Millbrook (Bedfordshire) railway station

This article is about Millbrook station in Bedfordshire. For Millbrook station in Hampshire, see Millbrook (Hampshire) railway station.
Millbrook National Rail
Location
Place Millbrook
Local authority Central Bedfordshire
Coordinates 52°03′14″N 0°32′02″W / 52.0538°N 0.5338°W / 52.0538; -0.5338Coordinates: 52°03′14″N 0°32′02″W / 52.0538°N 0.5338°W / 52.0538; -0.5338
Grid reference TL007405
Operations
Station code MLB
Managed by London Midland
Number of platforms 2
DfT category F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03   10,928
2004/05 Increase 11,744
2005/06 Increase 12,828
2006/07 Increase 13,671
2007/08 Decrease 12,303
2008/09 Increase 13,994
2009/10 Decrease 12,758
2010/11 Increase 13,172
2011/12 Increase 15,962
2012/13 Decrease 14,736
2013/14 Increase 16,460
2014/15 Decrease 16,384
History
17 November 1846 Opened as Marston
March 1847 Renamed Ampthill
January 1850 Renamed Ampthill (Marston)
March 1877 Renamed Millbrook for Ampthill
1 July 1910 Renamed Millbrook[1]
3 August 1964 Goods services withdrawn
15 July 1968 Became unstaffed[2]
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Millbrook from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

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.

Services

Millbrook station, in common with others on the Marston Vale Line, is covered by the Marston Vale Community rail Partnership,[3] which aims to increase use of the line by involving local people.

An hourly service operates in each direction on weekdays & Saturdays, with no trains on Sundays.[4] Average journey times to Bedford are 17 mins and to Bletchley 25 mins.

History

Millbrook station, January 1985

First opened in 1846 by the Bedford Railway, the station was originally named "Marston", but changed to "Ampthill (Marston)" in 1850 after the nearby village. The opening of a second and more conveniently-sited Ampthill station by the Midland Railway in 1868 on its Midland Main Line gave rise to confusion which was only resolved in 1877 when the original Ampthill station was renamed "Millbrook for Ampthill". The station is the fourth and final on the Marston Vale Line to be built in a half-timbered Gothic Revival style that had been insisted upon by the 7th Duke of Bedford for stations situated in the vicinity of the Woburn Estate. The two station platforms are east of a level crossing.[5]

The station developed substantial coal traffic, as well as trade in cattle and goods with stables in its goods yard and a wagon repairers. A public house called the Morteyne Arms opened opposite the station. Traffic increased still further with the development of the brick industry in the area; a siding was opened on 7 May 1928 to cater for the trade in bricks, the towers of the Millbrook Brick Company could be seen from the station.[6] The brick traffic peaked in the 1930s, with a second brickworks called "Marston Moretaine" being opened a mile from the station; although it was too far for a siding, bricks were transported by road to the station where they were loaded on to rail wagons.[7]

The station, whose name was changed to "Millbrook" in 1910, was reduced to an unstaffed halt in 1968, having lost its formerly substantial goods facilities four years previously.[2] The station building was restored in the early 1980s and converted into a private residence. In 1999, the low station platforms – the last of their type remaining on the line – were rebuilt to the standard height appropriate to modern trains.[8]

Preceding station   National Rail   Following station
London Midland
Mondays-Saturdays only
Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Lidlington   British Railways
Varsity Line		   Stewartby

References

  1. ↑ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 160. ISBN 1-85260-508-1.
  2. 1 2 Clinker, C.R. (1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830–1977. Bristol: Avon-AngliA Publications & Services. p. 96. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
  3. ↑ Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership
  4. ↑ Table 64 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  5. ↑ Simpson 1981, p. 55.
  6. ↑ Simpson 1981, p. 65.
  7. ↑ Simpson 1981, p. 60.
  8. ↑ Simpson, Bill (2000). The Oxford to Cambridge Railway: Forty Years On 1960–2000. Witney: Lamplight Publications. pp. 72–73. ISBN 1-899246-05-3.

Sources

External links

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