Leighton Buzzard Light Railway 19th century sand was carried by horse carts from quarries south of the town to be shipped on the Dunstable-Leighton Buzzard railway. The carts damaged roads and resulted in claims for compensation against the quarry owners from Bedfordshire County Council. At the end of the century steam wagons were introduced which increased the damage to roads. The outbreak of the First World War cut off supplies of foundry sand from Belgium. Sand was needed for ammunition factories and new sources were sought. Leighton Buzzard sands proved well suited and production increased. After 1919 the quarry companies were told they could
Leighton Buzzard railway station rail link or as a guided busway. Although there is now a guided busway between Dunstable and Luton, much of the Leighton Buzzard to Dunstable section was lost to the Leighton Buzzard Southern Bypass. On 22 March 1931, a passenger train was derailed due to excessive speed through a crossover. Six people were killed. The station played host to a tragic event on 11 April 2011 when a 43-year-old woman named Rachel James, from Uxbridge, Middlesex, kissed an elderly passenger aboard the 16.25 Northampton to London Euston service which was approaching the station from the north, and set fire to