Theme Park Boosts Rail Plans: Station Arrives Early

East West Rail (EWR) is accelerating plans for a new station to serve the upcoming Universal theme park in Bedfordshire, with services expected within the resort's initial years of operation. The £6bn rail line connecting Oxford and Cambridge will feature more frequent and longer trains to accommodate the anticipated eight million annual visitors to the theme park.

A new station at Stewartby is slated to serve the Universal resort, with four trains per hour expected between Stewartby and Oxford by the early 2030s, eventually increasing to five trains per hour. These services will utilize hybrid battery-electric trains. Furthermore, a new station at Tempsford, originally planned for a new town development, is being expedited by five years, with construction possibly commencing by 2030.

While these developments aim to enhance connectivity and bring benefits sooner, some local residents along the EWR route express dissatisfaction. The final eight-week consultation for the £6bn railway project has commenced, ahead of EWR's application for government permission to build the line in 2027. Demolition of homes in Bedford's Poets area may be required to make way for new tracks.