Milton Keynes Central railway station

Milton Keynes Central National Rail
Station Square, showing the frontage to Milton Keynes Central. Bus stops are in the foreground, with local and long distance buses visible.
Location
Place Central Milton Keynes
Local authority Borough of Milton Keynes
Coordinates 52°02′06″N 0°46′23″W / 52.035°N 0.773°W / 52.035; -0.773Coordinates: 52°02′06″N 0°46′23″W / 52.035°N 0.773°W / 52.035; -0.773
Grid reference SP841380
Operations
Station code MKC
Managed by London Northwestern Railway
Owned by Network Rail
Number of platforms 7 (numbered 1–2, 2A, 3–6)
DfT category B
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2012/13 Increase 6.030 million
2013/14 Increase 6.286 million
2014/15 Increase 6.649 million
2015/16 Increase 6.836 million
2016/17 Increase 6.851 million
History
Original company British Rail
17 May 1982 Opened
29 December 2008 Platforms 2A and 6 added
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Milton Keynes Central from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Milton Keynes Central railway station serves Central Milton Keynes and the surrounding area of Milton Keynes, England. The station is located on the West Coast Main Line about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of London. The station is served by Virgin Trains intercity services, and by West Midlands Trains and Southern regional services.

This station is one of the six[lower-alpha 1] stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area. Milton Keynes Central, which opened on 17 May 1982,[1] is by far the busiest and most important of these, as well as being the largest in terms of platforms in use, having overtaken Bletchley when platforms 2A and 6 became operational.

History and development

The station lobby, with the huge National Rail logo above the entrance

Opening

The station was opened by British Rail on 14 May 1982 in an official ceremony with full public opening three days later.[2] Before it opened, Bletchley railway station was the main station for Milton Keynes, served by British Rail InterCity services. These services moved to the new station, downgrading Bletchley.

2006–08 developments

In May 2006, the Department of Transport announced a plan to upgrade the station.[3] The first phase added a down fast line platform 6, so that the existing platform 5 could be used for stopping express trains in either direction. The second phase provided an additional terminating bay platform (2A), nominally to extend the Marston Vale Line Bedford/Bletchley service via the West Coast Main Line (WCML) to Milton Keynes Central. This 5-car bay platform is indented into platform 1. The original platform 1 line was extended northwards from 'bay' to 'through' (becoming the up slow line), and platform 2 line is now a 'centre' terminating and reversing line, avoiding conflicting crossing movements. This work was completed on 29 December 2008. As of January 2018, a direct service between Bedford and Milton Keynes is not in any published plan, being overtaken by later events (see next).

Platforms and layout

The main body of Milton Keynes Central, showing the triple island platform layout and the footbridge. The large station building provides the backdrop. Platform 6 is closest to the camera.

Milton Keynes Central has a total of seven platforms. Platforms 1 and 3 are the south and northbound slow platforms, while 4 and 6 are the south and northbound fast platforms. Platforms 2 and 5 are reversible, being slow and fast respectively. Platform 2 is used by terminating services from London Euston and East Croydon, whilst platform 5 is used by West Midlands Trains services to Birmingham New Street and Crewe. Platform 2A is a five-car south-facing bay platform originally intended for the extension of Marston Vale Line services into Milton Keynes Central: this proposal no longer appears in plans for East West Rail, being replaced by a planned service to/from Oxford. Meanwhile, platform 2A is used only by exception when additional platform capacity is needed, such as when there is a service delay. The platform will also be used for services to Oxford and Aylesbury (see 'Future Services' below). To the north of the station the six lines reduce to four (two slow and two fast) and there is a mile of five-track running to the south before this also reduces back to four.

The station is generally accessible: there are no unavoidable steps and there are lifts from the concourse to each platform. As with all mainline railway stations, passengers with mobility limitations may need to pre-book assistance to get from the platform to the train.[4] Ticket gates are in operation.

Local facilities and interchange

The station building has a shop and café. There are other shops and restaurants on the south side of the station square. There are a number of hotels on Midsummer Boulevard (which begins opposite the station and leads up into the central business district).

The station forecourt is the terminus or key intermediate destination for many bus services; almost all local and district bus services stop there. These services are operated mostly by Arriva as well as some routes by Stagecoach and a number of independent operators. Numerous bus services each hour traverse Midsummer Boulevard, connecting the station to the shopping centre, the theatre and Xscape. There is a public toilet in this area.

Stagecoach East operate four major long-distance coach routes from here. Their route 99 express service runs to Luton Airport via Luton railway station, providing a direct link between the West Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line.[5] Route X5 route between Oxford and Cambridge stops here, as do their X4 and X7 interurban bus routes to Northampton, Leicester and Peterborough. Arriva Shires & Essex also operate route X60 to Aylesbury, which terminates at the station.[6] National Express services run from the Milton Keynes Coachway, about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) away, served from this station by the 300 bus or the X5.

The Milton Keynes redway system, a comprehensive network of cycle/pedestrian shared use paths, connects to the station and its cycle parking facilities.

Also in the station forecourt, there is a taxi rank (to the left) and a pick-up space for private hire cars (to the right), plus limited (very) short term parking. There is a multi-storey car-park to the north of the station. Parking in the surrounding streets is heavily restricted to discourage commuter parking.

The station square itself is a favourite site for skateboarding and freestyle BMX and as a result the granite facings of the planting surrounds have suffered from the continuous bumping and grinding. This has lessened somewhat since the opening of a dedicated skateboarding park (Sk8 MK) close to the former central bus station.[7]

Services

West Midlands Trains

Milton Keynes Central is a principal start and terminus for West Midlands Trains' services to/from London Euston, and a major stop on others terminating/initiating at Northampton, Crewe or Birmingham New Street. During off-peak daytime hours, West Midlands Trains operate five departures per hour to Euston, two trains per hour to Birmingham New Street (via Northampton), one train per hour to Crewe, and one train per hour that terminates at Northampton. There are additional West Midlands Trains services during the rush hour.[8]

Virgin Trains

Virgin Trains stop many of their inter-city services here, with three calls an hour in each direction off-peak on weekdays. Southbound services are to London Euston, northbound services are to Glasgow/Edinburgh via Birmingham New Street, to Manchester Piccadilly and to Chester (with certain trains extending to Bangor and Holyhead for ferry connections to Dun Laoghaire or to Dublin Port). Additional services operate in the morning peak and evening peaks to and from Liverpool Lime Street, Preston, Glasgow Central (via Trent Valley Line), Wolverhampton and other destinations.[8]

Southern

Southern's West London Route provides an hourly service via the West London Line and Brighton Main Line to East Croydon (via Clapham Junction), avoiding central London. Onward connections to Gatwick Airport and Brighton are available from Clapham Junction.

Future services

East West Rail

From 2025, services are planned to operate (over a rebuilt East West Rail line) to Oxford via Bletchley, Winslow and Bicester Village.[9][10] As of March 2018, previously announced proposals to establish a route onwards from Bedford to Cambridge (on the one hand), and to London Marylebone via Aylesbury and High Wycombe (on the other), remain unfunded.

Great North Western Railway

In June 2018, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) approved an application by Great North Western Railway for 5 direct services per day from Blackpool North to London Euston calling at: Poulton-le-Fylde, Kirkham & Wesham, Preston, Nuneaton and Milton Keynes Central. The service is planned for September 2019.[11][12]

Service summary

Preceding station National Rail Following station
Wolverton or
Terminus		   London Northwestern Railway
WCML
London commuter service		   Bletchley or
Leighton Buzzard
Rugby   London Northwestern Railway
WCML
London–Crewe		   London Euston
Wolverton   London Northwestern Railway
WCML
London–Birmingham		   Bletchley or
Watford Junction
Birmingham New Street or
Coventry or Rugby		   Virgin Trains
WCML West Midlands Route
London–West Midlands		   London Euston or
Watford Junction
Stoke on Trent or Crewe or
Rugby		   Virgin Trains
WCML Manchester Route
London–Manchester		   London Euston or
Watford Junction
Rugby or Stafford   Virgin Trains
WCML Liverpool Route
London–Liverpool		   Watford Junction or
London Euston
Crewe or Nuneaton   Virgin Trains
WCML North Wales Route
London–Chester/North Wales/Holyhead for Dublin		   London Euston
Coventry   Virgin Trains
West Coast Main Line
London–Scotland/North West		   London Euston
Rugby   Virgin Trains
West Coast Main Line
London–Glasgow/North West		   London Euston or
Watford Junction
Terminus   Southern
West London Route
Milton Keynes–South Croydon		   Bletchley
  Future services  
Terminus   East West Rail
Milton Keynes Central — Oxford and Reading		   Bletchley
Terminus   East West Rail
Milton Keynes Central — London Marylebone		   Bletchley
Nuneaton   Great North Western Railway
West Coast Main Line
London – Blackpool North		   London Euston

Location

Milton Keynes Central zoom in
Mapping © OpenStreetMap

The station is at the western end of Central Milton Keynes, near the junction of the A5 with the A509. The nearest post-code is MK9 1BB.[13] In the chainage notation traditionally used on the railway, its location on the line is 49 miles 65 chains (49.81 mi; 80.17 km) from Euston.[14]

In film

The station and its plaza were used in the movie Superman IV: The Quest for Peace as a substitute for the United Nations building. Other scenes were shot in the Central Milton Keynes area.

Images


See also

References

  1. ↑ Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 160. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  2. ↑ "Milton Keynes Central Opened". Railway Magazine. Vol. 128 no. 974. June 1982. p. 258. ISSN 0033-8923.
  3. ↑ West Coast Main Line: Progress Report – May 2006 Archived 6 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Information for disabled passengers National Rail
  5. ↑ "99 Bus Route & Timetable: Luton Airport - Milton Keynes". Stagecoach. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  6. ↑ http://www.arrivabus.co.uk/serviceInformation.aspx?id=21271
  7. ↑ sk8m8 : Sk8MK Skate Plaza – Milton Keynes
  8. 1 2 GB National Rail Timetable December 2015 – May 2016, Table 66
  9. ↑ "Chancellor accepts East West Rail targets and strengthens plans with extra cash". www.railtechnologymagazine.com.
  10. ↑ Transport Secretary officially launches East West Railway Company at Bletchley Park East West Rail, 22 November 2017
  11. ↑ "Application for a new track access contract for services between London Euston and Blackpool North" (PDF). Office of Rail and Road. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "NEW BLACKPOOL TO LONDON RAIL SERVICES APPROVED". Alliance Rail Holdings. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  13. ↑ Streetmap.co.uk
  14. ↑ Engineer's Line References RailwayCodes.org

Notes

  1. ↑ The others are Wolverton (north Milton Keynes), Bletchley (south Milton Keynes), Fenny Stratford (also south Milton Keynes), Bow Brickhill (south-east Milton Keynes) and Woburn Sands
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