Image source, Google Image caption,

Wixams is an estate off the A6, close to Bedford

A new town is to get its own railway station - almost 20 years after the development was originally conceived.

Bedford Borough Council is to put £26m towards the £39m cost of the station at Wixams, south of Bedford.

It is due to be built on the Midland Main Line between Bedford and Flitwick, and served by up to four Thameslink trains an hour in each direction.

A formal planning application will be submitted "after public engagement", the authority said.

The outline planning application for Wixams new town, which was granted in 2003 and amended in 2012, included provision for a Station Quarter.

A separate planning application was approved for a railway station in 2012 but the permission was not implemented.

The remaining £13m from developer Gallagher was not enough to build it - and Network Rail was unable to provide the shortfall - so planning permission lapsed.

'Significant investment'

The council has now taken on the role as project sponsor and is investing the additional funds to help ensure the two-platform station, plus a car park for up to 350 vehicles, can be delivered.