![]() Station in 2012 | |||||
General information | |||||
Location | Kempston Hardwick, Bedford England | ||||
Coordinates | 52°05′31″N0°30′14″W / 52.092°N 0.504°W | ||||
Grid reference | TL025447 | ||||
Managed by | London Northwestern Railway | ||||
Platforms | 2 | ||||
Other information | |||||
Station code | KMH | ||||
Classification | DfT category F2 | ||||
Key dates | |||||
1905 | Opened as Kempston Hardwick Halt | ||||
1 January 1917 | Temporarily closed | ||||
5 May 1919 | Reopened [1] | ||||
15 July 1968 | Became unstaffed [2] | ||||
Passengers | |||||
2018/19 | ![]() | ||||
2019/20 | ![]() | ||||
2020/21 | ![]() | ||||
2021/22 | ![]() | ||||
2022/23 | ![]() | ||||
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Kempston Hardwick railway station serves the village of Kempston Hardwick in Bedfordshire,England. It should not be confused with the nearby town of Kempston. The station has two platforms next to a half-barrier level crossing.
Kempston Hardwick is the least used station in Bedfordshire. [3] However,in 2023 Universal Studios announced that it had bought a huge patch of land next to the station where it plans to build its first UK theme park. The plan will transform the area if it goes ahead,with a completely rebuilt Kempston Hardwick railway station to replace the current one. [4]
All services at Kempston Hardwick are operated by London Northwestern Railway.
The typical off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between Bletchley and Bedford which runs on weekdays and Saturdays only using Class 150 DMUs. There is no Sunday service. [5] [6] [7]
Preceding station | ![]() | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Stewartby | London Northwestern Railway
| Bedford St Johns |
Kempston Hardwick station, in common with others on the Marston Vale Line, is covered by the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership, [8] which aims to increase use of the line by involving local people.
The level crossing at Kempston Hardwick was opened in 1846 with the construction of the Bedford Railway Company railway line between Bedford (St Johns railway station) and Bletchley.
An agreement with the London and Birmingham Railway was made whereby the railway was to be constructed and operated by the London & Birmingham Railway company, who under the terms of the Bedford and London and Birmingham Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. xliii) split the profits from the operation of the line. During the construction of the line however the London and Birmingham Railway merged with the Grand Junction Railway to form the London and North Western Railway company.
Kempston Hardwick was one of three halts opened by the London and North Western Railway in 1905 between Stewartby and Bedford. Their opening coincided with the introduction of a steam railmotor on the Varsity Line; the station platform initially consisted of wooden sleepers laid at ground level for a carriage length. [9] All three closed as a wartime economy measure during the First World War and two were closed during Second World War, never to reopen, leaving Kempston Hardwick as the only survivor. Its survival can be attributed to its convenient location for the nearby Eastwood's Brickworks which was served from 1928 by a private siding on the up side of the line. [10]
The level crossing alongside the station was once controlled by a crossing keeper who lived in a lodge adjacent to his place of work. This was demolished in the 1980s.
In 2003, it was reported that Kempston Hardwick was one of the quietest stations in England as only 38 passengers per month were reported to be using it. Two reasons offered for the lack of custom were the absence of signage indicating the station from the main road, and the lack of parking facilities. [11] Following the release of this story, Silverlink together with Bedfordshire County Council confirmed that they would not be seeking the closure of the station. [12] Station patronage has, however, now increased, according to the Community Rail Partnership which attributes the rise to the creation of significant numbers of jobs in the area. [13] In 2008, it was announced that the area around the railway station could be the location of a new eco-town. [14]
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Wootton Broadmead Halt | British Railways Varsity Line | Kempston and Elstow Halt |
The Marston Vale line is the line between Bletchley and Bedford in England, a surviving remnant of the former Varsity Line between Oxford and Cambridge, most of which was closed in the late 1960s. The line is sponsored by the Marston Vale community rail partnership. The line is to be adopted and upgraded as part of East West Rail, a project underway to re-establish the Oxford–Cambridge route.
Woburn Sands railway station serves the town of Woburn Sands and the village of Wavendon in the City of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England. The station is on the Marston Vale line between Bedford and Bletchley, about 4 miles (6.5 km) east of Bletchley station. The station is served by local trains to Bletchley and Bedford using Class 150 multiple units. This station is one of the seven stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.
Bow Brickhill railway station is a railway station that serves the civil parishes of Bow Brickhill and Walton in the City of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the Bletchley — Bedford Marston Vale line, about 2 miles (3.25 km) east of Bletchley.
Bedford St Johns is one of two railway stations in Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, on the Marston Vale Line linking Bletchley and Bedford. It is unstaffed and is operated by London Northwestern Railway.
Bedford railway station is the larger of two railway stations in the town of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. It is on the Midland Main Line from London St Pancras to the East Midlands and the terminus of the Marston Vale line from Bletchley through Bedford St Johns.
Fenny Stratford is a railway station that serves the Fenny Stratford area of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. It is on the Marston Vale line that links Bletchley and Bedford, about one mile east of Bletchley railway station.
Bletchleyrailway station serves the southern parts of Milton Keynes, England, and the north-eastern parts of Aylesbury Vale. It is 47 miles (76 km) northwest of Euston, about 32 miles (51 km) east of Oxford and 17 miles (27 km) west of Bedford, and is one of the seven railway stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.
Milton Keynes Central railway station serves Milton Keynes and surrounding parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire (England). The station is located on the West Coast Main Line about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of London. The station is served by Avanti West Coast intercity services, and by West Midlands Trains regional services.
Kempston Hardwick is a small hamlet on the edge of the town of Kempston in Bedfordshire, England. Historically it was one of the hamlets or "ends" scattered across the parish of Kempston. It is served by Kempston Hardwick railway station on the Marston Vale Line, which was one of the least-used stations in the UK railway network.
The Varsity Line was the main railway line that linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway.
Stewartby is a model village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, originally built for the workers of the London Brick Company. The village was designed and built to the plans of the company's architect Mr F W Walker, laid out on 'Garden City' principle, a later and more modern development than such better-known Victorian model villages as Saltaire. Started in 1926, Stewartby is also a later model than Woodlands which was first planned in 1905. The later retirement bungalow development of the 1950s and 1960s with the pavilion community centre in their midst was designed by the neo-Georgian architect Professor Sir Albert Richardson. Today, Stewartby parish also includes Kempston Hardwick.
Aspley Guise railway station serves the village of Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire, England. It is on the Bletchley – Bedford Marston Vale Line. The station is served by West Midlands Trains local services, operating under the London Northwestern Railway brand. The services operate using Class 230 diesel-electric multiple unit trains which are upcycled London Underground D78 Stock. It is one of the seven stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area, albeit the only one located outside the City of Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire.
Ridgmont railway station is a small unstaffed railway station that serves the village of Ridgmont in Bedfordshire. The station is about 1 mile (2 km) away from Ridgmont on the other side of the M1 Motorway,, Brogborough and Husborne Crawley. It also serves the large Amazon warehouse next door.
Lidlington railway station serves the village of Lidlington in Bedfordshire, England. The station's two platforms once faced each other, either side of the double tracks. This has since been modified to have staggered platforms either side of the level crossing in order to reduce the time the barriers spend down.
Millbrook railway station serves the villages of Millbrook and Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire, England. It is on the Marston Vale Line, between Stewartby and Lidlington. Millbrook is also the principal stop for the Marston Vale Millennium Country Park.
Stewartby railway station is a station on the Marston Vale line, which serves the Bedfordshire village of Stewartby in England. It is the nearest station to the Marston Vale Millennium Country Park.
Marston Vale is an area of Bedfordshire. It lies to the south west of Bedford and Kempston, near Junction 13 of the M1 motorway. Historically it was one of the main brickmaking districts in England, home of the London Brick Company, now a division of Hanson plc. The brickmaking activity left scars across the landscape of the Marston Vale as large tracts of land were dug for clay. Most of the claypits are now exhausted, and most of the brickmaking chimneys have been demolished. The legacy of the abandoned brickworks also adds to the impression that the Marston Vale has been despoiled by decades of industrial activity and it is now searching for a new identity. In more recent years the local authorities have taken the opportunity to reuse the clay pits for landfills at Stewartby and Brogborough, both of which are recently capped and closed down.
Willington was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the small village of the same name in Bedfordshire. Opened in 1903, the station was located in a rural area and saw little passenger traffic; it closed together with the line in 1968.
Kempston & Elstow Halt was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the Bedfordshire town of Kempston in England. Opened in 1905, it was closed temporarily during both world wars and did not reopen after 1941, being officially closed in 1949.
East West Rail is a strategic aim to establish a new main line railway between East Anglia and South Wales. The immediate plan is to build a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keynes and Bedford, largely using the trackbed of the former Varsity Line. Thus it provides a route between any or all of the Great Western, Chiltern, West Coast, Midland, East Coast, West Anglia, Great Eastern and the Cotswold main lines, avoiding London. The new line will provide a route for potential new services between Southampton Central or Swansea and Ipswich or Norwich via Reading, Didcot and Ely, using existing onward lines. The government approved the western section in November 2011, with completion of the section to Bletchley expected by 2025, and services to Bedford to run by 2030.