In message , at 16:55:40 on Mon, 12 Dec
2016, tim... remarked:
What a pity the line between Hitchin and Bedford was
closed all those years ago.

what a pity the line from Bedford to Cambridge was closed (all those
years ago)

as otherwise we wouldn't be looking for a different route at all
because some of it (presumably) has been built over

Not just built over (Radio telescope, M11, Trumpington Meadows Estate,
Trumpington P&R, Guided Bus; as well as numerous other stretches
including a school and housing estate in north Sandy and quite a lot of
roads/buildings in south east Bedford) but also a very wiggly route you
couldn't suddenly have 100mph trains careering along.
--
Roland Perry