IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Duncombe Street, MILTON KEYNES, MK2 2LX

Looking towards London from the south end of the station, anybody familiar with the location over the last 60 years will instantly see that something is missing. The rail flyover that was built in the early 1960s has had the spans crossing the West Coast Main Line removed pending the construction of a new bridge to accommodate East West Rail, that, under current proposals, will eventually link Oxford and Cambridge. The original purpose of the flyover was primarily to provide a route for freight trains that would avoid London; a major marshalling yard was to be built at Swanbourne, a short distance to the west, to deal with the traffic. In fact policy changed in the 1960s with a greatly reduced emphasis on unprofitable wagonload operations, in which each wagon was dealt with as a separate consignment requiring much sorting and re-sorting en route, and the yard was never built. This meant that the flyover was little used and came to be regarded as a white elephant; the line over it was eventually mothballed in 1993. Nevertheless, the future is exciting and work is evidently progressing well.

View SE, towards London on the WCML. The Class H freight is on the Down Slow, passing under the flyover connecting the Cambridge and Bedford line with the line to Oxford, which was recently built but little used because the planned marshalling yard at Swanbourne never materialised and line to Oxford was closed on 1/1/68. The locomotive is ex-Midland Fowler 4F 0-6-0 No. 43977 (withdrawn 11/63).

As part of the East West Railway project, the part of Bletchley Flyover crossing the West Coast Mainline tracks is being renewed. It was built in 1959 as part of BR's freight plan to take freight trains clear of London to a large new marshalling yard at Swanbourne which never came to fruition. It has lain little used for many years and needs upgrading to modern construction standards so that it can be used for the new high speed trains between Milton Keynes, Oxford and London Marylebone.

The former Working Men's Club building in the centre of Bletchley appears to be derelict. Ground floor windows are boarded up and part of the building is surrounded by hoarding and temporary fencing.