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Woburn Sands railway station

Coordinates: 52°01′05″N 0°39′14″W / 52.018°N 0.654°W / 52.018; -0.654
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Woburn Sands
National Rail
Woburn Sands in 2020, looking west showing the double track and platforms 1 & 2
General information
LocationWoburn Sands, City of Milton Keynes
England
Coordinates52°01′05″N 0°39′14″W / 52.018°N 0.654°W / 52.018; -0.654
Grid referenceSP924363
Managed byLondon Northwestern Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeWOB
ClassificationDfT category F2
Key dates
1846[1]Opened
Passengers
2018/19Increase 51,606
2019/20Decrease 46,704
2020/21Decrease 7,534
2021/22Increase 19,718
2022/23Increase 24,618
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Woburn Sands railway station serves the town of Woburn Sands and the village of Wavendon in the City of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England. The station is on the Marston Vale line between Bedford and Bletchley, about 4 miles (6.5 km) east of Bletchley station. The station is served by local trains to Bletchley and Bedford using Class 150 multiple units. This station is one of the seven stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.[a]

Station building and signal box

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Woburn Sands' cottage-type station building, in an 1852 illustration

Woburn Sands has a black and white "cottage" station building, one of four of the same design that are unique to this line. Two of the others remain at Fenny Stratford and Milbrook. The building is in a half-timbered Gothic Revival style that had been insisted upon by the 7th Duke of Bedford for stations close to the Woburn Estate. It is Grade II listed.[2] It opened with the line in 1846;[1] between 1871 and July 1967 had a sizeable goods yard serving various local businesses (including a brick factory and gas works).[1]

In August 2004, Woburn Sands lost its Victorian signal box to the development and modernisation of the route.[1] Until 2004 the line was controlled by staffed signal boxes located at various stations; but the entire line is now controlled from one signalling centre at Ridgmont.

Services

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All services at Woburn Sands are operated by London Northwestern Railway.

The typical off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between Bletchley and Bedford which runs on weekdays and Saturdays only using Class 150 DMUs. There is no Sunday service.[3][4][5][6]

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Bow Brickhill   London Northwestern Railway
  Aspley Guise
  Future Services  
Bletchley   East West Rail
  Ridgmont

Community Rail Partnership

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Woburn Sands station, in common with others on the Marston Vale line, is covered by the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership,[7] which aims to increase use of the line by involving local people.

Location

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The station is on Station Road, about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the town centre. The nearest post-code is MK17 8UD.[8] In the chainage notation traditionally used on the railway, it is 4 mileschains (4.05 mi; 6.52 km) from Bletchley station on the line to Bedford.[9]

Station Hotel

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The Fenny Stratford Times featured the hotel in 1883. It described the hotel building as Gothic style, constructed of red bricks with Bath stone ornamentation. The lobby had a caustic tile floor with "station hotel" in the design. Off the central hall was a tap-room and a bar with adjoining snug parlour. At the end of the hall a staircase led to the first floor which had seven rooms for accommodation. At the rear was a yard, stabling and coach houses. The architect was a Mr Mercer of Bedford and the first owner, John Taylor Luttman.[10] The hotel building is now known as the Station Tavern.

Footnotes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Disused Stations Site Record - Woburn Sands" Retrieved 7 September 2016
  2. ^ English Heritage Grade II listed building status Retrieved 2009-10-19
  3. ^ "Bletchley to Bedford | Timetable from Monday 20 November 2023". London Northwestern Railway.
  4. ^ "GB eNRT May 2023 Edition, Table 63" (PDF). Network Rail.
  5. ^ "Train timetables and schedules | Woburn Sands". London Northwestern Railway.
  6. ^ "Marston Vale Line: Limited Timetable Running Until Early 2024". London Northwestern Railway. 20 November 2023.
  7. ^ Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership
  8. ^ Streetmap.co.uk
  9. ^ Engineer's Line References: Bletchley south junction to Bedford RailwayCodes.org
  10. ^ "Woburn Sands Station". Fenny Stratford Times. 22 February 1883. p. 4. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
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