Millbrook railway station (Bedfordshire)

Millbrook
General information
Location	Millbrook, Central Bedfordshire England
Coordinates	52°03′14″N 0°32′02″W / 52.0538°N 0.5338°W / 52.0538; -0.5338
Grid reference	TL007405
Managed by	London Northwestern Railway
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	MLB
Classification	DfT category F2
Key dates
17 November 1846	Opened as Marston
March 1847	Renamed Ampthill
January 1850	Renamed Ampthill (Marston)
March 1877	Renamed Millbrook for Ampthill
1 July 1910	Renamed Millbrook[1]
3 August 1964	Goods services withdrawn
15 July 1968	Became unstaffed[2]
Passengers
2018/19	12,504
2019/20	12,250
2020/21	1,042
2021/22	3,618
2022/23	6,566
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Millbrook railway station serves the villages of Millbrook and Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire, England. It is on the Marston Vale Line, between Stewartby and Lidlington. Millbrook is also the principal stop for the Marston Vale Millennium Country Park.

It was the least used station in Bedfordshire during the 2020/21 period.^[3]

First opened in 1846 by the Bedford Railway, the station was originally named "Marston", but changed to "Ampthill (Marston)" in 1850 after the nearby village. The opening of a second and more conveniently-sited Ampthill station by the Midland Railway in 1868 on its Midland Main Line gave rise to confusion which was only resolved in 1877 when the original Ampthill station was renamed "Millbrook for Ampthill". The station is the fourth and final on the Marston Vale Line to be built in a half-timbered Gothic Revival style that had been insisted upon by the 7th Duke of Bedford for stations situated in the vicinity of the Woburn Estate. The two station platforms are east of a level crossing.^[4]

The station developed substantial coal traffic, as well as trade in cattle and goods with stables in its goods yard and a wagon repairers. A public house called the Morteyne Arms opened opposite the station. Traffic increased still further with the development of the brick industry in the area; a siding was opened on 7 May 1928 to cater for the trade in bricks, the towers of the Millbrook Brick Company could be seen from the station.^[5] The brick traffic peaked in the 1930s, with a second brickworks called "Marston Moretaine" being opened a mile from the station; although it was too far for a siding, bricks were transported by road to the station where they were loaded on to rail wagons.^[6]

The station, whose name was changed to "Millbrook" in 1910, was reduced to an unstaffed halt in 1968, having lost its formerly substantial goods facilities four years previously.^[2] The station building was restored in the early 1980s and converted into a private residence. In 1999, the low station platforms – the last of their type remaining on the line – were rebuilt to the standard height appropriate to modern trains.^[7]

In 2021, a bench in memory of Captain Tom Moore was unveiled on the station platform.^[8]

All services at Millbrook are operated by London Northwestern Railway.

The typical off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between Bletchley and Bedford which runs on weekdays and Saturdays only using Class 150 DMUs. There is no Sunday service.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Lidlington		London Northwestern Railway Bletchley - Bedford Marston Vale line Mondays-Saturdays only		Stewartby

• Simpson, Bill (1981). Oxford to Cambridge Railway. Vol. 2. Poole: Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 0-86093-121-8.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Millbrook (Bedfordshire) railway station.

• Train times and station information for Millbrook railway station (Bedfordshire) from National Rail
• Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1321648)". National Heritage List for England.
• Station on navigable 1946 O.S. map.