The Anonymous Widower

Is This The Problem At Bedford With The East West Railway?

The East West Railway certainly has problems at Bedford.

These two posts  seem to be creating an impasse on getting the railway built and/or operational.

• Delays To Opening Makes Station A ‘Laughing Stock’
• Council Says ‘No’ To East West Rail Demolitions

So I took a quick look at the rail lines in the rail around and trough Bedford, as shown in this OpenRailwayMap.

Note.

1. The Midland Main Line runs down the left hand side of the map.
2. Bedford station is marked by the blue arrow,
3. The East Coast Main Line runs down the right hand side of the map.
4. Stations on the East Coast Main Line from North to South are St. Neots, Sandy, Biggleswade and Arlesey.
5. The East West Railway is planned to connect to the East Coast Main Line at a new station at Tempsford , which will be South of St. Neots.
6. The original connection was to be at Sandy.
7. There used to be a railway between Bedford and Sandy.
8. This railway between Bedford and Sandy, was the Varsity Line and I write about its current status in Is The Varsity Line Trackbed Between Bedford And Sandy Still There?  – No, is the only answer.

• In Did Beeching Recommend Closure Of The Varsity Line?, I find out that he didn’t and it was totally the fault of Labour Politicians; Barbara Castle and Tom Fraser, with perhaps some help from Harold Wilson. Were they jealous that Oxford and Cambridge had a better link than the non-existent one across the North?

May 29, 2026 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Bedford Station, Beeching, Cambridge Station, East Coast Main Line, East West Railway, Harold Wilson, Midland Main Line, Oxford Station, Sandy Station