Should it have closed? Will it ever reopen? Let me know your thoughts below. Please *like* and *share* this film far and wide! Might you consider supporting my channel even more? www.buymeacoffee.com/rediscovering
Why oh why pay for a totally new route between Bedford and Cambridge when 80% or so of the original trackbed is intact? It has to be surely much cheaper to buy up the remaining 20% or so in private hands and you wouldn't have environmentalists complaining either.
@@ianhosier4042 between sandy and Cambridge some of the trackbed has been built on and at the Cambridge end there's a weard bus system built on the trackbed,
I can understand why it closed but I think it has become a more important route in the past 30 years. Re-opening with less stations and a faster line would make it a competitive route again.
The closure of this line was a prime example of corporate insanity. It should never have been closed, but economies such as on board ticket issuing and selective station closures could have saved the line which provided important connections to the GWR, Midland and. Great Northern lines as well as connections to East Anglia. With a little bit of corporate savvy, it could be profitable and should be reinstated asap.
@@xr6lad Steady on old boy - our friend was trying to say that what is happening in the UK currently is anybody's guess. If voters could vote for Brexit then literally anything could happen. Like it seems to have done in the past. Incidentally how is Brexit going? Families 7% worse off over the next few years I am now waiting for someone to tell us that this is the same across Europe :-))
About 20 years ago I went from Oxford to Cambridge by train. It took me hours trailing through London and back again. Good lateral rail lines are desperately needed in the UK so that people can avoid having to either up to York or Down to London to go across the country.
It is a shame there is so much opposition to this project. The link between Cambridge and Oxford badly needs restoring. Great film once again, I really enjoyed seeing the archive film, please keep up the splendid work.
It's amazing how much of the trackbed remains intact between Cambridge and Bedford. Hats off to the guys who preserved those stations and exciting to see progress on east west rail.
The track bed between Bedford and Cambridge is not being reused. The chosen route takes a much more southerly route so that the line will approach from the south via a new station south of Cambridge.
@@ds1868 seems so silly to make an entirely new route as it is far cheaper to buy up the 20% or so of the original trackbed in private hands. British rails real crime was selling the trackbed not closing the railway.
Another masterclass. Me and my son found a signal lamp in the undergrowth at Bedford at Johns. Found after 55 years in the undergrowth. It's restored and now sits in our living room
Thanks ever so much - and I saw the pictures of your discovery on FB and remain incredibly jealous! All these years out there making this films and I've found nothing!
This railway will greatly ease the burden on London, because East-West freight from Felixstowe to the Midlands will no longer need to thread its way through Stratford and occupy much needed slots on the North London line. This is such a common sense routing of such traffic flows that I'm surprised the viability question gets taken seriously. Non viable is not building it. However, I repeat my charge that not electrifying the railway from the start is gross negligence. Almost all the feeder lines are electrified already, so they are planning a hole in the network. What has changed since BR's shortsighted closure of the Varsity Line is mass containerisation of freight flows. Felixstowe is here a major facility. That wasn't the case in 1967. I believe that the phrase "east-west freight", which is standard railway parlance, gave the line its name anyway. Maybe there's a hint somewhere in that.
Once again, another fantastic and educational documentary! If, as a country, we are working towards a 'green future' then more of these kind of link lines need to be reopened or built. It is a shame the missing link is facing so much opposition, for Cambridge and the county of Cambridgeshire the railway would be highly beneficial.
@@jakestewart5812The economic case based on the 'Cambridge Arc' did not include the case for freight. That is now a very important factor as the North London Line is now at capacity.
It had been living on borrowed time since the 1930s and during WW2 did its fortunes have an upturn. But by 1959 BR had decided they wanted to close the line.
Excellent coverage of past, present, and potential. Personally, to stop the railway at Bedford would be tragic enough; to truncate it at Bletchley/Milton Keynes would castrate the whole purpose of the original cross-party agreement to link Oxford with its wealth creative equal at Cambridge. Thus once again, money spent on a big,rational vision for UK research and its substantial industrial and employment prospects, not to mention literally amazing prospects for railways rather than roads to link East Anglia with the west and north of the country. And all without touching London! Do it guys and gals - however long it takes.
As someone who knew it well when it was open it was a travesty when it was closed. My great Uncle was station master and signalman at Blunham. I spent many many hours as a boy riding from Bedford St Johns to Blunham then watching the trains from his garden, passing the tokens to the drivers, and even sometimes riding on the footplate between Blunham and Beeston Mill the private siding. Uncle Walter and his sons Gordon and John were part of Blunham village life. Now sadly passed away but the many happy memories are still there. Won't reopen in my lifetime and not through the original trackbed in many places. False economy again. What a superb presentation. Thank you.
The oppsisiom comes from a hanfull of loud peopl that are listened to by the media in reality they leave their UA-cam comments left off virtually nobody comments anyway. In reality when comments are aired virtually all can't wait for it to open especially those who want the section south to Aylesbury.
It was really criminally short-sighted to close these rural railway lines. At a minimum they should have left the track-bed available for possible future use. Once a former trackbed is built over, the line can never be put back to use without great difficulty and expense. This was a marvellous video. The steam engine sounds whenever you show a photo of a steam train were a nice touch.
Thank you! If anyone has noticed the steam engine sounds, they've not yet mentioned it, so thanks for noticing - indeed, all the sound of the DMU is from a recording of me travelling on one some years ago!
Fantastic! Thank you. I really enjoyed this one but, I enjoy all your productions! It’s great to see these old lines coming back but there’s a long way to go to get back to where we were in 1904!!! Rather than waste money on expensive vanity projects like HS2 I would rather money go into reopening lost lines like this one.
I feel that this may be more useful than EWR but I have nothing to substantiate that other than my opinion. Really glad you enjoyed the film - do share far and wide if you can!
Superb video, a masterpiece and easily the best video on the Varsity Line by far! As usual the research, filming, narration etc is way ahead of others. I can only imagine the work and effort you put in over many hours, days and weeks. So, thank you for all your efforts in producing this film. A pleasure to watch.👏👍🙂
The many hours, days and weeks are all worthwhile when people such as yourself are so kind about my effort. Greatly appreciated - thank you - do share far and wide if you can!
In the early 1960s I lived at Potton and could catch a train about 7:50 (IIRC) to Sandy where there was a connection to a train to London arriving at 9:30ish(?). In about 1964 the timing was altered to a later time which just missed the connection at Sandy and, after a long wait, one could not arrive in London until after 11:00. The only alternative was an early morning bus to Biggleswade and thence to London. We complained, but were ignored by British Rail. My house was only a few yards from the station with the railway at the end of my back garden. Thanks for this video, it brought back many memories some good, some bad.
It seems pretty daft to cut travel links between the two most-major universities in the UK. BR definitely screwed up freight aspects of The Modernisation Plan but the idea to have traffic avoid bottlenecking round North London was a good one. Plenty of brownfield sites (ex-brickworks) along the Marston Vale line just waiting for redevelopment! A slight correction: the Bletchley Flyover was not demolished. It has been upgraded/replaced during EWR construction which reused the existing earthworks and bridge pilings. The section directly above the WCML is new-build and has Aerial conductor rail running under it rather than traditional catenary wires. Ideally, EWR would be opening with OHLE but if that made the cost difference to get it open at all I will accept that. It can be put in later. I’ll close by saying “Death to Guided Busways!” (Even the inventor doesn’t recommend them any more).
The maintenance cost of the misguided busway is ridiculous - as for cycling and running alongside the buses - you're often at the height of the bus exhaust. It's too frightening for horses to use those paths. There have been deaths due to the lack of protection of pedestrians. It's an awful idea it needs ripping out and replacing with a proper railway that can handle incoming freight from Felixstowe.
When I played hooky I used to catch the train from Bletchley, the old station, to either Bow Brickhill or Woburn Sands so I could walk up into the woods that are part of the Duke of Bedford estate. The engine sheds and coach sheds in Bletchley were great playgrounds for us kids after they closed. Fenny Stratford station was always picturesque to me. I said before the house we lived in backed onto the line on its way to Oxford and I used to listen to the steam goods trains struggling with the slight incline. Happy days - Please list what music you use, your choice is perfect and warms my memories. Many thanks for these wonderful programmes.
Thanks ever so much for sharing your memories. As for the music, let me get that sorted and I'll put it in the description. Do share far and wide if you can!
The revised section from Sandy to Cambridge via the new town of Camborn built on the old airfield actually follows the route originally prposed in the 1840's. I went on a special excursion in 1989 from Oxford to Bedford just b4 closure. The section from Bedford to Cambridge I've explored on foot and by glider hired from nearby Gransden Lodge Airfield. This section was extensively explored in 2021. Good to see it reopening.
Thank you for an expertly crafted documentary on the Varsity Line - its past and its reopening, in part, or - hopefully - in whole; albeit on a new route into Cambridge. Some wonderful archive footage, with an informative narrative and some thoughful considerations about its possible impact, not least on the environment. But then, what about the probably much greater impact of the projected E-W express road link? This has now been cancelled, but there is more than one way to get from A to B, e.g. by a series of major 'improvement' schemes.
As someone who has driven from Peterborough to Oxford a few times (mainly because there isn't a rail route!) I can confirm that the road route isn't as bad as you might think. Once you are passed the roundabout nightmare of Milton Keynes (15 roundabouts in succession) the route is actually fairly quick.
Just ..... thank you and well done. I lived in Hitchin in the 60's. Travelled Hitchin to Bedford line. Rode Bedford to Bletchley, thanks to Ian Allan. I hope the disgruntled residence can be made to appreciate the WONDER that having a rail line as a neighbour, can bring
Glad you enjoyed it - do share far and wide if you can! And check out my film 'The Lost Main Line to London' which examines the Bedford to Hitchin line!
I'm old enough to have travelled along this line in the distant past - via Bletchley and Bedford - it took ages! The concept is a good one, allowing London to be avoided if travelling from the West Country to the North East - and, upgraded, the line would have been of far more use than HS2.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Born and brought up along the 'Gold Coast' - if you know where that was - my next door neighbour was the engine shed foreman at Didcot. My schoolteachers' husband was an engine driver. Guess where I spent all my spare time, how many footplates I rode upon, and just how many illicitic miles I rode without a ticket! I've fired (albeit badly) City of Truro, rather slower in those day than when going down the Somerset banks many years before. Coal? - we never bought any for our cottage, no-one minding if a little 'scrumping' took place at the local station - and the whole village (well, hamlet) was at it anyway. Oh, with enough space, the tales I could tell you ....!
I think all disused railway lines should be turned into cycle tracks. Mainly as this would preserve the routes, which are usually the optimum way for rail to traverse the contours of the landscape. Once built upon or sold-off, bringing the trackbed back to use becomes far more complex.
@@nickbarber2080 still less of a hurdle to overcome than the route being totally lost to development and fragmented ownership. A route near me would be perfect for a cycle trail, but the local railway reinstatement group fiercely opposed it, for the same concern you raise. It's now been completely developed with housing and businesses. Any new rail link will now need to take a new alignment which will mean our town would not get a station.
@@shm5547 Yes,that is true. Perhaps they should be converted to cycle routes on the understanding that this is a mothballing for possible eventual railway use...written into the contracts.
As someone from across the pond who knows nothing about England's rail history or current transportation policies, I found this an intriguing story--the final chapter of which is yet to be written. So glad this route was one of the "lost" lines covered in a previous video of yours, RLR, as the before-and-after footage provides wonderful contrasts in the rebuilding efforts. Highly professional work as always, worthy of broadcast on the History or Rediscovering, er, Discovery Channel. Thank you, RLR, for posting this quality presentation.
All you need to know is that the British invented the railways and were the first to build them. The line between Oxford and Cambridge secured further funding today in the Chancellors autumn statement. The original budget of £5 billion will be over £6 billion due mainly to inflation, but the final figure will probably be higher. The story of Britain's railways can be summarised as foliows: Britain built the first railways and by the 1930s had the most comprehensive railway system in the world; in the 1950 and 60s the railways declined and the Beeching Report of 1965 led to the axing of over one third of the network, with more closures later on including this railway; and finally during this century a very slow reinvestment of the railways which has led to some notable achievements but still very much below what is needed.
@@ds1868 And to add to that, after the brutality of the B**ching Axe (remember this is a man who died wishing he'd closed MORE railways!) it's actually very hard to close a railway line in the UK now. As it should be, because they technically belong to us not private companies. Just like the railroad made America what it is the railways of the UK powered the industrial revolution (along with tea, obviously...). The US is only now waking up to what it calls High Speed Rail, which I believe is an average of around 71mph. Hmmm.
An excellent video. In May 1986 two friends and I stopped off at Verney Junction, en route to Aylesbury for football. We had a few excellent pints of Everards Tiger ale in the Verney Arms hotel. The odd Freightliner rumbling by. 20 years or so later, I visited Verney Junction and the hotel was a restaurant.
I work for the company that maintains the railway. As a child I went to work with Dad at some weekends as he worked for BR. One weekend he was tasked to remove the bridge at Sandy that crossed the ECM. This varsity line should never have closed and the new one needs to follow the same route whatever it takes. 😊 I love this video. The accompanying music is very moving and represents a beautiful line.
This was a lot of work. Well done Rediscovering Lost Railways I didnt even realise 50 odd minutes had gomne by after watching this. Brilliant work. keep it up.
I used the Varsity line in 1965 when travelling from Cambridge to Oxford to see which university I might prefer. Innocent as I was then of transportation politics, I had no notion that this most useful connection would be severed only three years later. But not, I trust, forever. A very well-produced documentary with excellent commentary, though I would echo the comment about pejorative language -- the HS2 project, whatever you may think of its merits, is demonstrating the great lengths to which environmental concerns about new railway construction are accepted and addressed these days.
Many thanks for your kind words about my film and your memories - which did you choose in the end? As for so-called pejorative language, I would say this is not fair - that this railway and HS2 will 'devastate' natural habitats is a matter of fact, whether or not they create alternatives in mitigation.
Absolutely superb presentation, must have taken forever to put together, very well done. With our ever burgeoning population and consequent crowded roads I think there is a need for more railways though whether or not the new folk of Britain will put their hands in the pockets to pay to use railways is another matter.
Very kind of you to say so - Do share far and wide if you can! As for the railways and their use - they are so expensive to travel on that it is becoming prohibitive!
Many many lines closed weren't recommended by Beeching, Marples had the pier to override anything Beeching said. Marples wife held his shares in Marples construction, he was a villan who eventually did a midnight runner overseas as he was a tax fraudster.
I'm glad it looks like the line being rebuilt (and realigned where needed). Hopefully it'll run all the way to Cambridge, but it seems very shortsighted that it's not being upgraded with overhead electrification. By the time the corridor is complete, in any sensible world diesel traction (and certainly *new* diesel traction) would be untenable. At best, we'll have a halfway-house bodge job with battery-electric, with its requisite charging time and heavier, more resource-wasteful and slower-accelerating trains.
Excellent video and fascinating - I used to explore the lines (disused) in N Buckinghamshire in the 90s when living in Buckingham - Verney Jct. was my favourite - I will have another look thanks to your film.
One of your best. Often in your presentations, abandoned plate layers huts feature. I wonder how those men felt when their day-to-day hard work and dedication in keeping the track maintained to such high standards was with a stroke of a pen closed, and the scrapers moved in and unceremoniously tore it up before their eyes. It must have been so devastating for them. At least you keep the memory alive of what once was and thank you. Peter, Melbourne, Australia
I hit the wrong button in error. i like this - I find this whole treatment of the East West Rail superbly thorough, and optimistic, but not fanciful. I'll try to follow the rail through
Your videos are highly professional and make for engaging viewing. East west rail is vital and needs reopening in full with electrification. Passive provision all well and good, and I'd rather have the railway route built in full than a curtailed stump which stalls because feeble politicians use rising costs as an excuse to kill it off. Get the rails down to Cambridge, when it proves its worth (it will) then the fizzy knitting can be deployed.
Thank you for this excellent and thought-provoking update. Though I am very keen on seeing this Railway completed, it seems to me that the route from Bedford to Cambridge has not been properly thought through. The former alignment would seem to be more direct and less disruptive to communities and nature than the potential routes that you mention at the end of the video.
If the telescopes weren’t on the track bed, a case could be made for demolishing the busway to put the railway back (and I’d help swing the hammers). Unfortunately the track bed has been built over at Sandy, and EWR doesn’t have legal power to compulsorily purchase the houses to demolish them. Hence, a new route for Bedford-Cambs is required :(
I lived in Sandy for a few months in 1976 and I think it was then that the bridge over the ECML was taken down. Sandy Upper school had been built on the trackbed and I picked blackberries on the embankment between there and the site of the bridge. As there was no cylceway I had to ride to Bedford by road, but did walk some way along the route.
The line should never have closed but it is important that it is now fully rebuilt and during construction should be electrified throughout its entire route. An excellent video thank you.
Funny how the money and will can be found to start rebuilding this line yet the famous Morpeth curve with a speed limit of 50 mph on the east coast main line is still waiting for a diversion line skirting morpeth some 145 years after it was first suggested after the first train derailment that happened there followed by 3 more derailments since.
I used this line from Bletchley in 1954 to get to a (sadly unsuccessful) interview for Fitzwilliam House (as it was then). To anyone with even a remote interest in the efficient transport of people and goods, it is hard to look at a map of the British railway sysytem in the early 1960s without crying.
Looks like Mr Hunt got one thing right yesterday when he committed to finishing this railway line. How it was ever considered for closure defies belief really. Sad thing is its not electrified the benefits that would bring to the country would have been enormous.
Being brought up in Gamlingay, before, during and after the closure of the Varsity line, this brought back many memories for which I thank you. You mention the line crossing the road "on the level" as it leaves Gamlingay for Potton. It was in fact that the road crossed the rails via an overbridge which has long since been demolished - an occurence I can remember well.
Thanks for pointing this out! Just goes to show that one can put in hours and hours of research and let such things slip through the net! Really glad you enjoyed the film nevertheless!
I think this is video number 43. In my opinion, the very best so far. Absolutely brilliantly made. Full of history about the past. Superb information about the present and now the future of a fascinating railway line. This video is very professionaly made. Your camera work, drone footage and commentary make this video exceptional.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Just brilliant - I think your relaxed style of commentary, added to the perfect choices of music, are a lesson in making a documentary that lives and breathes! Well Done again Sir!
There so much opposition to new railways I don’t understand. People seem to go wild over it. Never mind that it’s cleaner and better for our environment overall. Yet new roads that do actual and continual devastation are built MONTHLY
Excellent and well-informed commentary. It is a difficult planning problem to substantiate completion of this line, building a new railway where none existed. The suggestion of an alternative route approaching Cambridge from the North appears to have much in its favour - and much less opposition. So your commentary leaves me with much thought - we shall see how it evolves!
Another great video. Honestly I don’t see why people don’t want this to happen. Most of the route is literally not even built over and nearly all of the original station buildings survive and are restored. Most houses wouldn’t even be affected with the only ones being are mainly the old station building that have been turned into houses. Anyway keep up the great work!!
Glad you are back! Super stuff. Yes, it should re open and link again with main lines. Fewer cars choking country roads. The only worry is it will encourage more nasty housing estates being built. Will it mean getting rid of the useless guided bus way?
Good to be back! I'd like to think it may make train travel a more viable option, but ticket prices are making this a rich person's mode of transport. As for the guided busway...a railway it aint!
Another quite splendid video! You raised the question of whether post-pandemic home working might negate some of the arguments for the line. I would like to suggest this may be a short-term "blip" and given the sheer quantity of new and proposed housing around Cambridge (and I assume Oxford) the timing of the line's reinstatement may be quite providential. I have noticed in recent months that the GN trains between Ely & Cambridge are back to a healthy capacity after a few years of near-empty carriages, and that's even after the doubling the units from 4 to 8!
Agree. I know many drifting back into the office as being at home alone, not having a laugh or chat with work colleagues does start to pale. Although I think that flexibility will remain to some extent, in my case we are expecting to come in for 2-3 days and can work the rest from home but I know many that do more than that. In my case it’s nice sitting at a proper desk with decent monitors at work than my desk at home with not the best setup. Training a new person remotely is also a pain.
As always a excellent presentation, I remember a spur of track still heading east by the bus garage in Bedford in the early 70’s . I walked the section heading east at Cambridge before the mis guided bus was was put in as well, in fact I then walked the track bed to St Ives another lost opportunity,
This is a superb piece of work. Thank you for going to such efforts to bring us footage which - even that from 2018 - is now firmly in the 'history' pile. Bravo!
Great video! I get the feeling this takes time but I feel the effort put into all those different shots, the voice-over describing what we see and the lovely music.
In my very humble opinion there are two very iconic historic railway lines in Britain, "the Summerset and Dorset line" now long gone and this one the subject of this video presentation. Its great to see that at least an effort is being made to partly rebuild this new "Oxford to Cambridge line". When completed I will undoubtedly make a positive effort to travel upon it. Great presentation and very well explained! Thank You to all concerned!!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Yes I did watch that film and I enjoyed it very much indeed. Such an iconic railway line should never ever have been closed and dismantled!!!!!!
Another excellent film from you, will be sharing on my local railway group via Facebook. I’ve paid a lot of interest in the EWR over the last six months, and it’s looking like it’s coming on well between Bicester and Bletchley
The electrified East West Line between Sheffield and Doncaster was similarly not closed by Beeching, but by BR. This line needs to be reopened to improve cross counry connectivity between Grimsby, Doncaster, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool.
I'm from Bedford & remember the operating old line as I lived right next to the st Leonards avenue station Bedford as a young kid. I also remember it went over Cardington Road via a bridge which has now been replaced by a level crossing ( now unused) which led to sandy. So I would love to see it restored. But the present climate in the UK makes me believe it could be after my life on this planet. (I'm 65 years old)
A great interesting documentary once again, thoroughly enjoyed it finding out the history of this line, it’s great news that it is being resurrected, it’s puzzling why a line that connected two university cities should close, one would think this would be an advantage to retain such a line! Equally puzzling is the certain amount of opposition to the reopening! But then historically there has always been and always will opposition and grumbling to things that will benefit the majority but displease the minority, you can’t please everybody! Thanks for your research and hard work sir, I always enjoy your videos, looking forwards to the next one.
I cannot comment on the business case for re-opening/building new, but well done for producing such an excellent video which describes the route as was and as will be so concisely.
VERY WELL DONE. So much appreciated seeing the changes since, as children, my brother and I travelled to and from Bletchley and Buckingham. Before our family emigrated to New Zealand in 1961. WOW.
Superb ...your best yet 👏👌 High quality documentary ...could have been made by a major network ...it's that good... Very interesting to me as Cambridge, Sandy, Bedford and Bletchley and Oxford were regular haunts for me as a young rail enthusiast..
More excellent work. I particularly liked your even handed approach to the controversy in your narration and the wonderful use of the background music. Thanks again.
I used to live in Crossing Cottage at Sandy, now in Potton not to far from the old station house, it’s brilliant seeing this footage of how the railway used to run.
Excellent - thanks for making this, it must have taken a great deal of effort. My one minor criticism is not enough maps! I got a bit confused en route, especially at the end when I suddenly discovered the proposed line was taking an entirely different route - odd when you showed us how well preserved much of the old line is. I would love to have seen a map comparing the two routes - and some discussion on the reason for a new route, and the pros and cons of all three routes. After a lifetime (I'm nearly 70) of seeing lines and stations closed, and mooching about trying to find what's left, it's quite amazing to see old lines being reopened and even new lines being built. But at what cost? I realise engineering standards have changed, but surely more of the old infrastructure could have been reused? If railway building is to cost this much, I can't see there being too much of it, especially at the moment. As for the completion of the the line into Cambridge, i would love to see it happen, but I fear it will go the way of the Cambridge trams. Unless there is a freight justification for such an east-west link, or some other strategic railway reason, I can't see there being enough traffic to justify the expense of building an entirely new line into Cambridge. The 'Varsity' connection is a nice romantic idea, but will there really be a lot of students and academics needing to travel from one university to another?!
Thanks for your thoughts, comment and memories. As for maps, I initially included them, but they slowed the pace down adversely and elongated an already long film as a consequence, so they had to go. However, lots of maps are online showing the new routes that are planned so do check them out!
Really enjoyed that, the Cambridge guided bus route was lobbied to re-open existing rail line but council was hell bent on guided bus route, I am led to believe in the end it would have been cheaper to upgrade the existing rail line
Glad you enjoyed it! Do share far and wide if you can! As for the guided busway, it is obviously well-used and many rely on it, but I just prefer trains!
There was once a railway that linked north to south wales routing completely within Wales. This railway once linked all the universities in Wales. This routes trackbed still exists and reopening is being actively proposed by the Senedd.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Holyhead-Aberystwyth-Carmarthen-Cardiff Is the route in question and already the doubting voices have started. The same voices that scuppered the Old Great Central route as a alternative to HS2, too meandering forgetting that it was when built the fastest route from the North to London. It was also built with the shallowest curves anywhere on the then network. The same voices also tried to scupper the Scottish Borders Railway by saying that it would be a ‘white Elephant’, again how wrong they were. This railway needs to be extended through to Carlisle. It is just a pity that these voices do not visit Switzerland and other European countries to see how fast services on single tracked routes actually work.
Excellent film and commentary. Much research and hours of editing must have gone in to making such a fine piece of work. Well done. Regarding the reinstatement project, it is encouraging that the East/West railway is being rebuilt though clearly the Bedford-Cambridge element is very controversial and probably very expensive. That said, I wonder what the economics of the line would be without that being built.
First class video, professionally produced. Hope that reopening can take place. As an adventurous young trainspotter I got the train from Cambridge to Sandy and back. That was in 1963.
Should it have closed? Will it ever reopen? Let me know your thoughts below. Please *like* and *share* this film far and wide! Might you consider supporting my channel even more? www.buymeacoffee.com/rediscovering
Hunt's budget today says it's got the money and it's got the go ahead that's great news,
It should never have been closed. Infrastructure should never be ripped up. They should have mothballed it and kept it for future use.
Why oh why pay for a totally new route between Bedford and Cambridge when 80% or so of the original trackbed is intact? It has to be surely much cheaper to buy up the remaining 20% or so in private hands and you wouldn't have environmentalists complaining either.
@@ianhosier4042 between sandy and Cambridge some of the trackbed has been built on and at the Cambridge end there's a weard bus system built on the trackbed,
I can understand why it closed but I think it has become a more important route in the past 30 years.
Re-opening with less stations and a faster line would make it a competitive route again.
The closure of this line was a prime example of corporate insanity. It should never have been closed, but economies such as on board ticket issuing and selective station closures could have saved the line which provided important connections to the GWR, Midland and. Great Northern lines as well as connections to East Anglia. With a little bit of corporate savvy, it could be profitable and should be reinstated asap.
Many thanks for your thoughts 🙏
Viewed from Switzerland the closure of the Cambridge to Oxford line verged on insanity, and the resistance to its reopening equally insane
The closure was a pretty questionable act to be sure!
Bear in mind this is the country that voted for Brexit.
@@cameronallan5624 wtf had that got to do with it apart from the massive chip on your shoulder?
@@cameronallan5624 I blame covid lol
@@xr6lad Steady on old boy - our friend was trying to say that what is happening in the UK currently is anybody's guess. If voters could vote for Brexit then literally anything could happen. Like it seems to have done in the past. Incidentally how is Brexit going? Families 7% worse off over the next few years I am now waiting for someone to tell us that this is the same across Europe :-))
About 20 years ago I went from Oxford to Cambridge by train. It took me hours trailing through London and back again. Good lateral rail lines are desperately needed in the UK so that people can avoid having to either up to York or Down to London to go across the country.
Couldn't agree with you more!
Similarly Carmarthen to Aberystwyth. Currently you have to go via Shrewsbury.
It is a shame there is so much opposition to this project. The link between Cambridge and Oxford badly needs restoring. Great film once again, I really enjoyed seeing the archive film, please keep up the splendid work.
Many thanks indeed - Do share far and wide if you can!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I have already spread the word, you will have a few more subscribers 😁
It's amazing how much of the trackbed remains intact between Cambridge and Bedford. Hats off to the guys who preserved those stations and exciting to see progress on east west rail.
The track bed between Bedford and Cambridge is not being reused. The chosen route takes a much more southerly route so that the line will approach from the south via a new station south of Cambridge.
@@ds1868 seems so silly to make an entirely new route as it is far cheaper to buy up the 20% or so of the original trackbed in private hands. British rails real crime was selling the trackbed not closing the railway.
Many thanks for your thoughts - and agreed!
Another masterclass. Me and my son found a signal lamp in the undergrowth at Bedford at Johns. Found after 55 years in the undergrowth. It's restored and now sits in our living room
Thanks ever so much - and I saw the pictures of your discovery on FB and remain incredibly jealous! All these years out there making this films and I've found nothing!
I used that station back in the 80s - therefore that must be mine! 😂
This railway will greatly ease the burden on London, because East-West freight from Felixstowe to the Midlands will no longer need to thread its way through Stratford and occupy much needed slots on the North London line. This is such a common sense routing of such traffic flows that I'm surprised the viability question gets taken seriously. Non viable is not building it. However, I repeat my charge that not electrifying the railway from the start is gross negligence. Almost all the feeder lines are electrified already, so they are planning a hole in the network. What has changed since BR's shortsighted closure of the Varsity Line is mass containerisation of freight flows. Felixstowe is here a major facility. That wasn't the case in 1967. I believe that the phrase "east-west freight", which is standard railway parlance, gave the line its name anyway. Maybe there's a hint somewhere in that.
Thanks so much for your interesting remarks - agreed RE: electrifications and its viability as a goods route - here's hoping!
Once again, another fantastic and educational documentary! If, as a country, we are working towards a 'green future' then more of these kind of link lines need to be reopened or built. It is a shame the missing link is facing so much opposition, for Cambridge and the county of Cambridgeshire the railway would be highly beneficial.
Thanks ever so much indeed!
As the report from Westminster said NO economic case could be made .
Over to you to prove different.
@@jakestewart5812 nothing needs proving here, it is an exchange of ideas and opinions.
@@jakestewart5812The economic case based on the 'Cambridge Arc' did not include the case for freight. That is now a very important factor as the North London Line is now at capacity.
Lx0@@RediscoveringLostRailwaysf
Shouldn't have closed. Should definitely reopen.
Yes, I agree 👍
It had been living on borrowed time since the 1930s and during WW2 did its fortunes have an upturn. But by 1959 BR had decided they wanted to close the line.
Excellent coverage of past, present, and potential. Personally, to stop the railway at Bedford would be tragic enough; to truncate it at Bletchley/Milton Keynes would castrate the whole purpose of the original cross-party agreement to link Oxford with its wealth creative equal at Cambridge. Thus once again, money spent on a big,rational vision for UK research and its substantial industrial and employment prospects, not to mention literally amazing prospects for railways rather than roads to link East Anglia with the west and north of the country. And all without touching London! Do it guys and gals - however long it takes.
I share your thoughts and your enthusiasm! Really glad you enjoyed the film!
As someone who knew it well when it was open it was a travesty when it was closed. My great Uncle was station master and signalman at Blunham. I spent many many hours as a boy riding from Bedford St Johns to Blunham then watching the trains from his garden, passing the tokens to the drivers, and even sometimes riding on the footplate between Blunham and Beeston Mill the private siding. Uncle Walter and his sons Gordon and John were part of Blunham village life. Now sadly passed away but the many happy memories are still there. Won't reopen in my lifetime and not through the original trackbed in many places. False economy again. What a superb presentation. Thank you.
Many thanks for your kind words, but moreover you remarkable memories which were a delight to read.
Lovely to read such memories - echoes (if slight) of my own childhood. Thank you.
I think it’s a good idea to reopen the rails again, railroads and railways always play important roles!
Agreed 👍
The oppsisiom comes from a hanfull of loud peopl that are listened to by the media in reality they leave their UA-cam comments left off virtually nobody comments anyway. In reality when comments are aired virtually all can't wait for it to open especially those who want the section south to Aylesbury.
There are a lot of armchair pundits, but there are also many legitimate and well argued objections. So we'll just have to see who wins out...
It was really criminally short-sighted to close these rural railway lines. At a minimum they should have left the track-bed available for possible future use. Once a former trackbed is built over, the line can never be put back to use without great difficulty and expense. This was a marvellous video. The steam engine sounds whenever you show a photo of a steam train were a nice touch.
Thank you! If anyone has noticed the steam engine sounds, they've not yet mentioned it, so thanks for noticing - indeed, all the sound of the DMU is from a recording of me travelling on one some years ago!
Fantastic! Thank you. I really enjoyed this one but, I enjoy all your productions! It’s great to see these old lines coming back but there’s a long way to go to get back to where we were in 1904!!! Rather than waste money on expensive vanity projects like HS2 I would rather money go into reopening lost lines like this one.
I feel that this may be more useful than EWR but I have nothing to substantiate that other than my opinion. Really glad you enjoyed the film - do share far and wide if you can!
Superb video, a masterpiece and easily the best video on the Varsity Line by far!
As usual the research, filming, narration etc is way ahead of others.
I can only imagine the work and effort you put in over many hours, days and weeks.
So, thank you for all your efforts in producing this film.
A pleasure to watch.👏👍🙂
The many hours, days and weeks are all worthwhile when people such as yourself are so kind about my effort. Greatly appreciated - thank you - do share far and wide if you can!
Agree, wholeheartedly.
In the early 1960s I lived at Potton and could catch a train about 7:50 (IIRC) to Sandy where there was a connection to a train to London arriving at 9:30ish(?). In about 1964 the timing was altered to a later time which just missed the connection at Sandy and, after a long wait, one could not arrive in London until after 11:00. The only alternative was an early morning bus to Biggleswade and thence to London.
We complained, but were ignored by British Rail.
My house was only a few yards from the station with the railway at the end of my back garden.
Thanks for this video, it brought back many memories some good, some bad.
Thank you for sharing these memories 🙏
What a tremendously professional video, in terms of both delivery and content! It's completely engaging and I have learned much from it, thank you! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it! Do share far and wide if you can!
It seems pretty daft to cut travel links between the two most-major universities in the UK.
BR definitely screwed up freight aspects of The Modernisation Plan but the idea to have traffic avoid bottlenecking round North London was a good one.
Plenty of brownfield sites (ex-brickworks) along the Marston Vale line just waiting for redevelopment!
A slight correction: the Bletchley Flyover was not demolished. It has been upgraded/replaced during EWR construction which reused the existing earthworks and bridge pilings. The section directly above the WCML is new-build and has Aerial conductor rail running under it rather than traditional catenary wires.
Ideally, EWR would be opening with OHLE but if that made the cost difference to get it open at all I will accept that. It can be put in later.
I’ll close by saying “Death to Guided Busways!” (Even the inventor doesn’t recommend them any more).
Many thanks for your thoughts, comment and correction! Do share far and wide if you can!
The maintenance cost of the misguided busway is ridiculous - as for cycling and running alongside the buses - you're often at the height of the bus exhaust. It's too frightening for horses to use those paths. There have been deaths due to the lack of protection of pedestrians. It's an awful idea it needs ripping out and replacing with a proper railway that can handle incoming freight from Felixstowe.
When I played hooky I used to catch the train from Bletchley, the old station, to either Bow Brickhill or Woburn Sands so I could walk up into the woods that are part of the Duke of Bedford estate. The engine sheds and coach sheds in Bletchley were great playgrounds for us kids after they closed. Fenny Stratford station was always picturesque to me. I said before the house we lived in backed onto the line on its way to Oxford and I used to listen to the steam goods trains struggling with the slight incline. Happy days - Please list what music you use, your choice is perfect and warms my memories. Many thanks for these wonderful programmes.
Thanks ever so much for sharing your memories. As for the music, let me get that sorted and I'll put it in the description. Do share far and wide if you can!
The revised section from Sandy to Cambridge via the new town of Camborn built on the old airfield actually follows the route originally prposed in the 1840's.
I went on a special excursion in 1989 from Oxford to Bedford just b4 closure.
The section from Bedford to Cambridge I've explored on foot and by glider hired from nearby Gransden Lodge Airfield.
This section was extensively explored in 2021.
Good to see it reopening.
Yes, fingers crossed it works out!
Thank you for an expertly crafted documentary on the Varsity Line - its past and its reopening, in part, or - hopefully - in whole; albeit on a new route into Cambridge. Some wonderful archive footage, with an informative narrative and some thoughful considerations about its possible impact, not least on the environment. But then, what about the probably much greater impact of the projected E-W express road link? This has now been cancelled, but there is more than one way to get from A to B, e.g. by a series of major 'improvement' schemes.
My pleasure, thanks ever so much!
As someone who has driven from Peterborough to Oxford a few times (mainly because there isn't a rail route!) I can confirm that the road route isn't as bad as you might think. Once you are passed the roundabout nightmare of Milton Keynes (15 roundabouts in succession) the route is actually fairly quick.
This is an excellent production with a great voice over. Well done
Very kind of you to say so. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
Just ..... thank you and well done. I lived in Hitchin in the 60's. Travelled Hitchin to Bedford line. Rode Bedford to Bletchley, thanks to Ian Allan. I hope the disgruntled residence can be made to appreciate the WONDER that having a rail line as a neighbour, can bring
Glad you enjoyed it - do share far and wide if you can! And check out my film 'The Lost Main Line to London' which examines the Bedford to Hitchin line!
I'm old enough to have travelled along this line in the distant past - via Bletchley and Bedford - it took ages! The concept is a good one, allowing London to be avoided if travelling from the West Country to the North East - and, upgraded, the line would have been of far more use than HS2.
By all accounts it took a long time! How wonderful to have experienced that!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Born and brought up along the 'Gold Coast' - if you know where that was - my next door neighbour was the engine shed foreman at Didcot. My schoolteachers' husband was an engine driver. Guess where I spent all my spare time, how many footplates I rode upon, and just how many illicitic miles I rode without a ticket! I've fired (albeit badly) City of Truro, rather slower in those day than when going down the Somerset banks many years before. Coal? - we never bought any for our cottage, no-one minding if a little 'scrumping' took place at the local station - and the whole village (well, hamlet) was at it anyway.
Oh, with enough space, the tales I could tell you ....!
I think all disused railway lines should be turned into cycle tracks. Mainly as this would preserve the routes, which are usually the optimum way for rail to traverse the contours of the landscape. Once built upon or sold-off, bringing the trackbed back to use becomes far more complex.
Yes it would be a good idea in so many cases!
The problem is that the cycle-route operators are often then the leading objectors to re-opening...
@@nickbarber2080 still less of a hurdle to overcome than the route being totally lost to development and fragmented ownership. A route near me would be perfect for a cycle trail, but the local railway reinstatement group fiercely opposed it, for the same concern you raise. It's now been completely developed with housing and businesses. Any new rail link will now need to take a new alignment which will mean our town would not get a station.
@@shm5547 Yes,that is true.
Perhaps they should be converted to cycle routes on the understanding that this is a mothballing for possible eventual railway use...written into the contracts.
@@nickbarber2080 That would be a good option.
As someone from across the pond who knows nothing about England's rail history or current transportation policies, I found this an intriguing story--the final chapter of which is yet to be written. So glad this route was one of the "lost" lines covered in a previous video of yours, RLR, as the before-and-after footage provides wonderful contrasts in the rebuilding efforts. Highly professional work as always, worthy of broadcast on the History or Rediscovering, er, Discovery Channel. Thank you, RLR, for posting this quality presentation.
Really glad I had the old footage of the line in ruins to help compare with today. Thanks so much for your thoughts and kind words 🙏
It's good news the government said this line is to re open and have given them a budget to the line to Cambridge ,
All you need to know is that the British invented the railways and were the first to build them. The line between Oxford and Cambridge secured further funding today in the Chancellors autumn statement. The original budget of £5 billion will be over £6 billion due mainly to inflation, but the final figure will probably be higher. The story of Britain's railways can be summarised as foliows: Britain built the first railways and by the 1930s had the most comprehensive railway system in the world; in the 1950 and 60s the railways declined and the Beeching Report of 1965 led to the axing of over one third of the network, with more closures later on including this railway; and finally during this century a very slow reinvestment of the railways which has led to some notable achievements but still very much below what is needed.
@@ds1868 And to add to that, after the brutality of the B**ching Axe (remember this is a man who died wishing he'd closed MORE railways!) it's actually very hard to close a railway line in the UK now. As it should be, because they technically belong to us not private companies. Just like the railroad made America what it is the railways of the UK powered the industrial revolution (along with tea, obviously...). The US is only now waking up to what it calls High Speed Rail, which I believe is an average of around 71mph. Hmmm.
An excellent video. In May 1986 two friends and I stopped off at Verney Junction, en route to Aylesbury for football. We had a few excellent pints of Everards Tiger ale in the Verney Arms hotel. The odd Freightliner rumbling by. 20 years or so later, I visited Verney Junction and the hotel was a restaurant.
Wonderful memories - thanks for sharing!
I work for the company that maintains the railway. As a child I went to work with Dad at some weekends as he worked for BR. One weekend he was tasked to remove the bridge at Sandy that crossed the ECM. This varsity line should never have closed and the new one needs to follow the same route whatever it takes. 😊 I love this video. The accompanying music is very moving and represents a beautiful line.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful memories - such a shame it closed - the original route between Cambridge and Bedford made so much sense!
Fantastic video. If only television could be as interesting and informative as this. Many thanks.
Very kind of you to say so, thank you 😊
This was a lot of work. Well done Rediscovering Lost Railways
I didnt even realise 50 odd minutes had gomne by after watching this.
Brilliant work. keep it up.
So kind of you to say so - it was a labour of love -Do share far and wide if you can!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways already have 🙂
I used the Varsity line in 1965 when travelling from Cambridge to Oxford to see which university I might prefer. Innocent as I was then of transportation politics, I had no notion that this most useful connection would be severed only three years later. But not, I trust, forever. A very well-produced documentary with excellent commentary, though I would echo the comment about pejorative language -- the HS2 project, whatever you may think of its merits, is demonstrating the great lengths to which environmental concerns about new railway construction are accepted and addressed these days.
Many thanks for your kind words about my film and your memories - which did you choose in the end? As for so-called pejorative language, I would say this is not fair - that this railway and HS2 will 'devastate' natural habitats is a matter of fact, whether or not they create alternatives in mitigation.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Cambridge -- MA in Engineering
Absolutely superb presentation, must have taken forever to put together, very well done. With our ever burgeoning population and consequent crowded roads I think there is a need for more railways though whether or not the new folk of Britain will put their hands in the pockets to pay to use railways is another matter.
Very kind of you to say so - Do share far and wide if you can! As for the railways and their use - they are so expensive to travel on that it is becoming prohibitive!
This is really well done! I like the use of new/old/drone photos. Very professionally finished!
Very kind of you to say so. Do share far and wide if you can!
@31-42....glorious aerial view of Winslow railway b station...and notice
the dropping off frontage point and car park with trees in the middle.
It is a fine photo to be sure!
Many many lines closed weren't recommended by Beeching, Marples had the pier to override anything Beeching said.
Marples wife held his shares in Marples construction, he was a villan who eventually did a midnight runner overseas as he was a tax fraudster.
Yes, so I've heard...
Your content in your videos is of higher quality than what u see on any TV program. Keep up the good work . 👍
Very kind of you to say so, thank you 😊
I'm glad it looks like the line being rebuilt (and realigned where needed). Hopefully it'll run all the way to Cambridge, but it seems very shortsighted that it's not being upgraded with overhead electrification. By the time the corridor is complete, in any sensible world diesel traction (and certainly *new* diesel traction) would be untenable. At best, we'll have a halfway-house bodge job with battery-electric, with its requisite charging time and heavier, more resource-wasteful and slower-accelerating trains.
Agreed - failure to electrify this line from the start seems absurd.
Excellent video and fascinating - I used to explore the lines (disused) in N Buckinghamshire in the 90s when living in Buckingham - Verney Jct. was my favourite - I will have another look thanks to your film.
Wonderful. One of my early films concerns what remains of the Banbury Buckingham and Verney Junction line...
One of your best. Often in your presentations, abandoned plate layers huts feature. I wonder how those men felt when their day-to-day hard work and dedication in keeping the track maintained to such high standards was with a stroke of a pen closed, and the scrapers moved in and unceremoniously tore it up before their eyes. It must have been so devastating for them. At least you keep the memory alive of what once was and thank you. Peter, Melbourne, Australia
I've never thought of it that way. Thanks so much for your thoughts and kind words about my film.
Super video, lovely archive photos and films, great to see some new rail connections being made. Thank you.
Many thanks!
I hit the wrong button in error. i like this - I find this whole treatment of the East West Rail superbly thorough, and optimistic, but not fanciful. I'll try to follow the rail through
Really glad you enjoyed the film!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways so am I. I'm going to recommend it to others .
Excellent as always. Calm, great narrative voice, informative.
Thank you so much! Do share far and wide if you can!
Your videos are highly professional and make for engaging viewing. East west rail is vital and needs reopening in full with electrification. Passive provision all well and good, and I'd rather have the railway route built in full than a curtailed stump which stalls because feeble politicians use rising costs as an excuse to kill it off. Get the rails down to Cambridge, when it proves its worth (it will) then the fizzy knitting can be deployed.
Thank you so much! Do share far and wide if you can!
Thanks for this climps into the past but you have to admit it would make a wonderful heritage line when BR have finished with it in a few years time.
I agree with you! Steam and heritage diesel only!
Thank you for this excellent and thought-provoking update. Though I am very keen on seeing this Railway completed, it seems to me that the route from Bedford to Cambridge has not been properly thought through. The former alignment would seem to be more direct and less disruptive to communities and nature than the potential routes that you mention at the end of the video.
If the telescopes weren’t on the track bed, a case could be made for demolishing the busway to put the railway back (and I’d help swing the hammers).
Unfortunately the track bed has been built over at Sandy, and EWR doesn’t have legal power to compulsorily purchase the houses to demolish them.
Hence, a new route for Bedford-Cambs is required :(
My pleasure and thank you for your thoughts!
Agreed, the prospect of building over the old alignment is nil.
@@SportyMabamba Such a shame. Green field sites present a real obstacle in these environment driven days, mostly for good reason.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways never nil-the old alignment is better- in so mqany ways-and could yet prove more cost effective !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I lived in Sandy for a few months in 1976 and I think it was then that the bridge over the ECML was taken down. Sandy Upper school had been built on the trackbed and I picked blackberries on the embankment between there and the site of the bridge. As there was no cylceway I had to ride to Bedford by road, but did walk some way along the route.
Wonderful memories, thanks for sharing 👍
this line should never have been shut
That's my feeling too - and I don't feel that about every closed line.
Thank you for all you work. I really enjoyed it.
My pleasure 🙏
It's so nice to see the Oxford swing Bridge fully operational and restored 👍 great video
Many thanks indeed
Indeed, I believe it is a listed structure.
it is just checked. 👍
“There was once…a railway”
**Goosebumps**
PS another masterpiece!
Very kind of you to say so - do share far and wide if you can!
I've been eagerly waiting for this for a while, can't wait to watch it!
I hope it lives up to expectations!
The line should never have closed but it is important that it is now fully rebuilt and during construction should be electrified throughout its entire route. An excellent video thank you.
Fingers crossed 🤞 and many thanks!
Really well made documentary ! Thoroughly enjoyed it 😊
Many thanks indeed 🙏
Funny how the money and will can be found to start rebuilding this line yet the famous Morpeth curve with a speed limit of 50 mph on the east coast main line is still waiting for a diversion line skirting morpeth some 145 years after it was first suggested after the first train derailment that happened there followed by 3 more derailments since.
Many thanks for your thoughts
I used this line from Bletchley in 1954 to get to a (sadly unsuccessful) interview for Fitzwilliam House (as it was then).
To anyone with even a remote interest in the efficient transport of people and goods, it is hard to look at a map of the British railway sysytem in the early 1960s without crying.
Many thanks for your thoughts and memories 🙏
Looks like Mr Hunt got one thing right yesterday when he committed to finishing this railway line. How it was ever considered for closure defies belief really. Sad thing is its not electrified the benefits that would bring to the country would have been enormous.
Agreed - not electrifying it is quite mad. I would like to think this railway might be completed, but I'm not going to hold my breath!
Superb research and footage. We are still waiting to see if they will include the Aylesbury link or not
Glad you enjoyed it - do share far and wide if you can! I heard this link is not going to be established, but I stand to be corrected...
Being brought up in Gamlingay, before, during and after the closure of the Varsity line, this brought back many memories for which I thank you. You mention the line crossing the road "on the level" as it leaves Gamlingay for Potton. It was in fact that the road crossed the rails via an overbridge which has long since been demolished - an occurence I can remember well.
Thanks for pointing this out! Just goes to show that one can put in hours and hours of research and let such things slip through the net! Really glad you enjoyed the film nevertheless!
What a great video, thank you for all the work you have put into this.
Thank you. It was my pleasure to put this together!
I think this is video number 43. In my opinion, the very best so far. Absolutely brilliantly made. Full of history about the past. Superb information about the present and now the future of a fascinating railway line. This video is very professionaly made. Your camera work, drone footage and commentary make this video exceptional.
Your kind remarks make the effort worthwhile, they really mean a lot. Thank you indeed.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Just brilliant - I think your relaxed style of commentary, added to the perfect choices of music, are a lesson in making a documentary that lives and breathes! Well Done again Sir!
Most interesting and well made documentary. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it! Do share far and wide if you can!
There so much opposition to new railways I don’t understand. People seem to go wild over it. Never mind that it’s cleaner and better for our environment overall. Yet new roads that do actual and continual devastation are built MONTHLY
There's something of a paradox here to be sure!
Very well done indeed. Progress would be seriously made by pushing for a complete route restoration to Cambridge despite the local opposition
I'd love to see the whole thing done - fingers crossed!
Excellent and well-informed commentary. It is a difficult planning problem to substantiate completion of this line, building a new railway where none existed. The suggestion of an alternative route approaching Cambridge from the North appears to have much in its favour - and much less opposition. So your commentary leaves me with much thought - we shall see how it evolves!
Really glad you enjoyed the film, thank you
Another outstanding upload, thank-you.
You're very kind, thank you
Another great video. Honestly I don’t see why people don’t want this to happen. Most of the route is literally not even built over and nearly all of the original station buildings survive and are restored. Most houses wouldn’t even be affected with the only ones being are mainly the old station building that have been turned into houses. Anyway keep up the great work!!
Glad you enjoyed it! Do share far and wide if you can!
Another wonderful documentary. Your drone footage is beautiful.
Thank you! This was such a joy to make!
Glad you are back! Super stuff. Yes, it should re open and link again with main lines. Fewer cars choking country roads. The only worry is it will encourage more nasty housing estates being built. Will it mean getting rid of the useless guided bus way?
Good to be back! I'd like to think it may make train travel a more viable option, but ticket prices are making this a rich person's mode of transport. As for the guided busway...a railway it aint!
Another quite splendid video! You raised the question of whether post-pandemic home working might negate some of the arguments for the line. I would like to suggest this may be a short-term "blip" and given the sheer quantity of new and proposed housing around Cambridge (and I assume Oxford) the timing of the line's reinstatement may be quite providential. I have noticed in recent months that the GN trains between Ely & Cambridge are back to a healthy capacity after a few years of near-empty carriages, and that's even after the doubling the units from 4 to 8!
I would hope that there is a trend away from working from home where possible. Really glad you enjoyed the film - Do share far and wide if you can!
Agree. I know many drifting back into the office as being at home alone, not having a laugh or chat with work colleagues does start to pale. Although I think that flexibility will remain to some extent, in my case we are expecting to come in for 2-3 days and can work the rest from home but I know many that do more than that. In my case it’s nice sitting at a proper desk with decent monitors at work than my desk at home with not the best setup. Training a new person remotely is also a pain.
Thank you for publishing this excellent video.
It's my pleasure - Do share far and wide if you can!
As always a excellent presentation, I remember a spur of track still heading east by the bus garage in Bedford in the early 70’s . I walked the section heading east at Cambridge before the mis guided bus was was put in as well, in fact I then walked the track bed to St Ives another lost opportunity,
Thank you so much! Do share far and wide if you can!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Of course
Outstanding.
Many thanks indeed! Do share far and wide if you can!
This is a superb piece of work. Thank you for going to such efforts to bring us footage which - even that from 2018 - is now firmly in the 'history' pile. Bravo!
Brilliant idea to use cab veiws for the restricted or missing parts of the track.
I was very lucky to be granted permission to use this footage - such a boon to the film
Great video! I get the feeling this takes time but I feel the effort put into all those different shots, the voice-over describing what we see and the lovely music.
Glad you enjoyed it! Do share far and wide if you can! It takes a long time to put together, but it is a labour of love and I'm in no hurry!
In my very humble opinion there are two very iconic historic railway lines in Britain, "the Summerset and Dorset line" now long gone and this one the subject of this video presentation. Its great to see that at least an effort is being made to partly rebuild this new "Oxford to Cambridge line". When completed I will undoubtedly make a positive effort to travel upon it. Great presentation and very well explained! Thank You to all concerned!!
My pleasure. Do see my film 'England's Best Loved Lost Railway: The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway'
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Yes I did watch that film and I enjoyed it very much indeed. Such an iconic railway line should never ever have been closed and dismantled!!!!!!
Another excellent film from you, will be sharing on my local railway group via Facebook.
I’ve paid a lot of interest in the EWR over the last six months, and it’s looking like it’s coming on well between Bicester and Bletchley
Thanks so much Neil and I have enjoyed watching your videos on the subject - keep it up and thank you for sharing my film!
The electrified East West Line between Sheffield and Doncaster was similarly not closed by Beeching, but by BR. This line needs to be reopened to improve cross counry connectivity between Grimsby, Doncaster, Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool.
Many thanks for your thoughts 🙏
I'm from Bedford & remember the operating old line as I lived right next to the st Leonards avenue station Bedford as a young kid. I also remember it went over Cardington Road via a bridge which has now been replaced by a level crossing ( now unused) which led to sandy. So I would love to see it restored. But the present climate in the UK makes me believe it could be after my life on this planet. (I'm 65 years old)
Many thanks for your memories and thoughts 🙏
Relentlessly brilliant channel!
You are very kind - thank you so much!
A great interesting documentary once again, thoroughly enjoyed it finding out the history of this line, it’s great news that it is being resurrected, it’s puzzling why a line that connected two university cities should close, one would think this would be an advantage to retain such a line!
Equally puzzling is the certain amount of opposition to the reopening! But then historically there has always been and always will opposition and grumbling to things that will benefit the majority but displease the minority, you can’t please everybody!
Thanks for your research and hard work sir, I always enjoy your videos, looking forwards to the next one.
Thanks for your thoughts, comment and very kind remarks about my film - Do share far and wide if you can!
I cannot comment on the business case for re-opening/building new, but well done for producing such an excellent video which describes the route as was and as will be so concisely.
Thank you for that great compliment, it means a lot 😊
Many thanks for this excellent video, this line is of great interest as I used to live in Bicester in the early 1970s.
Fascinating railways round those parts!
VERY WELL DONE. So much appreciated seeing the changes since, as children, my brother and I travelled to and from Bletchley and Buckingham. Before our family emigrated to New Zealand in 1961. WOW.
Glad you enjoyed it - do share far and wide if you can!
Superb ...your best yet 👏👌
High quality documentary ...could have been made by a major network ...it's that good...
Very interesting to me as Cambridge, Sandy, Bedford and Bletchley and Oxford were regular haunts for me as a young rail enthusiast..
So nice of you to say so - I'm glad it did justice to your memories of this line!
More excellent work. I particularly liked your even handed approach to the controversy in your narration and the wonderful use of the background music. Thanks again.
Thank you very much indeed for your kind remarks - definitely did not want to get into a pointless online slog by appearing partisan!
I used to live in Crossing Cottage at Sandy, now in Potton not to far from the old station house, it’s brilliant seeing this footage of how the railway used to run.
Great footage isn't it! Seems like you're making your way along the line...Gamlingay next?
A well-made and enjoyable film
Many many thanks indeed!
Excellent and very informative video. I think it should reopen, especially in view of the climate issues.
Thank you so much! Do share far and wide if you can!
Fascinating. Thank you..
My pleasure!
Excellent - thanks for making this, it must have taken a great deal of effort. My one minor criticism is not enough maps! I got a bit confused en route, especially at the end when I suddenly discovered the proposed line was taking an entirely different route - odd when you showed us how well preserved much of the old line is. I would love to have seen a map comparing the two routes - and some discussion on the reason for a new route, and the pros and cons of all three routes.
After a lifetime (I'm nearly 70) of seeing lines and stations closed, and mooching about trying to find what's left, it's quite amazing to see old lines being reopened and even new lines being built. But at what cost? I realise engineering standards have changed, but surely more of the old infrastructure could have been reused? If railway building is to cost this much, I can't see there being too much of it, especially at the moment.
As for the completion of the the line into Cambridge, i would love to see it happen, but I fear it will go the way of the Cambridge trams. Unless there is a freight justification for such an east-west link, or some other strategic railway reason, I can't see there being enough traffic to justify the expense of building an entirely new line into Cambridge. The 'Varsity' connection is a nice romantic idea, but will there really be a lot of students and academics needing to travel from one university to another?!
Thanks for your thoughts, comment and memories. As for maps, I initially included them, but they slowed the pace down adversely and elongated an already long film as a consequence, so they had to go. However, lots of maps are online showing the new routes that are planned so do check them out!
Excellent video thanks
My pleasure thank you 😊
What an excellent presentation. Thank you.
Thank you so much! Do share far and wide if you can!
Really enjoyed that, the Cambridge guided bus route was lobbied to re-open existing rail line but council was hell bent on guided bus route, I am led to believe in the end it would have been cheaper to upgrade the existing rail line
Glad you enjoyed it! Do share far and wide if you can! As for the guided busway, it is obviously well-used and many rely on it, but I just prefer trains!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways They tried to remove platform canopy at Histon station, wrong move as listed, council had to restore it
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Nothing like as well used as a railway line would be, and no option for freight traffic either.
There was once a railway that linked north to south wales routing completely within Wales. This railway once linked all the universities in Wales. This routes trackbed still exists and reopening is being actively proposed by the Senedd.
Which line is this?
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Holyhead-Aberystwyth-Carmarthen-Cardiff
Is the route in question and already the doubting voices have started. The same voices that scuppered the Old Great Central route as a alternative to HS2, too meandering forgetting that it was when built the fastest route from the North to London. It was also built with the shallowest curves anywhere on the then network.
The same voices also tried to scupper the Scottish Borders Railway by saying that it would be a ‘white Elephant’, again how wrong they were. This railway needs to be extended through to Carlisle.
It is just a pity that these voices do not visit Switzerland and other European countries to see how fast services on single tracked routes actually work.
Excellent film and commentary. Much research and hours of editing must have gone in to making such a fine piece of work. Well done. Regarding the reinstatement project, it is encouraging that the East/West railway is being rebuilt though clearly the Bedford-Cambridge element is very controversial and probably very expensive. That said, I wonder what the economics of the line would be without that being built.
Yes, it took a very long time to put this film together, but it was a real labour of love. Many thanks indeed for your kind remarks.
Happy Thanksgiving from America!!
And to you sir!
First class video, professionally produced. Hope that reopening can take place. As an adventurous young trainspotter I got the train from Cambridge to Sandy and back. That was in 1963.
Thank you so much! Do share far and wide if you can!