East West Rail: Tempsford station plan wrong for the village say campaigners

Rail campaigners are calling for a rethink on plans for a station at Tempsford.

The English Regional Transport Association (ERTA) is calling for a change to the current plans on the East West Rail Link, which they say would create a segregated station instead of a seamless rail service for passengers.

Richard Pill, CEO ERTA said: “It is crucial the new railway has physical linkage for south of Peterborough, north of Stevenage and East Bedfordshire to get on a train where they live and travel direct to Bedford or Cambridge without changing. Who wants to change in the middle of nowhere and await another train, when car, bus and our rail ideas offers seamless journey access, saving time and cost?”

“ERTA calls on the promoters of the new east-west railway and Government to think again and accommodate the physical rail linkage as per our diagram suggests which needs working up if so interested. Once the development happens, the curtain comes down on available land and scuppers the option we are suggesting, locking in a less-than optimal situation.”

The group is also against the 44,000 houses planned in a greenfield site, north and south of Station Road, Tempsford, which they say will require significant social infrastructure akin to a new town development.

Mr Pill said: “We are not NIMBY objectors seeking to de-rail the rail link scheme, but notwithstanding we have a preferred route east of Bedford via St John’s and approaching Tempsford from a south-westerly direction, our call for physical rail linkage stands in its own right.”

East West Rail (EWR) says the new route announced last month would connect to the London-Edinburgh main line with a new station being built at Tempsford, between St Neots and Sandy.

It said it "would have greater advantages compared to [building] a station at St Neots South", and "enable a new community to grow, including opportunities to improve biodiversity and give more people access to green spaces".

David Sutton, chairman of Tempsford Parish Council said the council was meeting next week to discuss the latest proposals before a full council meeting on July 11, which MP Richard Fuller is expected to attend.