Universal Bedford theme park could get trains from Europe
Trains from continental Europe could reach Universal's new UK theme park if improvements to a railway station are made, a council meeting has been told.The attraction is due to be built on the site of the former Kempston Hardwick brickworks, near Bedford.Bedford's Conservative mayor Tom Wootton told Bedford Borough Council's executive committee the government had asked for work on nearby Wixams railway station to be paused while proposals for a larger station are considered, adding that this could possibly accommodate trains from abroad. The Department for Transport (DfT) said the government would ensure the project was "well connected and easily accessible".
The mayor told the meeting: "It does mean for the residents of Wixams a small pause while they get a very, very large four [platformed] train station that will even have a roof, I am told."But also it is told that they're probably thinking or bringing trains from further afield than London, possibly even abroad."Currently, a Eurostar service runs from Europe to London via the Channel Tunnel with a stop at Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy station, near Disneyland Paris."If we get the platforms right, so that a certain train can come all the way from France, that does ease a lot of problems and I'm looking forward to it," said Mr Wootton.The mayor added these were "rumours" he had heard and plans for the station had not yet been confirmed.
Proposals to build a station at Wixams, a new town close to Bedford, were first made in 2003.In July 2024 Bedford Borough Council agreed to enter an agreement with Network Rail to construct a two-platform station at a cost of £62.6m.Universal has previously promised it would upgrade the station with two extra platforms.Now the mayor has said the council will no longer fund the construction due to negotiations between Universal and the government.Mr Wootton told the BBC: "We're not going to be faced with that burden. It's going to be a national government thing and that's part of the negotiations with Universal."We've now heard from the government that we should cease work because they'd have to tear down some of the work we do because they have plans now to build a four-platform, very large station.""They'll be building the station and it won't be the little old council that's building a village station. There's going to be something a lot bigger."In a statement, a DfT spokesperson said: "As part of the Plan for Change, the government will commit to a major investment in infrastructure around the site to support the delivery of the project and ensure it is well connected and easily accessible."Further details on government plans for infrastructure investment around the site will be set out in due course."
Eurostar services used to stop in Kent at Ashford International and Ebbsfleet International stations, but this stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic and never returned.When Mr Wootton was asked if it was realistic that Eurostar could operate to Bedfordshire, he responded: "Anything is possible."If you I had said to you a year ago that we're going to have 450-acre theme park here, people would have laughed."If I say to you now: 'We're building a train station, make sure it's big enough that we can have very large French trains come,' I think that's a possibility. We're just asking for the platforms to be a bit longer."Eurostar has been asked for comment.
Labour MP for Bedford and Kempston, Mohammad Yasin, told the idea of trains coming from Europe was "exciting".He continued: "There are speculations; people are talking about it. If it happens I will fully support it but I've not heard from anybody yet."It can happen. I will be speaking with the relevant people in the coming days and months. It's a possibility; we have to make sure it's a reality. We will work towards it"It would be really, really exciting. Bedford would be linked straight with Europe."
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The Courier
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Corkonians speak like a song, in a distinct, lilting accent with an undulating rhythm. Welcomes are warm wherever you go, from the bar staff in Sin é to the taxi drivers on George's Quay. Cork was voted Europe's second friendliest city in 2023, and, more recently, one of the 25 best places in the world — the only Irish inclusion on National Geographic's prestigious travel bucket list for 2025. The city is served by a decent transport network, with hourly trains arriving from the capital from 6am until 9pm. Cork Airport, a 15-minute drive from the centre, has direct routes to major European destinations and UK hubs including Manchester, Birmingham and London's Big Four. Once you're there, though, the best way to see Cork is on foot. 'Everything is within walking distance and I think that's what has kept the sense of community so strong,' says Dave Riordan, a guide with Fab Food Trails. 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Set in a pedestrianised zone, the hotel is minutes from award-winning attractions: the historic English Market, the contemporary Glucksman gallery, and Nano Nagle Place, a museum and rose garden dedicated to theCork-born women's educator. Further afield but well within walking distance, the Butter Museum is the place to delve into Irish folklore and heritage. The retro Kerry Gold ads from the 50s and 60s are worth the trip alone, and at £5, entry is a steal. Past the second-hand bookshops and ceramic studios that line the River Lee is the Franciscan Well Bar and Brewery, one of Ireland's oldest microbreweries and a clear community favourite. There's craft beer on tap, a hole-in-the-wall serving wood-fired pizza and live music most weekends, but it's smiling regulars who make this place special. Cork loves tourists, but locals are its lifeblood. 'There are lots of exciting things happening with food and drink in Cork,' says Seamus Heaney, Head of Visit Cork (and a man with a very famous namesake). 'The likes of Franciscan Well and Clonakilty Distillery show that the country, as a whole, is no longer dependent on Guinness and Jameson for its reputation.' Quirky and creative, Cork has always known how to have a good time. On Saturday night, I bounce between trad sessions at Osho and Tom Barry's before ambling to Callanan's, purveyor of what is said to be the best Beamish in the city. There are no TVs, no music, and they'd prefer you to put your phone away — a proper Irish pub, though you'd miss a bit of fiddle. It's in good company. A few doors down is Izz Café, a popular Palestinian restaurant that serves glorious sharing plates and the best maqluba I've had outside the West Bank. The café has just been named Ireland's best Middle Eastern restaurant, and, according to owner Izzedeen (Izz) Alkarajeh, they make the best hummus in the country. After tasting it, I agree. The next morning, I thumb through vinyl at plugd records, an independent coffee shop cum wine bar that goes the extra mile for both local and international charities. After a stroll around Fitzgerald Park, I'm ready to take on the spectacular showcase of Cork cuisine that is a tour with Fab Food Trails (€80pp), which includes stops at Miyazaki, a Japanese takeaway headed by Michelin star chef Takashi Miyazaki, and My Goodness, a vegan deli in the English Market that goes big on fermentation. Other standouts are Goldie, a narrow restaurant with a menu that changes daily, and Elbow Lane, a nano-brewery and smokehouse that serves butter-soft T-bones and local buffalo burrata (more on that later). To understand Ireland's culinary present, you must have a sense of its colonial past. 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The willingness to experiment is obvious: take Johnny Lynch, who took a punt on turning his family's generations-old dairy into a buffalo farm. The Lynches imported 31 water buffalo from Italy to their land in Macroom in 2009, at the height of the global financial crisis. Today, they have a herd of over 700 and a thriving business that stocks the English Market with everything from mozzarella and ricotta to natural yoghurt. Then there's Koko Kinsale, a high-end chocolate shop owned by Frank Keane, who ran Ireland's leading ceramic gallery until business dried up in the recession. Now, he pours his artistry into intricate, colourful sweets. Years of work in local tourism have shown Seamus Heaney how Cork and its residents tick. 'It's very easy to push open doors here,' he says. 'People pivot careers, or they go abroad for a while, as they always have in Ireland. Eventually, they come back with ideas, and crucially, they come back to find a community willing to help them.' That ethos extends to many local enterprises, including Cork's first greenway, which opened in Midleton in December. More Trending Wife and wife Fiona O'Driscoll and Deirdre Roberts, who run Cork Bike Hire, opened a new location in east Cork specifically to cater to the tourists they hope it will attract. Cycling along this idyllic stretch, I pass a couple who stopped to help an elderly farmer close a wrought-iron gate. As Seamus says, at the end of the day, Cork is a place where people look out for each other. Day 1 Coffee and pastries at plugd records Tasting tour with Fab Food Trails (€80pp, worth every penny) Explore Elizabeth Fort, the Glucksman and Nano Nagle's garden Dinner at Elbow Lane followed by Guinness and a trad session at Sin é Day 2 Breakfast at Myo's (try the banana bread) Cork Butter Museum for a history lesson and butter-making demonstration Take the train to Midleton and cycle the newly opened Greenway (€50 per day for an electric bike from Cork Bike Hire) OR Take the bus to Kinsale and go on a walking food tour with Kinsale Food Tours (from €75pp) Dinner at Izz Cafe followed by a pint of Beamish at Callanan's Alice Murphy was a guest of Fáilte Ireland. MORE: German city dubbed 'Gateway to the World' has £28 return flights – and 2,500 bridges MORE: Famous Hollywood couple shattered after learning they can't move to Ireland permanently MORE: One person dead and child injured after gunman with 'explosives' fires at Tesco
