Ridgmont is a stop on the Marston Vale line in Bedfordshire between Aspley Guise and Lidlington.
Information
Type:
National Rail
(Marston Vale Line)
Station code:
RID
Opened:
1846
Platforms:
2
The station was opened in 1846 by the Bedford Railway, which built a line from Bedford to connect with the London & Birmingham Railway at Bletchley.
Later the station and line was taken over by the London North Western Railway and became part of the Varsity Line linking Oxford and Cambridge. The Varsity Line was largely closed in 1967 though services remained on the stretch between Bedford and Bletchley. There are proposals to rebuild the Varsity Line including the route through Ridgmont but until then it's line is known as the Marston Vale Line.
Ridgmont used to have sidings and several wagon turntables [1] though these have now gone. Ridgmont is one of the few stations on the line to retain it's original station building. This is nowadays a heritage centre for the line and a tea room. Next to the station is the signalling centre for the Marston Vale Line which opened in 2004 following a signalling upgrade of the line [2]. A level crossing is at one end of the station platforms and this is how to transfer between platforms.
Ridgmont is served by London Northwestern Railway with hourly services in both directions on weekdays and Saturdays. Services on the Marston Vale Line were taken over by the upcycled former London Underground stock Class 230 DMU in 2019.
LNWR 230 004 waits to depart for Bedford
Looking down the line towards Bletchley
Level crossing
Bus shelter on one platform...
...the rather more ornate original station building on the other platform!
LNWR 230 004 is about to pass through the level crossing
[1] Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith, Bletchley to Cambridge (Middleton Press, 2007) Map. X [2] Ibid. Fig. 38
