Attempts to keep open the route for the East-West rail link have been dogged over the years by official stupidity.
But now at last there is a bit of common sense emanating from one official body – the East Midlands Development Agency.
The agency has written to campaigners at the Bedfordshire Railway and Transport Association agreeing that "improving east-west rail links is an important strategic policy objective".
It adds: "The relative lack of quality east-west links in general in the East Midlands and beyond is a weakness of which we and other regional partners are aware."
The agency suggests that the East of England Development Agency will be "commenting" on the planning application to build a rowing lake smack across the rail line route east of Bedford.
It adds: "I understand that they, like us, would be keen to ensure that any decision on that and any other relevant planning applications does not prejudice the potential for reopening of the rail access in the future."
The attitude of the agency is in marked contrast with the Government Office for the East of England which has been promoting roads at the expense of rail for years and from the negativity of some politicians and journalists in the Bedford area.
East Anglia and the South Midlands have been crying out for good rail links for years. Planners, politicians, the media and even some inside the rail industry have miserably failed to rise to the challenge of providing them.
What should have been a simple task of reopening a mothballed railway and building a short stretch of new line has been dogged by obfuscation for too long. It is an example of the British establishment at its worst.
Rail campaigners have watched their words and action over the past 10 years in disbelief.
Many millions of pounds have been wasted in building a series of "bypasses" as part of a hidden agenda to create a unsustainable high-speed long-distance road.
A higher resolution BRTA map can be downloaded here 732KB.