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High Wycombe railway station

Coordinates: 51°37′48″N 0°44′42″W / 51.630°N 0.745°W / 51.630; -0.745
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High Wycombe
National Rail
High Wycombe station in 2015
General information
LocationHigh Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
England
Grid referenceSU869930
Managed byChiltern Railways
Platforms3
Other information
Station codeHWY
ClassificationDfT category C1
History
Original companyWycombe Railway
Pre-groupingGW&GCJR
Post-groupingGW&GCJR
Key dates
1854Terminus station opened
1864Through station opened. Original terminus becomes a goods shed
1906Through services along GW&GCJR begun
1970Services to Bourne End withdrawn
Passengers
2018/19Increase 3.071 million
 Interchange Increase 96,361
2019/20Decrease 2.857 million
 Interchange Decrease 86,443
2020/21Decrease 0.543 million
 Interchange Decrease 13,716
2021/22Increase 1.624 million
 Interchange Increase 59,927
2022/23Increase 1.917 million
 Interchange Increase 91,589
Location
Map
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

High Wycombe railway station is a railway station in the market town of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. The station is on the Chiltern Main Line between Beaconsfield and Saunderton stations. It is served by Chiltern Railways.

History

[edit]
The remains of the 1854 station

The original terminus station was built in 1854 after an original design by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

The station had one platform and a train shed that covered two broad gauge tracks. On one side of the train shed was a single road engine shed and on the platform side were a booking office and waiting rooms (on the Birdcage Walk side). The walls of the train shed, an engine shed and offices were constructed from brick and knapped flint with slate roofs. This building remained as a station in use until 1864 when it became a goods shed. Between the 1880s and 1940 various additions were made to the fabric of the old station. The building received grade two listing in 1999 due to being one of only six remaining GWR train sheds. Following listing most of the later additions were removed, restoring the building to its original footprint, the only addition being the flat roof second floor extension added in 1940.

The dimensions and general design of the train shed, engine shed and office accommodation were repeated at Thame with only the building materials different; Wycombe was built with brick and knapped flint wall while Thame was constructed from timber.

A second through station was opened on the current location in 1864 with a second platform and, later, a footbridge. For two years prior to this date, after the extension to Thame had been made, all through trains had to reverse in and out of the old station which was not located on the new through lines. The design of the office accommodation on the newer station was a copy of the office accommodation on the old, with a canopy covering the platform rather than the train shed. The building was extended as least once at its west end.

With the building of the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway in 1906 the station was again rebuilt to the design that is in use today, with four lines between two staggered platforms and a subway.

The station was originally the terminus of the Wycombe Railway line from Maidenhead, which was later extended to Aylesbury and Oxford, and then in 1867 was taken over by the Great Western Railway.[citation needed]

In 1906 the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway line was opened through High Wycombe, linking London with the two companies' lines to the north. Much of the current Chiltern Main Line is formed from this joint line.[citation needed]

British Rail closed the original branch line to Maidenhead on 2 May 1970 and subsequently the track was lifted.[1]

The station was transferred from the Western Region of British Rail to the London Midland Region on 24 March 1974.[2]

In November 2005 a fire in the ticket office gutted the roof of the building.[3] The restored station building reopened in September 2007.[4]

In April 2015 the Northbound platform was lengthened.[5] The subway was closed and has now been replaced with a footbridge with a lift at each end.[6]

Services

[edit]
A Class 168 going to London calls at High Wycombe as a northbound service approaches

All trains are operated by Chiltern Railways. The current off-peak services are:[7]

Future

[edit]

High Wycombe is to gain further rail links north of Aylesbury to Winslow and Milton Keynes by 2030 as part of the East West Rail project.[8][needs update]

Preceding station   National Rail National Rail   Following station
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Main Line
London Marylebone – Birmingham Snow Hill
Chiltern Railways
London Marylebone – Oxford
Chiltern Railways
Birmingham Snow Hill - High Wycombe - London Marylebone
(Stopping service)
Terminus
Disused railways
Terminus   Great Western Railway
Wycombe Railway
  Loudwater

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Post-Beeching Era". Local History. Marlow — Maidenhead Passengers' Association.
  2. ^ "Notes and News: Transfer of Marylebone-Banbury services". The Railway Magazine. No. 877. May 1974. p. 28.
  3. ^ "Station blaze disrupts journeys". BBC. 27 November 2005.
  4. ^ "High Wycombe station restored after fire". Chiltern Railways. [dead link]
  5. ^ "High Wycombe upgrade | Chiltern Railways". Archived from the original on 30 July 2015.
  6. ^ @chilternrailway (9 September 2016). "@RachelV06 Hi there, yes, there is now a lift at High Wycombe station, it is by the bridge. BL" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ "Download Train Timetables & Check Times". Chiltern Railways. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  8. ^ "East West Rail: train services". Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
[edit]

51°37′48″N 0°44′42″W / 51.630°N 0.745°W / 51.630; -0.745