UK: A limited train service on the Marston Vale Line between Bedford and Bletchley is to resume on November 20, London Northwestern Railway has announced.
The route has been served by rail-replacement buses since December 2022, when Vivarail which maintained the Class 230 DMUs used on the route entered administration.
LNR has since arranged the transfer of three Class 150 DMUs from Northern Trains so that services can be restarted. The DMUs have been recently refurbished with an accessible toilet, upgraded passenger information system and USB charging points.
There will be four services in each direction from Monday to Friday, focused on the morning and afternoon peak periods. Buses will continue to operate at other times.
A full timetable, including a Saturday service, is expected to resume in early 2024 once enough train crew are able to operate the Class 150s.
‘We recognise that due to logistical constraints it has taken longer than we had hoped to bring back the train service and we thank our customers for their patience’, said LNR Customer Experience Director Jonny Wiseman on November 10. ‘While we will initially be running a partial timetable, we are working hard to train our drivers and senior conductors as quickly as possible with a view to resuming the full service in the new year.’
