Bedford makes shortlist in public vote to find Britain’s favourite railway station

Bedford people are being urged to get behind their train station this week as it competes in an online poll to be crowned winner of the 2020 World Cup of Stations.

48 stations, large and small, representing each region of the country, will compete in a series of online polls starting this week. By Friday, the competition will have been whittled down to a final four with one of Britain’s 2,579 railway stations named the nation’s favourite on Friday evening.

Robert Nisbet, director of Nations and Regions for the Rail Delivery Group, which is organising the competition, said: “The World Cup of Stations is about celebrating the thousands of stations across the country.

"It’s also about recognising the friendly local faces who have kept key workers moving throughout the pandemic.”

The Midland Road station at Bedford has an intensive cleaning regime, encourages face-covering, as well as social distance surgeries (in collaboration with Sustrans and the British Transport Police).

The team has also been supporting the wider community, setting up a collection point for foodbanks, decorating the station with schoolchildren’s lockdown artwork, and completing a 50-kilometre cycle and walking challenge which raised £1,600 for Autism Bedfordshire.

Post-match analysis will take place at the end of each day of voting in the World Cup, led by a bevy of railway experts and station enthusiasts.