{"id":489897,"date":"2026-07-27T20:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T10:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=196958"},"modified":"2026-07-27T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T10:29:13","slug":"lnr-honours-bedfords-bell-ringing-heritage-with-train-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=489897","title":{"rendered":"LNR honours Bedford\u2019s bell-ringing heritage with train name"},"content":{"rendered":"

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London Northwestern Railway (LNR) has named a train on the Marston Vale Line following a partnership with a local college.<\/p>\n

The train, which operates between Bletchley and Bedford, has been named \u2018Bedford Belle\u2019 in honour of the bell tower within Bedford\u2019s historic St Paul\u2019s Church. The first record of bell ringing at St Paul\u2019s was written in 1582, and this historic practice is still active today.<\/p>\n

The competition was held in partnership with Bedford College. Students with identified learning difficulties and\/or disabilities from the college\u2019s \u2018Steps To Independence’ programme were invited to submit name ideas to be judged by an expert panel from LNR.<\/p>\n

This marks the third train on the Marston Vale Line to be given a name, with the other two trains serving the line already officially titled \u201cBletchley Codebreakers\u201d and \u201cBrickfield Breeze\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cara Higgs, community strategy manager at LNR, said: \u201cWe were pleased to work with Bedford College to name the third train on our popular Marston Vale Line. The students came up with fantastic ideas linked with the local heritage of the area and we felt Bedford Belle had a particularly nice ring to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diana Stammers, lecturer at Bedford College, said: \u201cIt was a fantastic opportunity for our students to be involved in choosing the name for a train running on the Marston Vale Line. The students involved often travel on this train as part of their course and will now be able to say their college had a hand in creating the Bedford Belle.”<\/p>\n

The Class 150 train \u2013 unit number 150139 for Bedford Belle \u2013 was formally named during a special ceremony at Bletchley station with attendees from Bedford College and LNR.<\/p>\n

Image credit: LNR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>London Northwestern Railway (LNR) has named a train on the Marston Vale Line following a partnership with a local college. The train, which operates between Bletchley and Bedford, has been named \u2018Bedford Belle\u2019 in honour of the bell tower within Bedford\u2019s historic St Paul\u2019s Church. The first record of bell ringing at St Paul\u2019s was [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,180,16016,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-489897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rail-news","category-rolling-stock","category-train-operating-companies","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t