Bletchley railway station

Bletchley
Location
Place	Bletchley
Local authority	Milton Keynes
Grid reference	SP868337
Operations
Station code	BLY
Managed by	London Midland
Number of platforms	6
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	0.677 million
2005/06 *	0.682 million
2006/07 *	0.688 million
2007/08 *	0.732 million
2008/09 *	0.725 million
2009/10 *	0.715 million
History
Opened 1846 (1846)
History
Original company	London and Birmingham Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Bletchley from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.

Southbound view of platforms.

Station front in 1962

Bletchley is a railway station that serves the southern districts of Milton Keynes (especially Bletchley itself), and the north-eastern parts of the Buckinghamshire district of Aylesbury Vale.

It includes a junction of the West Coast Main Line with the Bletchley-Bedford Marston Vale Line.

This is one of the five railway stations serving Milton Keynes. The others are Milton Keynes Central, Wolverton, Fenny Stratford and Bow Brickhill.

It is the nearest station for Stadium mk, the home of Milton Keynes Dons F.C., at present about 30 minutes walk.

There are ticket barriers controlling access to the platforms.

History

Main articles: West Coast Main Line, Marston Vale Line, and Varsity Line

The London and Birmingham Railway, now part of the "West Coast Main Line", was officially opened from Euston to Denbigh Hall, approximately one mile north of Bletchley station, on April 9, 1838, where a temporary station was built. The line was fully opened in September 1838, and there seemed no apparent need for a station in the Bletchley area at all. It was not until 1847 that Bletchley station was built following the opening of the line from Bedford. Originally a major intercity station, that role passed to Milton Keynes Central in 1982 when the latter was built, long after the east/west route had been downgraded, taking Bletchley's importance as a junction with it. Today, no Virgin inter-city services stop at Bletchley.

The eastbound route (to Bedford) opened in 1846, when the first station at Bletchley was built. The westbound route (to Buckingham) opened in 1850. This east/west route subsequently became the Oxford to Cambridge "Varsity Line".

Up freight on West Coast Main Line at Bletchley in 1964

A local train for Banbury leaves Bletchley Station in 1948

Community Rail Partnership

Bletchley, in common with other stations on the Marston Vale line, is covered by the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership. The Partnership aims to increase use of the line by getting local people involved with their local line.

Future

The Marston Vale Line is the passenger carrying remnant of the Varsity Line. The line beyond Bletchley through Winslow to Bicester is closed to passenger traffic at present, with goods traffic going only as far as Newton Longville sidings for the waste disposal site there. The high level crossing over the WCML at Bletchley remains in place and in occasional use. There is a campaign to re-open the line to passenger traffic at least as far as Bicester and ideally rebuild it from Oxford right through to Cambridge. In 2001, the Strategic Rail Authority considered but rejected the option to reopen the line between Bicester and Bletchley. The track has been lifted back to Swanbourne and from there to Claydon Junction the track is overgrown. The remaining section from Bicester remains open for traffic to Oxford. (The future of this route is more fully described at the Varsity Line article).

Development plans 2006 to 2010

In May 2006 the Department of Transport announced specific plans for Bletchley station.

• Maintenance of the new Desiro trains to move to Northampton by the end of June 2006,
• maintenance of all other Silverlink trains is moved there too, by the end of December 2006, and
• the maintenance depot, Bletchley TMD, is to close.
• "It is likely" that Bletchley area renewals and network simplification will take place by 2010, to include a high-level platform for the Bedford trains. "The network will be suitable for the later addition of any "East-West" link to and from Oxford and for the operation of through links from either Oxford or Bedford to and from Milton Keynes."

• As part of the project to regenerate Bletchley as a whole, Milton Keynes Council proposes a new station approach for pedestrians, crossing the tracks from Saxon Street and leading into Bletchley.

The Bletchley TMD ceased to be a full service maintenance depot on 30 May 2008, with most services being transferred to Northampton or Birmingham. This means that there is only a limited service for the trains on the (non-electrified) Marston Vale Line.

As of October 2010, work on the high-level platform or the Saxon Street entrance had yet to begin.

Development to 2017

Following approval of the East West Rail Link between Oxford, Aylesbury and Bedford, the route is due be completed in 2017. It is unclear if a new high level station will be built at the station (the existing east-west line crosses the WCML via a bridge that is close to the existing station).

Services

Southbound, London Midland operate services between Bletchley and London Euston, as well as east to Bedford. Additionally, Southern operate services between Bletchley and South Croydon. Northbound, both operators run services to Milton Keynes Central, with London Midland continuing on to Northampton and stations to Birmingham New Street.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Terminus		London Midland Marston Vale Line Mondays-Saturdays only		Fenny Stratford
Milton Keynes Central		London Midland West Coast Main Line		Leighton Buzzard
Milton Keynes Central		Southern Milton Keynes - South Croydon		Leighton Buzzard
	Future services
Milton Keynes Central or Woburn Sands towards Bedford/Milton Keynes Central		Varsity Line		Winslow towards Bedford/Milton Keynes Central
Milton Keynes Central		Chiltern Railways London to Milton Keynes Central		Winslow towards London Marylebone
Historical railways
Swanbourne Line and station closed		London Midland Region of British Railways Varsity Line		Fenny Stratford Line and station open

External links

• Train times and station information for Bletchley railway station from National Rail
• High resolution aerial photography from MKWEB