Beaulieu Park Station has been a long time coming for Chelmsford, and its arrival marks a major step forward for local commuters and residents. In this blog, former Conservative MP, Vicky Ford, shares the story of how this new station came to be. From the early plans and challenges to the community impact it promises. This is a project that has required persistence, collaboration, and a clear vision for improving rail links in our area.
The opening of the new Railway Station at Beaulieu Park is great news. I remember some Springfield residents telling me they had first been promised a new station when they moved in over 40 years ago.
When I became the MP in 2017 it was very clear that a second station was urgently needed. Chelmsford was the busiest two platform station anywhere outside of London, and on my commute to Westminster I saw how dangerous the overcrowded platforms had become. Furthermore, some Chelmsford people desperately needed homes but without additional transport infrastructure, more new homes could not be sustained.
Unfortunately, for many decades, MPs representing communities to the east of Chelmsford had opposed a new station as an extra stop on the line would slow down journey times from their stations towards London. The train service was also deeply unreliable. There were frequent and lengthy delays which were often caused by faults by the very out-dated carriages and engines which were in operation at that time.
These MPs badly wanted a “passing loop” to be added to the line somewhere between Chelmsford and Colchester. The loop would enable inter-city trains to overtake the stopping services as well as being a place where a faulty train could be moved off the track to reduce further knock-on delays. A loop would cut journey times, improve reliability and mean more services could operate. But a stand-alone project of building a passing loop was expensive and did not meet the threshold for funding.
As a former infrastructure financier, I saw an opportunity. If a new second station at Chelmsford also incorporated the passing loop it would be less costly than two separate construction projects. A joint project would benefit the people of Chelmsford as well as passengers from Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and all the branch lines too. I joined a cross-party group of MPs working alongside National Rail, train operators and local authorities to improve services on the Great Eastern Mainline. I championed the plans for a combined station and passing loop and spoke with many colleagues in Parliament of what it could do for the individual areas they represented.
When the then Conservative Government announced a new £1 billion fund for housing related infrastructure, I and the Conservative run Essex County Council, realised this was the chance to get the funds the project needed. The council led the work to put together a detailed bid setting out the scheme and I co-ordinated a joint letter from every Great Eastern Mainline MP giving their backing to the bid. Getting cross party support in UK politics is never easy, but I knew that unanimous support would be vital for the bid's success. This joint letter was a crucial part of the bid as without a united, consensus approach the project would risk objections in the future which can lead to delays and costly overspends. The campaign and our letter succeeded, the project was offered £250,000,000 from the Government. It was the largest housing related infrastructure grant to be awarded anywhere in the country.
Some people have asked why building a new station takes so long to complete. Building a new station whilst keeping the trains running on a very busy main line is hugely complicated which is possibly why a new station has not been added on the Great Eastern Mainline for over 100 years.
Whilst some of the work has been able to take place when the trains are running, the mainline tracks needed to be moved a few metres to each side, new tracks had to be spliced in, as well as installing new power and signalling. Some of this highly technical work could only take place when trains are not operating. I remember sitting down with an expert team from National Rail soon after the 2019 election to go through their plans as they booked out the dates for the necessary weekend and bank holiday line closures up to five years ahead. The work done on the longer closures, especially those over Christmas and New Year, is critical. Each hour of those periods was intense, and stormy weather in these time windows can set the project off by many months. Meticulous planning of each engineering and logistical detail has been a key part of the project’s success.
Many hundreds of people have played a part in delivering Beaulieu Station. I have been deeply impressed by their commitment, skills and professionalism. I am very proud to have played a part in making this happen.
