You're never heard of embankments, cuttings, bridges and tunnels then?
Hmmm. You might be on to something there. Keep at it, and who knows, a Nobel Prize for Innovation in Civil Engineering could come your way.
Only mild earthworks would be required north of Bedford.
To quote your own words: Sorry, but do you know the area at all?
I lived in the area in the 60s and cycled up and down many of the roads in the area that, in your words, need "only mild earthworks".
See also Richieb1971's post for confirmation.
St Neots to Cambridge "not exactly plains" - sorry but do you know the area at all? St Neots to Cambridge is VERY flat. Not entirely, but it certainly is very flat indeed.
I bow to your better knowledge. I have not been on the road east of St Neots since the mid-60s, but I seem to remember - somewhere near the US War Cemetery - it was quite hilly. Perhaps that is the exception.
Reviving the old Sandy line would not connect with Bedford Midland and would need to be fully re-engineered as this was never a 2 track line.
Of course it 'could' connect with Bedford Midland, with a reversal, no question. Time penalty there, however.
And yes, the former route to Sandy would need a thorough rebuild (it was double track to Goldington, actually, about 1 - 1.25 miles east of St Johns, plus loops a the two stations en route to Sandy).
I do not know how much of the old trackbed is available, but it would be massively cheaper than cutting a new line from north of Bedford to St Neots, that is for sure.
You may as well build a new line and collaborate with road builders to get the optimum solution rather than make a half-baked solution which serves no-one.
It would be a way of accessing the GN main line (and hence Peterboro') and Cambridge (and hence East Anglia) , which is surely E-W is supposed to serve, wouldn't it?
I agree with you that, in an ideal world, going north of Bedford to St Neots ect would be a better route - but there is the little problem of money. I also agree that heading south-east 17 miles to Hitchin (or thereabouts) makes a mockery of the E-W concept. But there is a trackbed there, and ultimately, that is the way it may have to go on cost grounds.
If, that is, there is ever an extension east of Bedford.
The fact is, getting E-W rail east of Bedford is not easy. And even if the entire former route from Bedford to Cambridge were intact, it was not an ideal permanent way.
As a low-cast stop gap (at least in investment, not operational terms) I can see a south-east cord being built at Manton, and trains being routed via Corby.
But we know what happens to low-cost stop gaps - just look at Marylebone station. :roll: