The original station was built by the Midland Railway in 1859 on its line to the Great Northern at Hitchin. It was on land known as "Freemen's Common" approximately south of the current station on Ashburnham Road. The London & North Western Railway also had a station on its line between Bletchley and Cambridge. The Midland crossed it on the level and there was a serious collision when an LNWR train passed a red signal.. Following this accident, the Midland built a flyover in 1885. The extension to St Pancras opened in 1868. The connection to Hitchin ceased public services during 1961, but the line north of Bedford to Wigston Junction is still officially referred to as the Leicester to Hitchin line. At this time the station was substantially altered, with the replacement of a level crossing by the Queen's Park overbridge. In 1890 fast lines were added to the west to allow expresses to bypass the station. Serious damage occurred during World War II when a bomb destroyed the booking hall's glass ceiling. The current station was built to replace it and was opened by Sir Peter Parker on 9 October 1978. The station was moved about north; the slow lines were realigned to the west next to the 1890 fast lines, to which platforms were added. Although the intention was for what remained of the old awnings to be transferred to the Midland Railway at Butterley in Derbyshire it proved impossible to save them. Nothing remains of the original station buildings. Services over the Marston Vale line to/from were transferred here from the old LNWR St Johns station in May 1984. A new connection, which runs along the formation formerly used by the abandoned line to Hitchin, was laid from the Marston Vale branch up to the main line to permit this. The original St Johns station closed on 14 May 1984 with a replacement halt on the new chord opening the same day. Bletchley trains henceforth used a bay platform on the eastern side of the station and still do currently.
Station masters
F. Redfern 1860 - 1862
J. ??????? 1862 - 1864
Jasper John Cooke 1865 - ca. 1873
William Tugby Sykes ca 1879 - 1884
T.B. Nichols 1884 - 1907
Henry Ward 1907 -1926
H. Lewis 1926 - 1929
A. David Mathieson 1929 - 1940
Joseph Lionel Woodcraft 1940 - 1944
Philip George Gadd 1944 - 1949
Harry Collins 1949 - 1951
Percy Warren 1951 - 1953
Eric L. Thompson 1954 - 1955
J.A. Leslie 1955 - 1956
Services
The station is served by three operators and managed by Thameslink.
Off-peak East Midlands Railway semi-fast services along the Midland Main Line between and call at the station, as do London- services. Peak East Midlands Railways services no longer call at Bedford as of May 2018, though these are due to resume calling in December 2020. The station is the northern terminus of Thameslink who operate Thameslink route services to Brighton through St Albans and London St Pancras. Services from the station also call at Luton Airport Parkway and Gatwick Airport. Additional services start or terminate at Gatwick Airport or. These services use electric multiple units. Thameslink also runs a few services a day to Sutton on the Sutton Loop line, via both Wimbledon and Mitcham Junction. London Northwestern Railway operates local services to via the Marston Vale Line using Class 230 units. There is no Sunday service on this line. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:
In common with other stations on the Bedford to Bletchley Marston Vale line, Bedford station is covered by the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership. The partnership aims to increase use of the Marston Vale line by getting local people involved with their local line. A second CRP with Bedford Midland as its northern terminus - the Bedford to St Albans City Community Rail Partnership - has been set up, covering the eight stations on the Midland main line between Bedford Midland and St Albans City
