Bedford–Northampton line

The Bedford–Northampton line was a branch of the Midland Railway which served stations in three counties: Northampton and Horton in Northamptonshire, Olney in Buckinghamshire and Turvey and Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. Opened in 1872, the intermediate stations closed to passengers in 1962, leaving a small section between Northampton and Piddington station to remain open until 1981 for the purposes of the Ministry of Defence establishment. The track remains down on another small section of the line between Northampton and Brackmills. The reopening of the line has been proposed by the Bedfordshire Railway & Transport Association.

The first proposal to link the county towns of Northampton and Bedford was in 1845 by the Northampton, Bedford and Cambridge Railway, which intended to continue the line to Cambridge. No progress was made and the company collapsed leaving the shareholders out-of-pocket. A second attempt was made in 1864 when the route was surveyed by James Burke for the East and West Junction Railway but the scheme was dropped due to the demands made by owners of land along the proposed alignment. Another attempt was made by the Bedford, Northampton and Leamington Railway for which Sir Charles Fox & Son surveyed a route diverging west from Bedford, passing through Biddenham then south of Turvey to reach Olney before cutting across Flore and Weedon. The successful line was promoted by Lieutenant-Colonel W.B. Higgins of Picts Hill, Turvey, together with James Howard and William Henry Whitbread.

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