►►Bedford to Sandy walk, led by MP Richard Fuller, centre, with Transport 2000’s Stephen Joseph, left, and MP Iain Stewart ◀◀

MPs Iain Stewart and Richard Fuller joined rail campaigners for a rally and walk between Bedford and Sandy on Saturday 29 June 2013 to show their support for the reintroduction of a rail link between Bedford and Cambridge.

The event was organised by Railfuture and the Campaign for Better Transport following the Government go-ahead for the reopening of the East West Rail link between Oxford and Bedford, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes.

This western section is expected to reopen for train services in 2017.

The Bedford-Cambridge section of the former Varsity line between Oxford and Cambridge closed to passenger services in 1967. Sections of track have been dismantled but much of the alignment survives.

Iain Stewart, MP for Milton Keynes South, said: “The western section is forecast to create 12,000 jobs in the region. I am a strong supporter of extending it eastwards from Bedford towards Cambridge and into East Anglia where many more jobs would be generated. It would link the country’s main science and research centres.”

Richard Fuller, MP for Bedford, said: “We now want to see the Government take the next step and make that link to Cambridge.”

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