Transport in Bedford provides links between the town and other parts of England. Road access to and from the town is provided by the A6 and A421 roads; the former connects the town with Kettering to the north-west, and Luton to the south, whilst the latter connects the town with Milton Keynes and the M1 (at Junction 13) to the west, and the A1 to the east (near St Neots) via a bypass, with both being around 10 miles (16 km) away. Other roads that serve or skirt the town include the A422, which runs westwards into Milton Keynes (also connecting to the M1 at Junction 14 via the A509), and the A428, which runs between Coventry and Cambridge.
Bedford lies on the A6 road, and two of the most important north-south routes in Great Britain, the A1 and the M1 motorway, pass a few miles to the east and west respectively. The A421 links the town to the M1 [1] and A1 [2] via the dual carriageway bypass. This has significantly improved access to the town, which formerly required the use of frequently congested single carriageway roads. Bedford has a southern bypass along the A421.
The first section of the Bedford Western Bypass (from the A421 and the A428 road) was completed in December 2009. It is named after former mayor Frank Branston [3] and is designated as part of the A428 trunk road.
A new 13 km dual carriageway on the A421 opened on 1 December 2010 alongside the older carriageway between the M1 Junction 13 and the Bedford Southern bypass and a new bridge over the M1 together with changes to the A6 road. [4]
Bedford also has its own Park and ride operation situated to the south of the town near Elstow. Currently this is the only site which has been completed, but there are plans to develop more sites around the town. [5]
Bedford is part of National Cycle Route 51. The Bedford Green Wheel allows cyclists to use a network of cycle routes around and in Bedford.
The main organisation campaigning for the improvement of cycling provision in North Bedfordshire is the Cycling Campaign for North Bedfordshire.
In October 2014, work began on phase 2 of the Western Bypass from the A428 and the A6 to the north of the town. [6] The first section of the bypass from the A421 to the A428 opened in December 2009. [3]
In December 2010 the high street was closed to through traffic with diversions in place for the pedestrianisation and Christmas market. It has been a proposal of the Mayor of Bedford to pedestrianise the high street via the proposed western bypass and this has been treated as a potential trial of the proposal.
Prior to bus deregulation in 1986, bus services in and around Bedford were run by the United Counties subsidiary of the National Bus Company. The independent operator Birch Brothers ran a frequent service from Bedford to London between 1928 and 1969, but the service was then taken over by United Counties and later discontinued. The United Counties business was bought by the Stagecoach Group in November 1987 and has since been branded Stagecoach in Bedford.
The town's bus services and major bus routes include route X5 to Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Oxford and services to Northampton, Kettering and other towns in the region. There is currently no bus or coach service between Bedford and London. Bedford bus station is due for major redevelopment as part of a scheme to renovate the town centre. [7]
Some withdrawals of services by Stagecoach have led to other providers introducing services in Bedford, including Uno who run services to/from Milton Keynes, Grant Palmer of Dunstable who run to Flitwick and Dunstable, and Fenlake based company Expresslines. Cedar Coaches also runs services from Bedford to surrounding areas. [8]
Other operators in Bedford have included Emerton of Cranfield, Buffalo Travel of Flitwick, Mullover Travel of Bedford, Jey-son Coaches of Luton and JBS travel of Blunham. Jey-son Coaches was sold to Buffalo and later both JBS & Buffalo both launched competitive attacks on certain routes against Stagecoach, but neither were successful in the long term, and both companies have ceased trading. Arriva Shires & Essex formerly operated services to Olney and Milton Keynes, but these have since been taken over by Stagecoach.
Bedford has two railway stations:
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial and historic county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east and east, Hertfordshire to the south and south-east, and Buckinghamshire to the west. Since Bedfordshire County Council was abolished in 2009, the county has been administered by the three unitary authorities of the Borough of Bedford, Borough of Luton, and Central Bedfordshire.
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6.
Flitwick is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "a hamlet on the River Flitt". The spelling Flytwyk appears in 1381.
Kempston is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, situated around 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Bedford town centre. It had a population of 19,330 in the 2011 census, and forms part of the wider Bedford built-up area. The River Great Ouse separates it from the Queen's Park area of Bedford.
The A5 is a major road in England and Wales. It runs for about 243 miles (391 km) from London to the Irish Sea at the ferry port of Holyhead. In many parts the route follows that of the Roman Iter II route which later took the Anglo-Saxon name Watling Street.
Biggleswade was a historic 'hundred' of English county of Bedfordshire. The hundred consisted of the town of Biggleswade and its surrounding area. The name Biggleswade comes from a concatenation of the Anglo Saxon words 'Biceil' and 'Waed'.
Toddington is a large village and civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire, England. It is situated 5 miles north-north-west of Luton, 4 miles (6 km) north of Dunstable, 6 miles (10 km) south-west of Woburn, and 35 miles north-north-west of London on the B5120 and B579. It is 0.5 miles from Junction 12 of the M1 motorway and lends its name to the nearby motorway service station. The hamlet of Fancott also forms part of the Toddington civil parish.
The Oxford–Cambridge Arc is a notional arc of agricultural and urban land at about 80 kilometres radius of London, in south central England. It runs between the British university cities of Oxford and Cambridge via Milton Keynes and other settlements in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire at the northern rim of the London commuter belt. It is significant only in economic geography, with little physical geography in common.
Leighton Buzzard railway station serves the towns of Leighton Buzzard and Linslade in the county of Bedfordshire and nearby areas of Buckinghamshire. Actually situated in Linslade, the station is 40 miles (64 km) north west of London Euston and is served by London Northwestern Railway services on the West Coast Main Line. Until the 1960s the station was the start of a branch to Dunstable and Luton, with a junction just north of the present station. The station has four platforms. Platforms 1 & 2 serve the fast lines and are used by Avanti West Coast services running non-stop to/from London Euston. Platforms 3 & 4 are served by slower London Northwestern railway services to/from London Euston.
The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It runs between the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford. Together with the A421,, the eastern section of the A428 forms the route between Cambridge and Oxford. The A428 was formerly part of the main route from Birmingham to Felixstowe before the A14 was fully opened in 1993.
The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across south central England. Together with the A428, the A43 and A34, it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford. The section between the A1 and the A5 is a national primary route.
The A422 is an "A" road for east–west journeys in south central England, connecting the county towns of Bedford and Worcester by way of Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of its length, it is a narrow single carriageway.
The A505 is a road in the East of England. It follows part of the route of the Icknield Way and the corresponding Icknield Way Path and runs from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to the A11 Abington Interchange North in Cambridgeshire.
The A5120 is an A-class road in Bedfordshire, linking the conjoined towns of Ampthill and Flitwick to the M1 motorway at Toddington. It connects with the M1 at junction 12 in close proximity to the Toddington services. On its route from Ampthill to Toddington, the A5120 serves Westoning and Harlington. Unusually for an A-road, it does not meet another A-road at any point between its start on the A507 and its end at the M1 J12.
Wixams is a new town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England, which has been under construction since early 2007. It is expected to become the third largest settlement in the Borough of Bedford after Bedford itself and Kempston, and one of the largest new settlements founded in England since the British new towns movement of the first twenty five years after World War II. Part of the site is also in Central Bedfordshire. At the 2011 Census the population of the new town was included in the civil parish of Wilstead.
National Cycle Route 51 is an English long distance cycle route running broadly east-west connecting Colchester and the port of Harwich to Oxford via Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Bicester, and Kidlington.
United Counties Omnibus was an English bus company, operating in Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and parts of surrounding counties.
The Milton Keynes Coachway is a Coachway interchange close to junction 14 of the M1 motorway on the eastern edge of Milton Keynes, north Buckinghamshire, England. It supports National Express intercity coach services to cities, towns and airports on the M1, and on into Scotland, to Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airports, as well as Stagecoach East's route X5 between Oxford and Bedford, and interchange between these services. There are also local bus services and nearby, a park and ride site. It is the second busiest coach station in the United Kingdom. Dating from 1989, it was the first of the UK's Coachway interchanges.
Buses in Milton Keynes are run by a mixture of operators on a network of urban and rural routes in and around the Milton Keynes urban area. These services have a varied history involving five different companies. At the foundation of the 'New City' in 1967 and for some years afterwards, Milton Keynes was served by a rural bus service between and to the pre-existing towns. Apart from a small-scale experimental service, urban buses arrived on the scene with deregulation in 1986. Since April 2010 the core local services have been provided by Arriva Shires & Essex. Long-distance coach services also serve MK, often via the Milton Keynes Coachway located near junction 14 of the M1 motorway.
Stagecoach X5 is an inter-urban bus service linking Oxford and Bedford via Bicester, Buckingham and Milton Keynes