Bedford St Johns is one of two railway stations in Bedford in Bedfordshire, England, on the Marston Vale Line linking and . It is unstaffed and is operated by London Northwestern Railway. St Johns was Bedford's first station, on the Varsity Line (the original Oxford to Cambridge line). Its role diminished following the closure of that line, leaving it with a truncated route to Bletchley. British Rail closed the original station on 14 May 1984 and diverted services from Bletchley along a new chord line (on which the current St Johns station is now situated) to Bedford Midland station when a new bay platform was opened. Services The station is served by London Northwestern Railway local services from Bletchley to Bedford via the Marston Vale Line, using Class 230 multiple units. Monday to Saturdays, there is generally an hourly service to Bletchley (westbound) and to Bedford Midland (eastbound) with no Sunday service. Community Rail Partnership In common with others on the Marston Vale Line, the station is covered by the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership, which aims to increase use of the line by involving local people. History Opening The station was opened in November 1846 by the Bedford Railway as the eastern terminus of its line from Bletchley, the first line to reach the town. The station was on the west side of the A600 London Road (), with the main station buildings on the south side of the line facing the public house. The goods yard was further west nearer the River Great Ouse to receive river traffic. A second connecting line to the goods yard created a triangle which diverted drainage to produce a pond which supplied the station and small two-road locomotive shed. 1875 accident A second station was opened in Bedford in 1857 on the Midland Railway's to line. The route chosen by the Midland took it across the earlier line at a point near the Bletchley end of the triangle, and a level crossing was built. In March 1875, a Midland passenger train collided with the rear coaches of a Bedford service, killing one passenger and injuring four others. The subsequent enquiry identified a badly-positioned Bedford starter signal as a major cause of the accident. To remedy the problem a 29-lever signal box was opened in 1877 to control new interlocked signals, and block signalling was introduced throughout the Bedford line, which had been