Aylesbury railway station
Encyclopedia
Aylesbury railway station is a railway station in Aylesbury
Aylesbury
Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...

, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and is a major stop on the London to Aylesbury Line
London to Aylesbury Line
The London to Aylesbury Line is the main railway line between London and Aylesbury, going via the Chiltern Hills; it is operated by Chiltern Railways. The line includes the only route where National Rail trains use track that is utilized by London Underground services...

 from Marylebone station
Marylebone station
Marylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...

 via Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....

. It is 37.75 miles from Aylesbury Station to Marylebone Station. A branch line from Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough is a small town in Buckinghamshire, England, about 9 miles south of Aylesbury and 8 miles north west of High Wycombe. Bledlow lies to the west and Monks Risborough to the east. It lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, at the north end of a gap or pass through the Chilterns,...

, on the Chiltern Main Line
Chiltern Main Line
The Chiltern Main Line is an inter-urban, regional and commuter railway, part of the British railway system. It links London and Birmingham on a 112-mile route via the towns of High Wycombe, Banbury, and Leamington Spa...

, terminates at the station.

History

The first station on the site was first opened in 1863 by the Wycombe Railway (later GWR
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

). In 1868 the Aylesbury & Buckingham Railway (later Metropolitan Railway
Metropolitan railway
Metropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...

) connected to Aylesbury. The Metropolitan Railway connected from Little Chalfont
Little Chalfont
Little Chalfont is a village and civil parish in Chiltern district in south east Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in a small group of villages called The Chalfonts which also consists of Chalfont St Giles and Chalfont St Peter...

 in 1892, in which the station was rebuilt. The Great Central Railway connected to Aylesbury in 1899 from Annesley Junction just north of Nottingham on their 'London Extension' line to London Marylebone.

The Aylesbury Railway Disaster of 1904

Because the station had been a terminus for the Metropolitan railway the original junction layout on the route to London Marylebone included a sharp curve. While not important to trains stopping at the station it took on a different significance once some Great Central trains began to run non-stop through Aylesbury from 1899 onwards. Rather than change the junction layout to accommodate faster trains a 15 mph speed restriction was placed on the curve.

On 23 December 1904 at about 3.38 am this curve was the site of the Aylesbury Railway Disaster. The 2.45 am Great Central express newspaper train from London Marylebone consisting of an engine, tender, and ten vehicles - three coaches, an assortment of six fish, meat and parcel vans, and a brake van - failed to slow for the curve, and became completely derailed. The engine, tender, and the first three or four vehicles mounted the down platform of the station, two vehicles mounted the up platform, and the rest of the train was smashed to pieces and scattered over a distance of 50 yards between the two platforms. The driver of the train, Joseph Barnshaw was seriously injured and died the next day. The fireman George Masters was killed as also were London-based driver David Summers and fireman Josiah Stanton who were travelling as passengers in the first coach on their way to Gorton, Manchester.

There was heavy fog at the time of the accident, and at the subsequent Board of Trade inquiry there was some doubt as to how well driver Barnshaw knew the route. What the inquiry did not touch on was that there had been a history of fast running of these newspaper trains, which had become an important traffic for the Great Central Railway. This dated back to the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....

 which had ended only two years earlier. The Manchester Guardian's stance on the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....

 had resulted in significant drops in circulation, and the London newspapers (led by the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...

) saw a significant business opportunity in the Manchester area. They sought to get their morning newspapers to Manchester in time to grab a share of this market. These trains recorded fast times for the era, including an authenticated timing of 220 minutes for the 206 mile journey including stops.

Afterwards, the tracks were realigned at the curve.

The station buildings

The current station buildings date from 1926 when the station was again extensively rebuilt by the LNER. Until nationalisation in 1948, Aylesbury was a joint station operated by the LNER and the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

.

The 1960s to the present day

Until 1966, Aylesbury was an intermediate station on the former Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...

 main line from London Marylebone to Sheffield Victoria and on to Manchester via the Woodhead Tunnel
Woodhead Tunnel
The Woodhead Tunnels are three parallel trans-Pennine 3-mile long railway tunnels on the Woodhead Line, a former major rail link from Manchester to Sheffield in northern England...

. Aylesbury was also on the Metropolitan Railway (later Metropolitan Line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...

) and through trains from Baker Street to Verney Junction operated until 1936. From 1948 to 1961 Aylesbury was the terminus of the Met's mainline in which trains had to change from electric to steam locomotives at Rickmansworth. Following electrification from Rickmansworth to Amersham, Aylesbury was no longer served by London Underground trains. In 1966, the Great Central Main Line
Great Central Main Line
The Great Central Main Line , also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway , is a former railway line which opened in 1899 linking Sheffield with Marylebone Station in London via Nottingham and Leicester.The GCML was the last main line railway built in...

 was closed north of Aylesbury. Aylesbury was thus left with commuter services to London only. From the 1960s until the 1980s, passenger trains at Aylesbury were almost exclusively operated by British Rail Class 115
British Rail Class 115
The British Rail Class 115 diesel multiple units were 41 high density sets which operated the outer-suburban services from Marylebone usually to destinations such as High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Banbury which are on the Chiltern Main Line and Great Central Main Line...

 diesel multiple units.

By the 1980s, the lines serving Aylesbury were in a poor state. Aylesbury station itself was run down and needed a facelift. Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast
Network SouthEast was one of three passenger sectors of British Rail created in 1982. NSE principally operated commuter trains in the London area and inter-urban services in densely populated South East England, although the network reached as far west as Exeter...

 decided to revamp the lines out of Marylebone, and Aylesbury was refurbished with the addition of a new waiting room, new toilets and better lighting. Platform 4 was closed and the car park was extended. A new driver's staff room on platform 3 and a new heavy maintenance depot was built just north of the station. Aylesbury became the headquarters of the operational side of the Chiltern Line. (For more information, see: Chiltern Line Modernisation)

On the 14th December 2008, two miles of the line north of Aylesbury was reopened for passenger service, with regular passenger services running north of the station for the first time since 1966. This new service is to Aylesbury Vale Parkway
Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station
Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station is a railway station serving villages to the northwest of Aylesbury. It will also serve the Berryfields and Weedon Hill housing developments to the north of the town when these are completed. The station is served by Chiltern Railways and opened on 14 December...

 opened by Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...

.

Present layout

The station is laid out for through traffic, with hourly trains to/from Aylesbury Vale Parkway and waste freight trains to the landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...

 site at Calvert
Calvert, Buckinghamshire
Calvert is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, near the village of Steeple Claydon.Originally named after a wealthy local family, the village was founded as a hamlet in the Victorian era to house workers for the brick works that were constructed in the area. The works have since been closed and...

 heading north. On selected days, usually bank holidays, special passenger services run to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
Buckinghamshire Railway Centre is a railway museum operated by the Quainton Railway Society Ltd. at Quainton Road railway station, in the far depths of "Metro-land", about 5 miles west of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. The site is divided into two halves which are joined by two foot-bridges, one of...

 at Quainton Road station
Quainton Road railway station
Quainton Road railway station was opened in 1868 in undeveloped countryside near Quainton, Buckinghamshire, from London. Built by the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway, it was the result of pressure from the 3rd Duke of Buckingham to route the railway near his home at Wotton House and to open a...

. In addition there is a major repair and maintenance depot just north of the station, and several sidings.

There are three platforms. Platform 3 gives access to Amersham and London Marylebone only, whilst platform 1 only gives access to Princes Risborough and London Marylebone via High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...

 only. Platform 2 can serve both routes. There used to be a bay platform (platform 4) and several freight sidings but the car park now lies on the trackbed and bike racks occupies the platform. The goods depot was to the west of the station and was demolished in the 1960s. Modern apartments now occupy the site.

The station is managed by Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways
Chiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...

 and has recently been fitted with Automatic Ticket Gates. There are two FastTicket self-service ticket machines accepting cash and cards, a PERTIS  machine and two ticket windows. There is a taxi rank outside the station. From 21 January 2008, the taxi rank has moved to the car park for 52 weeks as a result of major engineering work on the new Southcourt Bridge and the new Station Boulevard.

Aylesbury is home to no fewer than seven First Generation DMUs built in the late 1950s. These units are jointly used by Chiltern Railways and Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...

 for route learning and sandite duties. One unit is used solely for passenger services to/from Princes Risborough.

All three station platforms have step-free access, with access to platforms 1 and 2 via a pair of lifts.

Future

A further expansion of rail services to Bletchley and Bedford is suggested in a consultants' report
written to provide regional planning guidance to Bucks County Council concerning the development of Aylesbury Vale.

As part of the plans to restore the Varsity Line
Varsity Line
The Varsity Line is an informal name for the railway route that formerly linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated successively by the London and North Western Railway, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and British Railways...

, these services could be extended to terminate at Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes Central railway station
Milton Keynes Central railway station serves Central Milton Keynes and the surrounding area of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The station is located on the West Coast Main Line between the stations of Bletchley and Wolverton, both of which are also within Milton Keynes. The station is served by...

 via Bletchley.

Aylesbury may also feature in the Croxley Rail Link
Croxley Rail Link
The Croxley Rail Link is a railway engineering proposal to re-route part of a London Underground line in Hertfordshire, outside London, UK. The project would divert Metropolitan line Watford branch services after station away from station to via intermediate stations using a reopened section of...

 project which envisages re-routing part of the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

 Metropolitan line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...

 to Watford Junction; proposals also exist to start direct rail services between Watford Junction and Aylesbury via Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth station
Rickmansworth is a London Underground and National Rail station in the town of Rickmansworth, in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire to the north-west of London...

 and Amersham
Amersham station
Amersham station is a London Underground and National Rail station in the town of Amersham, in the Chiltern district of Buckinghamshire, England.Amersham station is a terminus of the London Underground's Metropolitan Line...

.

Services

Train services to London are usually via Amersham on the London to Aylesbury Line
London to Aylesbury Line
The London to Aylesbury Line is the main railway line between London and Aylesbury, going via the Chiltern Hills; it is operated by Chiltern Railways. The line includes the only route where National Rail trains use track that is utilized by London Underground services...

. In addition to this, travellers also have the option of going to Princes Risborough, and changing to a service on the Chiltern Main Line
Chiltern Main Line
The Chiltern Main Line is an inter-urban, regional and commuter railway, part of the British railway system. It links London and Birmingham on a 112-mile route via the towns of High Wycombe, Banbury, and Leamington Spa...

 (although this results in a longer journey time). However, on late nights and Sundays, some services run direct to Marylebone via the Princes Risborough and Chiltern Main Line route, without the need to change.

At peak times, there are up to five trains per hour towards London in the morning, and returning from London in the evening. Some of these are express services, which skip the stops shared with the Metropolitan Line nearer to London. The typical service pattern is as follows:

Monday-Friday
  • 2tph to/from London via Amersham (plus 1tph express service to London in morning, and from London in evening peak) (1tph is extended north to Aylesbury Vale Parkway)
  • 1tph to/from Princes Risborough


Saturday
  • 2tph to/from London via Amersham (1tph is extended north to Aylesbury Vale Parkway)
  • 1tph to/from Princes Risborough


Sunday
  • 1tph to/from London via Amersham (All trains terminate at Aylesbury Vale Parkway on Sundays)
  • 1tph to/from London via Princes Risborough

Onward connections

Aylesbury bus station is a two minute walk from the station. Buses depart to several destinations across Buckinghamshire, including Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Milton Keynes, Oxford and Leighton Buzzard. Bus departure times are displayed on screens outside the rail station's departure lounge as well as at the bus station itself.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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