The first station simply known as 'Leighton' was opened by the
London and Birmingham Railway on 9 April 1838, as part of the first section of its line from to
Denbigh Hall. The line had originally been planned to pass through
Buckingham but opposition from the
Duke of Buckingham ensured that it was forced east along the
Ouzel valley. Local opposition in Leighton Buzzard then forced it west, necessitating a tunnel through the Greensand Ridge. Leighton Station was built half a mile west of the town and led to the development of modern
Linslade, a mile south of the old settlement (renamed
Old Linslade). A station with two facing platforms and wooden buildings was opened about south of the
Linslade tunnels. It lay between a bridge carrying the road to Soulbury over the railway and a
level crossing with the road from Leighton to Southcott (subsequently named "Old Road"). In May 1848, the station became a junction when a
branch line to Dunstable was opened. In November 1857 a southbound goods train ran into a branch-line train waiting at the station. The Board of Trade insisted that a separate platform be constructed for branch-line trains. At the same time, the railway was under pressure from increasing traffic on the main lines. The
London and North Western Railway decided to build a goods relief line from Bletchley to Primrose Hill. The relief goods line and the extra platform for the branch line were not compatible with a level crossing adjacent to the station. The crossing was closed, the bridge over the railway for the road to Soulbury was widened and a new road was constructed on the western side of the railway to take diverted vehicular traffic. To the south, a footbridge was built over the railway lines to carry the footpath from Southcott to Leighton, which had been recorded on
Robert Stephenson's 1833 plan for the railway. A single-track eastern bore was added to the two-track
Linslade tunnel and a new station with a brick main building was built eight chains (160m) to the south of the original station. Opening in February 1859, this had an imposing frontage on the east side featuring arched windows and the entrance. In 1874, land was purchased to the south of the station alongside the Dunstable branch for the construction of goods sidings, which eventually became known as 'Wing Yard'. The LNWR was absorbed by the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway in the
1923 railway grouping and, in 1927, it added a
crossover between the fast (formerly passenger) and slow (formerly goods) lines. This was to play a significant role in the derailment of
Royal Scot No. 6114 "Coldstream Guardsman" at Linslade on 22 March 1931 when the driver took the crossover at instead of the regulation . There had been a diversion in place on the fast lines and the driver had missed the warning signals. The engine overturned and six people were killed, including the driver and fireman. The
Scotland amateur football team was on the train, but remained unscathed. In 1957–1958 the platform buildings were rebuilt and a concrete awning placed over the platform. At the entrance a larger booking / waiting hall, central heating, electric lighting and the cycle storage, parcels and loading bay were improved. The
Great Train Robbery of 1963 occurred just south of this station, at near
Ledburn, at a bridge on the southbound stretch towards
Cheddington. Wing Yard was closed in February 1967 and it is now used as a car park, while the branch to Dunstable was closed from June. In 1989, the platforms were lengthened to accommodate 12-coach trains and a £1.8m project to rebuild the station was started. With the closure of the line to Dunstable, the new station building occupies the space where the old platforms and lines to Dunstable lay. The tunnel connecting the booking office to the platforms was replaced by a bridge to the south of the new station building, which was opened in1992. A new footbridge with lifts, funded by the Department for Transport ‘Access for All’ programme, was constructed in 2014 to the north of the station building.
Central Bedfordshire Council rejected this and initiated legal action against Network Rail for obstruction of the footpath.
Motive power depot The London and North Western Railway opened a small
motive power depot at the south end of the station in 1859. This was reroofed in 1957 but closed 5 November 1962 and was demolished. ==Services==