Milton Keynes Central railway station

Milton Keynes Central Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Borough of Milton Keynes
Owned by	Network Rail
Managed by	London Midland
Platforms	7 (numbered 1–2, 2A, 3–6)
Other information
Station code	MKC
History
Opened	17 May 1982

Milton Keynes Central railway station serves Central Milton Keynes and the surrounding area of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The station is located on the West Coast Main Line between the stations of Bletchley and Wolverton, both of which are also within Milton Keynes. The station is served by Virgin Trains inter-city services and by London Midland local services. Also, Southern provide services to South Croydon via West London. Ticket Gates are in operation.

This station is one of the five stations serving Milton Keynes. The others are Wolverton (north Milton Keynes), Bletchley (south Milton Keynes), Fenny Stratford (also south Milton Keynes) and Bow Brickhill (south-east Milton Keynes). In addition, Woburn Sands railway station is just outside the Milton Keynes boundary and serves the south-east of the Borough. Milton Keynes Central, which opened on 17 May 1982, 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

Opening

The station was opened in 1982 to serve the new town of Milton Keynes. Before it opened, Bletchley was the nearest station served by British Rail InterCity services.

2006–08 developments

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

Looking south from Milton Keynes Central, showing the bay platform 2A and the track on the left, which leads into platform 1 under the bridge. The bridge in the middle distance carries H6 Childs Way.

In May 2006, the Department of Transport announced a plan to upgrade the station. 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 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 2014, a direct service between Bedford and Milton Keynes is not in any published plan, being overtaken by later events (see next).

Future

Main article: East West Rail Link

The Department for Transport has approved (November 2011) reopening of the western section of the former Varsity Line from Oxford, with services via Bletchley and the WCML to Milton Keynes Central. This will provide direct services between Milton Keynes and Reading via Oxford, and between Milton Keynes and London Marylebone via Aylesbury/High Wycombe.

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 frequently used by terminating services from London Euston and East Croydon, whilst platform 5 is used mainly by the London Midland service to Crewe. Platform 2A is a five-car south-facing bay platform built for the extension of Marston Vale Line services into Milton Keynes Central. The platform will also be used for Varsity Line services to Oxford and Aylesbury from 2017 (see 'Future Services' below). To the north of the station the six lines reduce to four (two slow and two fast), whilst there is a mile of five-track running to the south before this also reduces back to four.

Local facilities and interchange

The main building of station photographed from platform 1

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 Central Milton Keynes). Taxi and minicab services operate to left and right of the main entrance.

The station is the terminus or key intermediate destination for many bus services; almost all intra-city buses 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 Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre and Milton Keynes Theatre (for theatre district and Xscape). There is a public toilet in this area.

Stagecoach operate four major long-distance routes from here. Their 99 coach route runs to Luton Airport via Luton railway station, providing a direct link between the West Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line. Their X5 coach route between Oxford and Cambridge stops here and their X4 and X7 interurban bus routes to Northampton, Leicester and Peterborough also call. Arriva the Shires and Essex also operate route 150 to Aylesbury, via Leighton Buzzard, which terminates at the station. For National Express coach services, see Milton Keynes Coachway.

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

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 (now the Buszy youth centre).

Services

A London Midland class 350 standing at platform 2 after having terminated with a service from London. This will form one of the two trains an hour which start from Milton Keynes Central when it returns to London.

London Midland

Milton Keynes Central is a principal stop on London Midland's services from Birmingham New Street to London and from Crewe to London Euston. All London-bound trains run to and from Euston, a few services run non-stop to Watford Junction then call at Euston, others have a more intermittent stopping pattern. A few peak services to and from Euston run non-stop. Northbound, London Midland's services operate to and from Northampton, Rugby, Birmingham New Street, Crewe and Coventry . There are four departures per hour to London Euston on a weekday, and three departures per hour to the north.

Before Milton Keynes Central was built. The WCML near Loughton Siding signal box in 1957

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 some extending to Bangor and Holyhead for ferry connections to Dun Laoghaire or to Dublin Port). Additional services operate in the mornings and evenings to Liverpool Lime Street, Preston/Glasgow Central via the Trent Valley line and to Wolverhampton.

Southern Trains

Since 2009 Milton Keynes has also been served by Southern, who provide an hourly service to South Croydon, running via west London and connecting with services to Brighton. Across the three operators, six trains per hour head north and nine south from the station.

Future services

From 2019, services will operate over the East West Rail Link westwards via Winslow to Aylesbury, High Wycombe and London Marylebone and to Bicester Town, Oxford and Reading.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Rugby		London Midland London — Crewe		London Euston
Wolverton		London Midland West Coast Main Line		Bletchley
Coventry or Rugby		Virgin Trains WCML West Midlands Route		London Euston or Watford Junction
Stoke on Trent or Crewe		Virgin Trains WCML Manchester Route		London Euston or Watford Junction
Crewe		Virgin Trains WCML North Wales Route		London Euston
Terminus		Virgin Trains London Euston-Milton Keynes Central		Tring
Terminus		Southern Milton Keynes Central — South Croydon		Bletchley
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Terminus		East West Rail Link Milton Keynes Central — Oxford and Reading		Bletchley
Terminus		East West Rail Link, London — Aylesbury Milton Keynes Central — London Marylebone		Bletchley

Location

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Milton Keynes Central

The station is to the west of Central Milton Keynes, near the junction of the A5 with the A509.

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.

External links

• Train times and station information for Milton Keynes Central railway station from National Rail
• Pendolino rounds Wolverton bend before coming to a stop at Milton Keynes Central