Universal Great Britain

[rob@rar]

The thing about Stewartby station is interesting. Quite a lot of kids use the line to get to the sixth form college there, and merging it with Kempston Hardwick to create a new Universal Studios station at the midpoint (as seems to be in the plans for east west rail anyway, but will be attributed to universal in local consciousness) seems like a bad message to send. It’s too far to walk especially in Winter (for Americans - our latitude is way up in Canada so it’s dark by 4 for a chunk of the year).

I can see that being a sore point.

Has the rational for merging Stewartby and Kempston stations ever been explained? If they kept Stewartby where it is, but moved Kempston so it is at the heart of the new Western transport hub, would those two stations be too close to each other?

 

[bedfordmassive]

The current Marston Vale line has a ridiculous number of stops - almost 1 a mile between Bedford and Bletchley. The idea is for east west rail (part of which replaces the marston vale line) to be faster, so that means fewer stops. The plan is to merge neighbouring stops.

 

[rob@rar]

The current Marston Vale line has a ridiculous number of stops - almost 1 a mile between Bedford and Bletchley. The idea is for east west rail (part of which replaces the marston vale line) to be faster, so that means fewer stops. The plan is to merge neighbouring stops.

OK, so merging is part of the wider EWR plan rather than Universal-specific. I was a bit puzzled why Universal might want to combine those two stops as it didn't seem to make sense. As you say, a bit tricky to get that right so everyone is happy.

 

[xtpower]

A possible solution might just be them persuading EWR to leave the Stewartby station alone, but have them run fewer trains that stop at the station.

 

[bedfordmassive]

To be precise - I think the merger plan is an option being consulted on as part of EW rail. It seems to be assumed in the universal plans though, hence my thinking it’s the preferred option.

It’s a charming little line - £1 for a single ticket from one end to the other at all times of day. It’s as if Beeching never happened (Dr Beeching’s axe - Network Rail)

 

[rob@rar]

To be precise - I think the merger plan is an option being consulted on as part of EW rail. It seems to be assumed in the universal plans though, hence my thinking it’s the preferred option.

It’s a charming little line - £1 for a single ticket from one end to the other at all times of day. It’s as if Beeching never happened (Dr Beeching’s axe - Network Rail)

You might know better as a local, but I believe Mayor Wootton and the local councils are not especially happy with EWR’s choice of route and how they are discussing the proposed rail improvements in that part of Bedfordshire. Hopefully Universal doesn’t get caught up in that disagreement.

 

[Lost Meerkat]

Hold up on Broadmead Road today as they moved diggers onto the field where the proposed A421 junction will provide the entry road. Two diggers moved onto the field as I sat in traffic jam.
This is the bit of land that Universal say they have an option on but have not yet purchased. I suspect they will be digging the usual trenches soon. Diggers have gone in about halfway between the small wooded area and the main road.

 

[xtpower]

Hold up on Broadmead Road today as they moved diggers onto the field where the proposed A421 junction will provide the entry road. Two diggers moved onto the field as I sat in traffic jam.
This is the bit of land that Universal say they have an option on but have not yet purchased. I suspect they will be digging the usual trenches soon. Diggers have gone in about halfway between the small wooded area and the main road.
View attachment 21691

Time to get PUU on the case with his trusty drone.

 

[bedfordmassive]

The route dispute that the mayor is interested in won’t affect this stretch. He objects to it going though Bedford and exiting to the north before going on to Cambridge. He prefers a route that would bypass Bedford to the south (I.e. he’d prefer it to go through someone else’s farm to the south rather than his farm to the north even though it would benefit Bedford far less by bypassing the town to the south).

The route to the west of Bedford where Stewartby is is already set - it is an upgrade to the existing marston vale line. The station question is simply to make the route faster by having fewer stops. I’m not aware that the mayor has a strong opinion (it doesn’t affect his farm)

 

[rob@rar]

The route dispute ...

Thanks for the local knowledge, always useful to understand the context! I'm sure Universal will be happy to sidestep any local issues, if they can.

 

[xtpower]

Already seen one YT video taking the trademark from the other day and spinning it as a potential UGB ride and then spinning that out into UGB having a Celestial Park type land. A shame the guy didn't wait a few hours before making his video, he would've found out the trademark is for the USA.

 

[rob@rar]

Already seen one YT video taking the trademark from the other day and spinning it as a potential UGB ride and then spinning that out into UGB having a Celestial Park type land. A shame the guy didn't wait a few hours before making his video, he would've found out the trademark is for the USA.

There's going to be a lot of clickbait videos over the next six years. Speculation and wishful thinking is fine, but hopefully it will stay in the realm of the credible rather than spinning out of control, leading to unachievable expectations and unwarranted disappointment.

 

[Steeb]

I just realised if the rumours are true, we can now say a decision is being made next month

 

[Chessy]

I'm sure this is just an example and not a finalised design but not sure about how well traffic would flow through that? We do seem to love a good roundabout (traffic circle) over here. Would it not be better to have the road separate and split off, one towards theme park area parking and another towards the transport hub, access areas etc?

I'm no road design expert but they'll definitely want something that keeps a flow.

 

[xtpower]

I'm sure this is just an example and not a finalised design but not sure about how well traffic would flow through that? We do seem to love a good roundabout (traffic circle) over here. Would it not be better to have the road separate and split off, one towards theme park area parking and another towards the transport hub, access areas etc?

I'm no road design expert but they'll definitely want something that keeps a flow.
View attachment 21692

Seems to me a roundabout would allow them to direct traffic to multiple different places without having to split all the roads up and make a spaghetti mess. There's likely to be several different places for traffic to go to in that one plot alone. Not to mention how it may change and evolve over time as Universal uses the free spaces in different ways - so a roundabout prevents them from having to just add and remove new roads in the main system every few years.

 

[Chessy]

Seems to me a roundabout would allow them to direct traffic to multiple different places without having to split all the roads up and make a spaghetti mess. There's likely to be several different places for traffic to go to in that one plot alone. Not to mention how it may change and evolve over time as Universal uses the free spaces in different ways - so a roundabout prevents them from having to just add and remove new roads in the main system every few years.

Just thinking of morning/evening traffic flows as the roundabout will have to be a fairly large gyratory to avoid too much back up. But as mentioned they’ll be multiple exits to different places.

 

[bedfordmassive]

I think there's a decent chance that all the brownfield and farm land in that area will get developed - quite a lot already has been. The roundabout exits to the left and right will probably end up going to commercial/industrial/leisure developments in those empty fields.

 

[yepthatguy]

I'm sure this is just an example and not a finalised design but not sure about how well traffic would flow through that? We do seem to love a good roundabout (traffic circle) over here. Would it not be better to have the road separate and split off, one towards theme park area parking and another towards the transport hub, access areas etc?

I'm no road design expert but they'll definitely want something that keeps a flow.
View attachment 21692

The Highways agencies are in charge of building and paying for the slip roads off the A421.

I wish it was Universal to be honest, although I appreciate that is not realistic.

I just worry the train station and slip roads being reliant on people in England doing things means it will all end in tears…

 

[bedfordmassive]

I can't comment on the roads, but the rail I'm not too worried about. The EW rail work is in decent swing now after a slow start, stations being built to the west. Note that the A421 extension from Black Cat roundabout to Claxton Gibbet (bypassing St Neots) is now also in full swing, so lots of construction on both rail and road already happening.

https://twitter.com/ProgressEast - useful to get updates on the train line and see the building.

 

[rob@rar]

I drive past the site, on the A421, fairly regularly, including times when Universal visitors are most likely to be arriving or departing. Typically I’m connecting between the M1 and the A1, so taking the main roads likely to be used most by Universal guests.

Generally the traffic flows very well. The A1/A421 Black Cat junction can get gummed up, but work has already started to completely transform that interchange, which I’m sure will cope with very high volumes of traffic. That work is due for completion Spring 2027, well before Universal might open.

The other problem is the M1/A421 junction, which can also get gummed up with traffic trying to join the M1, especially to travel towards London. I think that will need to be addressed otherwise the extra traffic, mostly leaving at the same time from Universal’s end of day, will be a problem. I was very pleased to see Stewartby parish council mention that this interchange was being examined by Highways England (or whatever they are now called).

Overall, the travel infrastructure is already excellent for the Universal site, and with some tweaks (much of which is already in hand) I think will easily cope with the forecast visitor traffic. Should ensure locals and visitors are equally happy.