West Wycombe railway station

Not to be confused with West Wickham railway station.

West Wycombe railway station was a railway station that served the village of West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Situated about 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) east of the village, the station opened in 1862 and closed in 1958. Minutes of the Wycombe Railway state that construction of West Wycombe station in 1862 cost £430 8s 8d, equivalent to £50,734 in 2023, with additional general works at £417 8s 8d, equivalent to £49,202 in 2023.^[1]

West Wycombe
General information
Location	West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire England
Grid reference	SU838945
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Wycombe Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway
Key dates
1 August 1862	Line opens from High Wycombe to Thame
1 August 1862	Station opened
3 November 1958	Station closed

In the late 1980s, the then operator of the Chiltern Lines Network SouthEast suggested reopening West Wycombe station in order to ease the peak hour congestion at the main High Wycombe station. However, no detailed plans were ever published, and there has been no further suggestion of reopening the station by the current operator, the Arriva owned Chiltern Railways. Chiltern Railways has invested heavily in both infrastructure and rolling stock for the Chiltern group of lines.

History

West Wycombe original station was an intermediate station on the Wycombe Railway and opened on 1 August 1862. The station was provided with a single platform and a station building of typical Wycombe Railway design which was repeated exactly at Princes Risborough and Wheatley, although other stations Cookham, Marlow Road, Wooburn Green, Loudwater and Bledlow had the same design with an additional crossing keeper's house attached.

West Wycombe station was rebuilt in 1906 and provided with a new two platform station. There are a number of photographs of both the original Wycombe railway stations taken by SWA Newton.^[2]

The Wycombe Railway had reached High Wycombe (then known simply as Wycombe) on 1 August 1854; on 1 August 1862, it was extended to Thame.^[3] The line between High Wycombe and Princes Risborough was upgraded, doubled and transferred to the new Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway, the improved line coming into use on 2 April 1906.^[4]

Passenger services were withdrawn from West Wycombe on 3 November 1958.^[5] The line remains active, and plans for reopening the station have been discussed. A reopened station would serve the extensive western suburbs of High Wycombe.^{[citation needed]}

This station has now been demolished and now has a coach car park and flats built on some of the land.

Routes

A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of West Wycombe

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Saunderton Line and station open		Great Western Railway London-Birmingham		High Wycombe Line and station open