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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. It was formerly called Bedford Midland Road, and is to the west of the town centre. It is used by a substantial number of commuters to London. == History == The original station was built by the Midland Railway in 1859 on its line to the Great Northern at Hitchin. It was on land known as "Freemen's Common" approximately south of the current station on Ashburnham Road. The LNWR also had a station on its line between Bletchley and Cambridge. The Midland crossed it on the level and there was a serious collision when an LNWR train passed a red signal. (Curiously, both drivers were named John Perkins.) Following this accident, the Midland built a flyover in 1885.〔Radford, B., (1983) ''Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby'' London: Bloomsbury Books〕 The extension to St Pancras opened in 1868. The connection to Hitchin is long gone, but the line north of Bedford to Wigston Junction is still officially referred to as the Leicester to Hitchin line.〔Jacobs, G., ''(Ed)'' (2005 2Rev) ''Railway Track Diagrams: Midlands and North West: Book 4 Chart 2,3'' Bradford on Avon:TRACKmaps.〕 At this time the station was substantially altered, with the replacement of a level crossing by the Queen's Park overbridge. In 1890 fast lines were added to the west to allow expresses to bypass the station. Serious damage occurred during World War II when a bomb destroyed the booking hall's glass ceiling. The current station was built to replace it and was opened by Sir Peter Parker (chairman of BR) on 9 October 1978. The station was moved about north, the slow lines were realigned to the west next to the 1890 fast lines, to which platforms were added. Although the intention was for what remained of the old awnings to be transferred to the Midland Railway at Butterley in Derbyshire it proved impossible to save them. Nothing remains of the original station buildings. The track layout around the station is set for significant changes as Network Rail aims to make operations easier and faster, in conjunction with electrification northward to Sheffield and westward to Bletchley and Oxford. The majority of the work will be north of the station. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bedford railway station」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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