Council agrees £62m to fund new rail station

An artist's impression of how Wixams railway station could look

A council has agreed to press ahead with plans and funding for a long-awaited new railway station.

An outline planning application was originally approved more than 20 years ago to build a station at Wixams, a new town, close to Bedford.

On Wednesday Bedford Borough Council agreed to enter an agreement with Network Rail to construct a two-platform station at a cost of £62.6m.

However, if a Universal theme park is built nearby, a bigger Wixams station will be built with central government footing the bill, Conservative councillor Graeme Coombes said.

It is hoped the station on the Midland Mainline could open by late 2026 – years after it was promised to residents who moved to the area.

Mr Coombes admitted Network Rail's budget for the station had "risen substantially" as he presented an updated report to the full council.

"We have even seen costs rise since I presented to the committee three weeks ago," he said.

The report noted that "infrastructure construction prices have increased by over 30%" since 2018 when the council took over the project.

The budget would be met by a range of bodies and include ring-fenced funding from developers.

If a Universal theme park, like this one in Orlando, is built in Bedfordshire, a larger railway station would be needed at Wixams

Some council members were unhappy with the spiralling costs.

“A 6% increase is hard to believe. An extra £3.6m is just stunning. I’m staggered that we’re not in control of such an important project,” said Independent councillor for Sharnbrook, Doug McMurdo.

Labour councillor for Kempston North Sue Oliver asked: “Could the current administration explain how you failed to foresee and make provision for an extra £3.6m?”

But Mr Coombes said there was “an extremely good chance we will not actually be required to build this version of the station ourselves.

"If the Universal attraction goes ahead, it would require much bigger four-platform station.

"If that comes to pass, the borough council would step back and allow the bigger, better station to be built."

He said the Universal scheme "would need approval through an act of parliament, which means the £23m would come back to the borough".