Universal Great Britain - Speculation & Rumors

[EllieB]

He also mentioned rumours of Eurostar trains potentially running to the station, if that’s true that’s pretty big news. The station would be huge.

Could we potentially see Eurostar offering their direct service to DLP again so you could go direct from DLP in Paris to Universal in Bedford on one train?

Anything is technically possible, but given their reluctance to run direct trains into Marne le Valleé for DLP because of the cost of border staff, as well as their reluctance to reinstate services to Ashford and Ebbsfleet, I find it hard to believe they'd be interested in anything that required new infrastructure being built.

I don't believe that there are currently rails connecting the HS1 line north of London, and given how long it has taken them to build what little they have constructed of HS2 so far it just feels really unlikely they'd commit to another large scale rail project.

I'd love Eurostar to reinstate their direct DLP service, as well as the Kent stations; we used to use the train to go to DLP and now we fly because the connections aren't as convenient as the airport. But they don't seem to have any interest in doing so.

 

[Altonsky]

Anything is technically possible, but given their reluctance to run direct trains into Marne le Valleé for DLP because of the cost of border staff, as well as their reluctance to reinstate services to Ashford and Ebbsfleet, I find it hard to believe they'd be interested in anything that required new infrastructure being built.

I don't believe that there are currently rails connecting the HS1 line north of London, and given how long it has taken them to build what little they have constructed of HS2 so far it just feels really unlikely they'd commit to another large scale rail project.

I'd love Eurostar to reinstate their direct DLP service, as well as the Kent stations; we used to use the train to go to DLP and now we fly because the connections aren't as convenient as the airport. But they don't seem to have any interest in doing so.

I’m pretty sure they can run north of London.

Multiple stations north of London did prep work for regional Eurostar services. Manchester Piccadilly platform 9/10 were intended to be used for Eurostar, Crewe station built a waiting room and they also had a platform earmarked for Eurostar services, so did Doncaster.

Well there were plans for it anyway.

 

[rob@rar]

Probably unrelated but interesting as it shows the strength of the IP, it's just been announced that Paddington The Musical will open in London's West End this autumn. It will be launched by top West End producer Sonia Friedman working with Universal Music and Canal+.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I’ve not ridden or seen a POV, and I know reviews are mostly positive with a few outliers. Genuinely just as theme park fans, what else do we want from a Potter ride? They all seem samey-samey to me at this point with a 3rd iteration of a largely screen based Potter attraction (not dissing Ministry just stating the faces). If the lands themselves already exist in the studio tour for the betterment of the park you’d want a different IP. It’ll feel far more fresh and new.

 

[EllieB]

I’m pretty sure they can run north of London.

Multiple stations north of London did prep work for regional Eurostar services. Manchester Piccadilly platform 9/10 were intended to be used for Eurostar, Crewe station built a waiting room and they also had a platform earmarked for Eurostar services, so did Doncaster.

Well there were plans for it anyway.

I could easily be wrong as this is not my specialist subject, but my understanding was that although it was planned the necessary rail infrastructure was never completed to allow the trains to use the existing track.

Of course, if a new provider such as Virgin decided to undertake international rail services with new rolling stock that could make use of track both in the UK and Europe, then that could all change. I know there are rail providers interested in challenging Eurostar's current monopoly on the service.

 

[Altonsky]

I could easily be wrong as this is not my specialist subject, but my understanding was that although it was planned the necessary rail infrastructure was never completed to allow the trains to use the existing track.

Of course, if a new provider such as Virgin decided to undertake international rail services with new rolling stock that could make use of track both in the UK and Europe, then that could all change. I know there are rail providers interested in challenging Eurostar's current monopoly on the service.

Just been doing some reading to double check and it’s entirely possible on existing track, the only reason why it hasn’t been done is the fact that Eurostar didn’t want to pay for border security further north.

Potentially they’d have to use Stratford International (which was supposed to be used for Eurostar services but never has been) or have a slight train modification if they wanted them to tilt but it’s not insurmountable. St Pancras is massively overused atm anyway and already has Eurostar capacity issues.

Like you said Virgin are hoping to enter the market so who knows what will happen. But it’s interesting to think about.

 

[rob@rar]

New BBC article with some nice quotes from Page Thompson. Nothing revolutionary, but an interesting read:
Universal UK: Century-long plans made for Bedford theme park

You can listen to the interview that Page Thompson gave to BBC's Danny Fulbrook on BBC Three Counties Radio which was the basis of that article. It's a bit more expansive than the website article, and it's always good to hear the actual words said by the person being interviewed rather than the journalistic summary of what was said. It covers some local issues such as Manor Road changes, whether locals will get free tickets, and listen to Page artfully dodge the Harry Potter question!

The interview with Page Thompson is in three parts, scroll to 1hr23m, 2hr24m and 3hr42m to listen.

 

[Della]

You can listen to the interview that Page Thompson gave to BBC's Danny Fulbrook on BBC Three Counties Radio which was the basis of that article. It's a bit more expansive than the website article, and it's always good to hear the actual words said by the person being interviewed rather than the journalistic summary of what was said. It covers some local issues such as Manor Road changes, whether locals will get free tickets, and listen to Page artfully dodge the Harry Potter question!

The interview with Page Thompson is in three parts, scroll to 1hr23m, 2hr24m and 3hr42m to listen.

Thanks for that!

With regards to this being the only Universal theme park in Europe he doesn't say 'definitely' he says 'probably' so I think the BBC article exaggerated a bit when they said "Mr Thompson insisted that the UK attraction would be the only Universal site in Europe", but does confirm this being the only one is their current plan.

UNIVERSAL IN EUROPE - Timestamp 1:26:40 (Question from interviewer: Is this going to be the first of many do you think? (universal theme parks in Europe). "No, this is probably our real uh destination in Europe and we do expect to draw from all over Europe, we expect in our first year about 30% of visitors will come from outside of the UK so we think we're going to be a major driver of tourism to the country"

HOTELS - Timestamp 2:26:40 "We're going to build five - at least one 500 room hotel when we open and hopefully other hotels in the future"

So that would mean they want at least 3 hotels, sounded like he might have been going to say 5 but corrected himself.

PLANNING PERMISSION - Timestamp 3:42:40 (Question from interviewer: how close are we to you putting in for planning permission now?) "it will be in the next couple of months that we submit it, it's something we've been working on for some time. It will be a very comprehensive document and hopefully by the end of the year we'll get planning permission so we can start construction 2026"

HARRY POTTER - Timestamp 3:43:45 (Question from interviewer: We ask people all the time what they're excited to see in the park, the thing that people always say is Harry Potter ... but you're quite close to the Warner Bros studio tour - Are you allowed to do anything with Harry Potter in the UK?) "Well, we don't really comment on uh what the plans are until we get a little closer to opening but I can tell you that here in Orlando we're about to open our Epic Universe and we have an incredible new Harry Potter land there which is just absolutely spectacular so in the meantime people are welcome to come to Orlando and visit Epic Universe"

In a separate note I've just booked a Florida holiday for April 2026 (last visit was 2018 so very exciting), so if Harry Potter will not come to me, I will go to Harry Potter, just as Universal desires!!

 

[yepthatguy]

The Mayor is circulating rumours lol..

Universal Bedford theme park could get trains from Europe - mayor

Tom Wootton hopes station improvements could enable Eurostar trains to be accommodated.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[rob@rar]

With regards to this being the only Universal theme park in Europe he doesn't say 'definitely' he says 'probably' so I think the BBC article exaggerated a bit

It's pretty easy to assume a level of certainty from a written quote that will be much more speculative when you listen to the actual words and the inflection used when the speaker responds to a journalist's question. What is actually just a passing comment becomes way more significant and certain when the journalist puts those words on paper or screen. For another example of this, see the BBC News article about trains from Europe and compare it with the gossipy way in which Mayor Wootton passed on the latest rumour he'd heard about train services to Wixams, as shown in the live broadcast of that meeting, which is linked above.

 

[Altonsky]

So they want services running every 15 minutes at peak times with 774 thousand annual journeys estimated to be made.

New station on Midland Main Line set to be expanded after Universal Park approval

Wixams near Bedford was originally planned as a two-platform station.

www.railmagazine.com

 

[EllieB]

The Mayor is circulating rumours lol..

Universal Bedford theme park could get trains from Europe - mayor

Tom Wootton hopes station improvements could enable Eurostar trains to be accommodated.

www.bbc.co.uk

Haha, maybe he's just hopeful and thinks if he says it with enough certainty it'll happen!

 

[yepthatguy]

Haha, maybe he's just hopeful and thinks if he says it with enough certainty it'll happen!

They’ve updated the article headline and content. I think the local bbc were getting slightly excited.

 

[LieutLaww]

Also don't forget on the Eurostar thing they will no longer be the only company able to run trains through the tunnel so other companies could seize the idea and do direct services.

 

[tommyhawkins]

Does this finally confirm the 700 acres?

View attachment 26144

No, this map covers 550 acres of the potential 700 , and then other parts are public roads/ network rail land. these maps were indicators of the overal infrastructure and site plans, not universals land ownership

He also mentioned rumours of Eurostar trains potentially running to the station, if that’s true that’s pretty big news. The station would be huge.

Could we potentially see Eurostar offering their direct service to DLP again so you could go direct from DLP in Paris to Universal in Bedford on one train?

the only thing that is stopping Eurostar train is whether the train is physically able to fit the loading gauge to Bedford, threes plenty of tunnels from liverpool st station to outer London for example but this route might be different and the train operators themselves ofc


I have just done an updated layout for anyone interested

 

[MangoDance]

I have just done an updated layout for anyone interested

Nice work on the site plan update, I saw some talk about those buildings obscured under the logo behind paddington possibly being where the LOTR section would be, but logistically it just makes more sense for them to be back of house based on your proposed layout, especially with the road and rail line access there.

Are all the areas on the map already owned by Comcast, or is the layout contingent on them purchasing some additional plots?

They mention bringing people into the resort just for shopping and dining, which to me implies it'll be pretty sizeable, and being in the UK I can see them making it multi-storey and undercover similar to the California park City Walk, so maybe that goes into the lower right BoH section.

Sounds like we might get to see some plans in a few months, exciting!

 

[pbin]

the only thing that is stopping Eurostar train is whether the train is physically able to fit the loading gauge to Bedford, threes plenty of tunnels from liverpool st station to outer London for example but this route might be different and the train operators themselves ofc

The only way I see them solving this is if an operator buys trains with a smaller loading gauge. Something like the class 395s (what South Eastern use on HS1) might be viable although you might run into issues with larger gaps between platforms and trains in mainland Europe (gap fillers do solve this though). Making the Midland Mainline capable of carrying trains of a larger gauge would be very expensive.

 

[tommyhawkins]

The only way I see them solving this is if an operator buys trains with a smaller loading gauge. Something like the class 395s (what South Eastern use on HS1) might be viable although you might run into issues with larger gaps between platforms and trains in mainland Europe (gap fillers do solve this though). Making the Midland Mainline capable of carrying trains of a larger gauge would be very expensive.

The Greater Anglia intercity/Stansted Express Stadler class 745 trains have retractable gap fillers, it was made government policy that all new rolling stock have full accessibility for wheelchair use moving forward.

Nice work on the site plan update, I saw some talk about those buildings obscured under the logo behind paddington possibly being where the LOTR section would be, but logistically it just makes more sense for them to be back of house based on your proposed layout, especially with the road and rail line access there.

Are all the areas on the map already owned by Comcast, or is the layout contingent on them purchasing some additional plots?

They mention bringing people into the resort just for shopping and dining, which to me implies it'll be pretty sizeable, and being in the UK I can see them making it multi-storey and undercover similar to the California park City Walk, so maybe that goes into the lower right BoH section.

Sounds like we might get to see some plans in a few months, exciting!

The Paddington logo is covering what I believe to be a Paddington Dark ride show building the size of Mario Kart's. I don't know why it was left off but not everything is what it seems on this concept art.

 

[JT01]

As I mentioned earlier, the current generation of Eurostar trains doesn’t have a third rail system, which means they can’t run on standard UK rail lines. The older Eurostar trains did have a third rail system, as they needed it to access Waterloo Station, the original London terminal. But since the opening HS1 and the move to St Pancras, there was no longer a need for that feature, so it was left out of the new models.

For any train enthusiasts out there, there’s a great YouTube channel called Green Signals that discusses many topics. They’ve had some interesting conversations about the shift towards open-access operators in the rail industry companies aiming to introduce new services and routes, especially ones that are currently underutilized.

Link: Green Signals Talks Eurostar Competitor

From what I’ve heard, there are currently two train operators looking to compete with Eurostar, and it sounds like there might only be room for one more. Their goal is to be up and running by 2030 latest. If they make their trains compatible with both UK and European rail systems, there’s no reason they couldn’t run services to major destinations like Universal’s planned resort. And if both the government and Universal see the potential, I don't see why they wouldn't invest in building a dedicated customs terminal at the station.

Whether or not that happens, it definitely feels like the UK rail industry is long overdue for this kind of shake up. There’s growing interest from major international leisure brands like Universal, Therme Manchester and Puy du Fou which makes the future for the UK look far more exciting after years of stagnation, underinvestment, and doom-and-gloom headlines this country always gets.

 

[bobjarred442]

As I mentioned earlier, the current generation of Eurostar trains doesn’t have a third rail system, which means they can’t run on standard UK rail lines. The older Eurostar trains did have a third rail system, as they needed it to access Waterloo Station, the original London terminal. But since the opening HS1 and the move to St Pancras, there was no longer a need for that feature, so it was left out of the new models.

For any train enthusiasts out there, there’s a great YouTube channel called Green Signals that discusses many topics. They’ve had some interesting conversations about the shift towards open-access operators in the rail industry companies aiming to introduce new services and routes, especially ones that are currently underutilized.

Link: Green Signals Talks Eurostar Competitor

From what I’ve heard, there are currently two train operators looking to compete with Eurostar, and it sounds like there might only be room for one more. Their goal is to be up and running by 2030 latest. If they make their trains compatible with both UK and European rail systems, there’s no reason they couldn’t run services to major destinations like Universal’s planned resort. And if both the government and Universal see the potential, I don't see why they wouldn't invest in building a dedicated customs terminal at the station.

Whether or not that happens, it definitely feels like the UK rail industry is long overdue for this kind of shake up. There’s growing interest from major international leisure brands like Universal, Therme Manchester and Puy du Fou which makes the future for the UK look far more exciting after years of stagnation, underinvestment, and doom-and-gloom headlines this country always gets.

My understanding is that north of London, third rail electrification is rarely used instead, overhead line equipment is the standard, which is also what the current Eurostar trains rely on. One of the biggest issues is that the new Eurostar trains are built to the larger European loading gauge, meaning they’re too big to fit on most existing British railways. At present, they can only operate on the purpose-built High Speed 1 line. Upgrading the rest of the network to accommodate these larger trains would be extremely expensive, as it would require widening tunnels, platforms, and bridges. However, older Eurostar trains or other rolling stock built to the smaller British loading gauge could still operate on the existing rail infrastructure.

obviously the other large infrastructure additions at wixams for passport control , longer and secure platforms would in my opinion make it far to expensive to be economically viable.