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Potential New Universal UK Park

I think people need to understand that 40% doesn't mean a 40% chance that they personally would get the train to Universal Studios UK. It just isn't doable with rail infrastructure as fragmented and expensive as ours.

It's probable that a majority won't find it sensible to catch the train, let's say, 60% of people?
 
This is why I think linking to Milton Keynes as well as Bedford would be a good idea. With Bedford, you get Thameslink and the Midland Main Line, which goes to Sheffield, but Milton Keynes would give you the West Coast Main Line and London Euston, as well as an easy interchange at Birmingham New Street to make things easier for a great many more!

In terms of some of the examples mentioned in here; Manchester has a direct rail link to Milton Keynes, as does Birmingham, Liverpool and a number of towns and cities headed right up into Scotland.

A great many others who are directly connected to Birmingham New Street (myself included!) could also reduce their journey to 1 change!
 
jibbsie said:
it would be very cool if they were to get a steam train and have a hogwarts train from london, although it would probably be very expensive to run and require all the beurocracy of the rail industry.
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It would be very expensive because it'd require building an entire new line all the way to London just to fit even an extra train every hour onto the timetable, let alone a steam train
 
So basically what we've learnt is nothing new. Live in the south east, get convenient, regular, affordable and cheap rail travel with posh rolling stock on well maintained and modern rail infrastructure, no matter where you want to go (rumour has it, some of those services actually turn up on time and have enough seats to sit on!). For the rest of us, 40 year old slow and late diesels, with multiple changes for £200 return with inconvenient timetables.

I'm sure the proposed location will support 40% public transport usage. The South East is a big place. This isn't being designed primarily around the non-local domestic market, it's being designed to rake in cash from Londoners and foreign tourists. In fact, it's very feasibility as a proposal realies on it. The 60% of us that remain will just hand our cash over to them and drive anyway. I'm sure they'll accommodate for that with parking and road improvements.

Propaganda to butter up government agencies is always full of buzz phrases like "sustainability", or "job creation", "infrastructure enhancements" and "supporting the local community". It's just planning officer porn really.
 
dave___ said:
From my local station Huddersfield with two adults and two children it's £282. That's three changes, setting off at 745am and getting to Bedford just before 1pm.

Think I would be taking the car.. anyone not on the direct rail link doesn't stand a chance in this country the way rail fares are structured.
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Not a lot different to me from Manchester.

Had a quick check for Birmingham which is a lot closer (79 miles away from Bedford). Similar story. 1/2 changes required depending on time of day. Takes about 90 mins which for that relatively short distance isn't fast.

I understand they want to attract tourists from London so Bedford is is the ideal location. I just think they might be over estimating just how affordable and connected our railway lines actually are.

If you're coming from East Anglia or the South West also you'd probably have to go via London. It gets very pricey also.

There is no real reason why our trains should be so expensive though. I have travelled across Europe by train for less than a last minute peak train from Manchester to London. It's quite honestly ridiculous.
 
Benjsh said:
Had a quick check for Birmingham which is a lot closer (79 miles away from Bedford). Similar story. 1/2 changes required depending on time of day. Takes about 90 mins which for that relatively short distance isn't fast.
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I thought there were relatively quick direct services between Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly via the West Coast Main Line?
 
Matt N said:
This is why I think linking to Milton Keynes as well as Bedford would be a good idea. With Bedford, you get Thameslink and the Midland Main Line, which goes to Sheffield, but Milton Keynes would give you the West Coast Main Line and London Euston, as well as an easy interchange at Birmingham New Street to make things easier for a great many more!

In terms of some of the examples mentioned in here; Manchester has a direct rail link to Milton Keynes, as does Birmingham, Liverpool and a number of towns and cities headed right up into Scotland.

A great many others who are directly connected to Birmingham New Street (myself included!) could also reduce their journey to 1 change!
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Marston Vale line/EWR does connect with Bletchley (South Milton Keynes) on the West Coast Mainline for services to London Euston and Birmingham New Street (on LNWR) problem getting to Milton Keynes Central is it would require an East to North Curve from the Marston Vale to WCML which currently doesn't exist and there isn't room to build one without knocking down a bunch of local businesses, I think more likely would be better connections at Bletchley (maybe Avanti stopping there) over that curve being built
 
pjanvil said:
Marston Vale line/EWR does connect with Bletchley (South Milton Keynes) on the West Coast Mainline for services to London Euston and Birmingham New Street (on LNWR) problem getting to Milton Keynes Central is it would require an East to North Curve from the Marston Vale to WCML which currently doesn't exist and there isn't room to build one without knocking down a bunch of local businesses, I think more likely would be better connections at Bletchley (maybe Avanti stopping there) over that curve being built
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Sorry, I should have clarified; I didn’t necessarily mean linking to Milton Keynes via train.

I meant more in terms of Universal providing some sort of transport (e.g. a bus) from Milton Keynes Central.
 
Matt N said:
Sorry, I should have clarified; I didn’t necessarily mean linking to Milton Keynes via train.

I meant more in terms of Universal providing some sort of transport (e.g. a bus) from Milton Keynes Central.
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I think that'll be the plan - I used to live in MK and work very near the proposed site, and it takes about 20 minutes which isn't terrible. If they ran regular buses from the station I could see that being a viable plan. I imagine they'll also figure out some other P&R solutions.
 
Looking at TrainLine, I really think that some kind of bus link to Milton Keynes Central will be a vital piece of the puzzle if they want to encourage public transport use for the wider country. Many of the largest cities in the UK are much more easily connected to Milton Keynes by train than Bedford. If I pick Saturday 20th April at 7am as an example:
Manchester
  • Manchester Piccadilly-Bedford: ~3h 10m, 2 or 3 changes, cheapest train return £95 per person
  • Manchester Piccadilly-Milton Keynes Central: ~1h 40m, 0 changes, cheapest train return £79 per person
Liverpool
  • Liverpool Lime Street-Bedford: ~2h 45m, 2 or 3 changes, cheapest train return £100 per person
  • Liverpool Lime Street-Milton Keynes Central: ~1h 45m, 0 changes, cheapest train return £85 per person
Birmingham
  • Birmingham New Street-Bedford: ~2h 20m, 2 or 3 changes, cheapest train return £30 per person
  • Birmingham New Street-Milton Keynes Central: ~55m, 0 changes, cheapest train return £28 per person
Bristol
  • Bristol Temple Meads-Bedford: ~3h 20m, 2 or 3 changes, cheapest train return £89 per person
  • Bristol Temple Meads-Milton Keynes Central: ~2h 40m, 1 or 2 changes, cheapest train return £89 per person
Cardiff
  • Cardiff Central-Bedford: ~3h 40m, 2 changes, cheapest train return £113 per person
  • Cardiff Central-Milton Keynes Central: ~3h 30m, 1-3 changes, cheapest train return £92 per person
Sheffield
  • Sheffield-Bedford: ~2h 10m, 2 changes, cheapest train return £61 per person
  • Sheffield-Milton Keynes Central: ~1h 50m, 1 or 2 changes, cheapest train return £99 per person
Leeds
  • Leeds-Bedford: ~3h, 2 or 3 changes, cheapest train return £96 per person
  • Leeds-Milton Keynes Central: ~2h 40m, 1 or 2 changes, cheapest train return £131 per person
Glasgow
  • Glasgow Central-Bedford: ~5h 45m, 2-4 changes, cheapest train return £174 per person
  • Glasgow Central-Milton Keynes Central: ~5h 20m, 0-2 changes, cheapest train return £136 per person
Edinburgh
  • Edinburgh Waverley-Bedford: ~5h 30m, 2-4 changes, cheapest train return unknown
  • Edinburgh Waverley-Milton Keynes Central: ~5h 20m, 0-2 changes, cheapest train return £115 per person
Southampton
  • Southampton Central-Bedford: ~3h, 2 or 3 changes, cheapest train return £69 per person
  • Southampton Central-Milton Keynes Central: ~2h 50m, 2 changes, cheapest train return £86 per person
London
  • London St Pancras-Bedford: ~30m, 0 changes, cheapest train return £19 per person
  • London Euston-Milton Keynes Central: ~30m, 0 changes, cheapest train return £17 per person
For quite a number of cities, it is cheaper and/or quicker to get to Milton Keynes Central than Bedford. So an additional transport link to Milton Keynes would make public transport more compelling for a great number of people.
 
"London" is a stupidly big place. It would take me twice as long to get from my gaff to the centre of town, than it would to get from there to this park. Thus it would still be quicker to drive. The London rail connection is only going to be good for tourists, not actual Londoners.
 
Worth mentioning that Towers has a bus service from Stoke station to the park so it's not something that hasn't been done elsewhere and it makes sense there would be some sort of connection to Milton Keynes.

It's kinda weird that Towers have never campaigned to have the old rail line reopened which passes quite near the park.
 
If/when East West Rail happens, I reckon more off peak WCML trains will just call at Bletchley - I don’t think a bus from MKC would be necessary in that case.

The East West Rail improvements work to the Bedford-Bletchley line will also improve speeds and reduce stops (as well as add services with reduced stopping patterns).
 
DiogoJ42 said:
"London" is a stupidly big place. It would take me twice as long to get from my gaff to the centre of town, than it would to get from there to this park. Thus it would still be quicker to drive. The London rail connection is only going to be good for tourists, not actual Londoners.
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I'm an actual Londoner also and every actual Londoner I know doesn't drive, though maybe we're getting into demographics now
 
benpicko said:
I'm an actual Londoner also and every actual Londoner I know doesn't drive, though maybe we're getting into demographics now
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Oh, I've never driven a car in my life. ;) Naturally for getting around town that's not an issue.
But as a case in point, I live 20 minutes from Thorpe if the M25 is clear (ha!). Or the best part of two hours of faffing about on 3 tubes, a train, and the dreadded Chav Bus. There's no contest when you have the choice. And I say this as a public transport advocate.
 
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