Tempsford railway station

Tempsford
General information
LocationTempsford, Central Bedfordshire
England
Grid referenceTL180542
Platforms4
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyGreat Northern Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Northern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 January 1863 (1863-01-01)Opened
5 November 1956Closed for passengers
1 March 1965closed for freight
Location
Map

Tempsford railway station was a railway station built by the Great Northern Railway to serve the village of Tempsford in Bedfordshire, England.

History

A 1914 Railway Clearing House map showing (lower centre) railways in the vicinity of Tempsford

The Great Northern Railway main line from London to Peterborough had opened in 1850 including stations at Sandy and St. Neots. A station between these, named Tempsford, was opened on 1 January 1863.[1][2] It was located 47 miles 40 chains (76.4 km) from London King's Cross.[3]

The station closed on 5 November 1956.[2]

Planned reopening

Main article: East West Rail § Central section

In January 2019, the East West Railway Company announced a number of options for a new route for the Bedford–Cambridge sector of their planned Oxford–Cambridge railway line.[4] In January 2020, the company announced that it had selected a route that would cross the ECML "in the Tempsford area", bypassing both Sandy railway station and St Neots railway station. The company did not formally decide at that point if East West Rail would use the old location or a new site,[5] However, in March 2021, the East West Railway Company opened an 'informal consultation' on proposals for the central section’s route alignment and thus the location of this station. Two sites were considered, one just north of the original station and the other, "St Neots South", a mile or so north of it: at that stage, the latter was its preference.[6]

In May 2023, the EWRC announced Tempsford as the preferred location for the new interchange station and dismissed the "St Neots South" option.[7][8] The indicative location for the station is about 1 km (0.6 mi) north of the original station.[9]

Route

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Sandy
Line and station open 		  Great Northern Railway
East Coast Main Line 		  St Neots
Line and station open

References

  1. ^ Conolly 1976, p. 11, section C2.
  2. ^ a b Butt 1995, p. 227.
  3. ^ Yonge 2006, map 15C.
  4. ^ "Have your say". eastwestrail.co.uk.
  5. ^ "Bedford to Cambridge: The Preferred Route Option". East West Rail Ltd. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Consultation Technical Report" (PDF). East West Rail Co. March 2021. p. 371.
  7. ^ Cooper, Pete; Schofield, Ben (26 May 2023). "East-West Rail: Route for £5bn Bedford to Cambridge link announced". BBC News.
  8. ^ "East West Rail Route Update Report" (PDF). East West Rail. May 2023. p. 100-103 (51-52). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  9. ^ Alignments 1 & 9 – Tempsford variant (PDF) (Map). East West Rail Co. 26 May 2023.

References

  • Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  • Conolly, W. Philip (January 1976). British Railways Pre-Grouping Atlas and Gazetteer (5th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0320-3. EX/0176.
  • Yonge, John (September 2006) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). 2: Eastern. Railway Track Diagrams (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. ISBN 0-9549866-2-8.

52°10′25″N 0°16′31″W / 52.1737°N 0.2752°W / 52.1737; -0.2752


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