and egg, we don't see a case so not worth studying, we can't support as no study - we went round in circles 1987-1995. The Consortium did it again under New Labour's endless studies and replacing John Prescott with cost cutting Rt Hon Alistair Darling to dismantle DETR with DfT again. Lessons must be learnt surely for future generations and projects on all sides including Local Authorities? [email protected]
https://brtarail.com/events/
Mohammad Yasin MP for Bedford and Kempston Richard Fuller MP Central Bedfordshire Council Bedford Borough Council Transport Action Network East West Main Line Partnership Keir Starmer Department for Transport HM Treasury British Regional Transport Association -BRTA

Events View our upcoming events and forums in your local area below! Our 2025 programme of events BRTA WESTBURY FORUMSaturday 10 May 2025 1pm lunch 2-4pm businessVenue: The Railway Inn, Station Road, Westbury BA13 4HWVenue Website Phone: 01373-228109Download the agenda here.BRTA ZOOM MEETING RUGBY A...

28/04/2025

Some of you may wish to peruse our new-look East-West Rail Web Page. Join our loop for free via [email protected] and help up the game for more, better and affordable public transport generally:

East West Rail We’re campaigning for a properly interlinked railway, high quality local and regional services with opportunity for more freight by rail. RE-LINKING OXFORD, BEDFORD AND CAMBRIDGE BRTA personnel have been active in bringing East West Rail about since 1985.Many leaps forward have been...

23/04/2025

I muse on the following to ascertain where we are at and how some seem to be less-than clear or ducking responsibility in planning the railway, services, delivery and integration:

East-West Rail Thoughts:

1. 2 options could be tabled, either relocate Kempston Fire Station and duck under the Midland Main Line and a new route sandwiched between the Maintenance Depot and 4 tracks, new bridge over River Great Ouse and abandon routing via St Johns.

2. OR, reroute existing Bedford-Bletchley line under Hitchin Arches of Kempston Road/Cauldwell Street Road Bridge and that of Ampthill Road and onwards with both 1 and 2 sharing new twin tracks and additional platforms at Bedford Midland Station and onwards via Northern Route.

3. Bedford-Bletchley Railway is fully operational now, so why can’t/isn’t vehement advocacy being done by elected leaders for Bedford to be included NOW in an hourly semi-fast (exploiting end-to-end whilst the local shuttle does all stations to feed other lines and places). Instead a 5 year wait whilst the line is gold plated at cost and still no Sunday Services for a Leisure Line?

4. In any case, Bedford-Cambridge even if Northern Route proves ‘robust’, it is about 10 years away, so the key point is interim, baying at Bedford will be needed!

5. That is longer trains and relocation of the booking hall and early retail improvements with other public services and value-for-money services like toilets and buses calling. BRTA stands ready to talk, cooperate, but via St John’s should also be retained for rail purposes like relocating
a 12 coach washery for any trains? Watch this space!If we do not retain St John’s and Northern Route flounders, Cambridge/East Anglia is still cut off from East-West Rail etc. If we build housing on the railway site, we throw away default options that still service the town of Bedford. Bays will be needed interim, Platform 1A is inadequate, so if 2031 is when Bedford/Bedford-Bletchley gets upgraded and a look-in; then action at Bedford Midland is needed now in ANY CASE! A Can’t, won’t and don’t cultures will have no answer, whereas BRTA has, does and probably will!
Want to discuss more, please email [email protected]
But bays will be needed, solve that and I suspect legally, East-West Rail bandwagon, could be challenged why one-per-hour Bedford-Oxford cannot be included now, not 2031? Likewise, if baying at Platform 1A is too short, longer are needed now, and by 2031 as in all probability the Northern Route will not be available before 2035 - by which time we also need, quite separately, new Parkway Stations akin to 'now' Wixams by 2035 too. The via St John's route is available, challenge needed to ORR for special dispensation for a few level crossing (automatic ones) and/or a bridge over railway at both Cardington Road and Bypass Raised (A421) for the railway to proceed.

See: https://www.bedford.gov.uk/files/bedford-ewr-station-choice-wider-impacts-final-11-01-24.pdf/download?inline
We need leadership, openness and enquiring journalism now please. Thank you.
Our next BRTA Bedford forum details are as follows:
BRTA Bedford Area Forum

Wednesday 11th June 2025

1pm-4pm All welcome

Venue: The Library Room, Bedford Quaker Meeting House, 5 Lansdowne Road, Bedford, MK40 2BY

Venue Website: www.llquakers.org.uk/bedford

Free Admission Email [email protected] and join our free email loop for updates. Bring cash to peruse our stall, donate or join! Together we are stronger!

Join the discussion around local transport and public transport issues around Bedford Borough with us. Topics include: Support for East-West Rail (get the route right!), Stations North of Bedford (Oakley and Sharnbrook), a new station on the Bedford-Bletchley Railway for the Retail Park Kempston, Universal Theme Park and implications/opportunities and Better Buses. For more information about BRTA, see our website: https://brtarail.com/events/ and for a good read: https://brtarailvolunteer.blogspot.com/

All welcome/free admission and help fill the gaps!

A blog about the voluntary British Regional Transport Association (BRTA)