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Bletchley
Location
Place	West Bletchley
Local authority	Borough of Milton Keynes
Grid reference	SP868337
Operations
Station code	BLY
Managed by	London Northwestern Railway
Number of platforms	6
DfT category	C2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2013/14	0.928 million
– Interchange	80,126
2014/15	0.989 million
– Interchange	85,134
2015/16	1.063 million
– Interchange	96,701
2016/17	1.082 million
– Interchange	100,865
2017/18	1.066 million
– Interchange	103,208
History
Key dates	Opened 17 November 1846[1] (17 November 1846[1])
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 and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Bletchley is a railway station that serves the southern parts of Milton Keynes, England (especially Bletchley itself), and the north-eastern parts of the Buckinghamshire district of Aylesbury Vale. It is 47 miles (75 km) northwest of Euston, about 32 miles (51 km) east of Oxford and 17 miles (27 km) west of Bedford.

It includes junctions of the West Coast Main Line with the Bletchley-Bedford Marston Vale Line and the disused Bletchley-Oxford Varsity line.

This is one of the six railway stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.^[a]

It is the nearest main line station for Bletchley Park, the World War II codebreaking centre, and also serves Stadium MK, the home of Milton Keynes Dons F.C., at present^[b] a 30-minute walk. Fenny Stratford station, on the Marston Vale Line (a limited service branch line) is closer.^[2]

History

The London and Birmingham Railway, now part of the "West Coast Main Line", was officially opened from Euston as far as Denbigh Hall (approximately one mile north of Bletchley station) on 9 April 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 1846 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 Trains stop at Bletchley.

The eastward route (to Bedford St Johns) opened in 1846,^[3] and the first station at Bletchley was built. The westward route (to Buckingham) opened in 1850. This east–west route subsequently became the Oxford – Cambridge "Varsity Line".

Accidents and incidents

• On 14 October 1939, an express passenger train was in a collision with another train. Five people were killed and more than 30 were injured.^[4]

Layout and facilities

There are six platforms in use here, numbered 1 to 6 from west to east. Platforms 1 and 2 serve the fast lines used by Virgin West Coast expresses that do not stop here and consequently normally see little or no use. They are only used if the slow lines are out of service for engineering work or other exceptional events. Platforms 3 and 4 serve the slow lines and are used by London Northwestern Railway services between Euston and Northampton and Birmingham New Street, along with Southern's Milton Keynes Central to East Croydon trains. Platforms 5 and 6 are located on the eastern side and are the only ones that give access to the Marston Vale line to Bedford, (though they can also be used by main line trains from Milton Keynes Central). Bedford trains normally start and terminate in platform 6, but can use platform 5 if required. There are carriage sidings to the north of the station (along with the now closed train maintenance depot), whilst the high level flyover carrying the former Varsity Line towards Oxford crosses the main lines to the south. The main buildings and station entrance are located on the west (Bletchley Park) side of the complex, off Sherwood Drive.^[5]

There are ticket barriers controlling access to the platforms.

East West route

As well as being on the national north–south West Coast Main Line, Bletchley is also on the east–west former Cambridge–Oxford Varsity line, though as of November 2018^[update] only the central section, the Marston Vale line, between Bletchley and Bedford and the section between Oxford and Bicester Village are open for passenger services.

Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership

Bletchley, in common with other stations on this line, is covered by the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership, which aims to promote the line by encouraging local users to take an active interest in it.^[6]

Future

As of 2018^[update], the route of the beyond Bletchley to the west through Winslow to Bicester is closed.

The high level crossing over the WCML, officially named the "Bletchley Flyover" and comprising seven 56 ft (17 m) spans and built in 1959 as part of the British Rail Modernisation Plan, by-passes Bletchley station. At the time it was expected to carry as many as 80 trains a day^[7] and though it remains in place it is not in use. There is a funded, scheduled, plan to re-open this route to passenger traffic via Bicester to Oxford by 2025 and an unfunded plan to re-open the entire route between Oxford and Cambridge. In the view of Milton Keynes Council, a key element of the plan is to build high level platforms at Bletchley so that passengers may transfer between the lines.^[8]

Proposed entrance from Saxon Street

As part of a project to regenerate Bletchley as a whole, Milton Keynes Council has proposed the creation of a new eastern pedestrian access to the station by extending the existing platform overbridge across the tracks to reach Saxon Street. The proposed eastern entrance is to open out into a new station square and a transport interchange where an at-grade pedestrian crossing across Saxon Street would give access to the town centre and bus station.^[8] In the longer term it is planned to construct an underground concourse to link the eastern and western station entrances.^[8]

Development to 2025

Following approval on 29 November 2011 of the western section of East West Rail between Oxford and Bedford via Bletchley, the route was expected to open in 2019.^{[9][10][11][12]} The plan provides for new high level platforms to be built on the flyover as the line has no direct route through the existing station without reversing.^[13]

On 7 July 2014, the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership announced that the Government had allocated £64.6 million funding for various projects that includes a £1.5 million contribution towards the cost of this work.^[14] However, as of October 2018^[update], work on the high-level platforms or the Saxon Street entrance had yet to begin.

In July 2017, Network Rail began a public consultation on the details of its proposals for the Bicester–Bedford section of East West Rail.^[15] The consultation documents provide detailed drawings for the high-level platforms but do not include any details about the station itself.^[16][c] In December 2017, the Transport Minister Chris Grayling announced to a press conference at Bletchley Park that a new private sector company, the East West Railway Company, was being established to build and operate the line.^[18][19]

Ticket office opening hours

In mid September 2012, the Transport Minister Norman Baker announced in a 'written answer' that the Government has approved London Midland's request to reduce the opening hours of the ticket office, so that the station will close at 21:00 on Mondays and 20:00 on Tuesdays to Fridays.^[20] Defending the Government's decision to reduce the opening hours here and at Wolverton, local MPs Iain Stewart and Mark Lancaster said that most passengers use ticket machines to buy or retrieve their tickets.^[20] Speaking for the opposition Cooperative and Labour Party, prospective parliamentary candidate Andrew Pakes called it the "thin end of the wedge", that it would put into question the opening hours of the station toilets and waiting room.^[20]

Services

Southwards, London Northwestern Railway operate services to Watford Junction and London Euston (3 per hour off-peak). As of July 2016^[update], Southern runs a restricted service on the West London Route to East Croydon via the West London Line. Northwards, both operators run services to Milton Keynes Central, with London Northwestern Railway continuing on to Northampton, Rugby and Birmingham New Street.^[21]

There is also one train to and from Crewe on weekdays. Additional London Northwestern Railway services to/from Euston start and terminate here during the rush hour.

Services also operate hourly between Bletchley and Bedford on the Marston Vale Line on Monday to Saturday only.^[22]

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Milton Keynes Central		London Northwestern Railway West Coast Main Line		Leighton Buzzard
Terminus		London Northwestern Railway Marston Vale Line		Fenny Stratford
Milton Keynes Central		Southern West London Route		Leighton Buzzard
	Future services
Winslow towards Oxford		East West Rail Oxford or Reading  – Milton Keynes Central		Milton Keynes Central
Winslow towards Oxford		East West Rail Oxford - Cambridge		Woburn Sands towards Bedford or Norwich or Ipswich
Winslow towards Aylesbury		East West Rail London Marylebone-Milton Keynes Central		Milton Keynes Central
Historical railways
Swanbourne Line and station closed		London Midland Region of British Railways Varsity Line Oxford  – Cambridge		Fenny Stratford Line and station open

Location

The station is on Sherwood Drive in Old Bletchley, near the B4034. The nearest post-code is MK3 6DZ.^[23] In the chainage notation traditionally used on the railway, its location on the West Coast Main Line is 46 miles 54 chains (46.68 mi; 75.12 km) from Euston;^[24] to Oxford on the former Varsity line the distance is 31 miles 48 chains (31.60 mi; 50.86 km);^[25][24][d] and to Bedford it is 16 miles 51 chains (16.64 mi; 26.78 km).^[26]

See also

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[ v t e ] Stations in and around Milton Keynes
Legend
West Coast Main Line towards Glasgow Central Northampton loop to Northampton Roade Bedford–Northampton line towards Northampton Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway Salcey Forest Hanslope Junction Castlethorpe Olney Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway towards Bedford Deanshanger Old Stratford Wolverton–Newport Pagnell line Stony Stratford Newport Pagnell Wolverton Works Great Linford Wolverton Bradwell East West Rail / Marston Vale line to Bedford Woburn Sands Bow Brickhill Milton Keynes Central Fenny Stratford Denbigh Hall Bletchley TMD Bletchley with planned high-level platforms former Varsity Line / planned East West Rail to Oxford Leighton Buzzard West Coast Main Line towards Euston

• Bletchley Traction Maintenance Depot

References

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bletchley railway station.

• 
  Train times and station information for Bletchley railway station from National Rail
  

Coordinates: 51°59′42″N 0°44′10″W / 51.995°N 0.736°W / 51.995; -0.736