High Wycombe railway station: Difference between revisions

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

The original terminus station was built in 1854 after an original design by I.K. Brunel The station had one platform and a train shed that covered two broad gauge tracks, on one side of the trainshed was a single road engine shed and to the platform side booking office and waiting rooms (on the Birdcage Walk side) . The walls of the trainshed, engine shed and offices were constructed from brick and knapped flint with a 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 trainsheds. since listing most of the later additions were removed restoring the building to its original footprint, the only addition is the flat roof second floor extension added in 1940.

The dimensions and general design of trainshed, engine shed and office accommodation was repeated at Thame station with only the building materials different, Wycombe being built with brick and knapped flint wall while Thame was 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 second station was a copy of the office accommodation on the first station with a canopy covering the platform rather than the trainshed of the first, the building was extended as least once to its west end.

With the building of the Great Central/Great Western Joint Railway in 1906 the station was again rebuilt to the station 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]

Ticket barriers are in operation at this station.^{[citation needed]}

Services are run by Chiltern Railways, at present using Class 165 and Class 168 diesel multiple units. The current off-peak services are:^[5][6]

• 2 trains per hour semi-fast service to London Marylebone.
• 2 trains per hour non-stop service to London Marylebone.
• 1 train per hour stopping service to London Marylebone, which starts at High Wycombe.
• 1 train per hour semi-fast service to Birmingham Snow Hill.
• 1 train per hour stopping service to Princes Risborough,
• 1 train per hour semi-fast service to Bicester North
• 1 train per hour semi-fast service to Banbury, extended to Stratford upon Avon every 2 hours

There are some direct services to Aylesbury at certain times of day (as extensions of the hourly stopper to Princes Risborough), with connections available at the latter at other times.

High Wycombe has a bay platform, Platform 1, from which additional peak-hour local services run to and from London Marylebone.

Chiltern Railways proposes a new service running between London and Oxford with services calling at High Wycombe. This will be the first direct service between Oxford and Wycombe since 1963. The new service is planned to begin in 2013.^[7] although in January 2013 it was announced that this service will start in 2015.^{[citation needed]}

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Saunderton		Chiltern Railways London-Birmingham stopping services		Beaconsfield
Terminus		Chiltern Railways London-High Wycombe stopping services
Princes Risborough		Chiltern Railways Chiltern Main Line semi-fast services		Beaconsfield
Princes Risborough or Banbury		Chiltern Railways Chiltern Main Line fast services		London Marylebone
Terminus		Chiltern Railways London Paddington - High Wycombe Monday-Friday Only		Beaconsfield
	{{{text}}}
Bicester Town		Chiltern Railways London Marylebone - Oxford		London Marylebone
	Disused railways
Terminus		Great Western Railway Wycombe Railway Until 1970		Loudwater

Wikimedia Commons has media related to High Wycombe railway station.

• Train times and station information for High Wycombe railway station from National Rail
• Chiltern Railways
• Chiltern Railways Evergreen 3 - Proposed services to Oxford.
• Drawings of how the station looked when built

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