Princes Risborough station

Chiltern Railways run all passenger services out of Princes Risborough, namely north east to Aylesbury from the bay platform one, north to Banbury, Oxford and Birmingham from platform three and south to London Marylebone on platform two. A central fast line to London allows expresses not stopping here a clear run through the station. This junction station also had branches to Watlington and Thame that closed decades ago, before the Chinnor heritage line was re-established from platform four. The site also boasts the largest remaining GWR designed signalbox in Britain. It operated between 1904 and 1991 and is now being refurbished by the heritage railway, although signalling itself is controlled from Marylebone.

The original GWR station building remains in place at the station entrance and facing onto platform two. The station building houses a ticket office, which is open for most of the time that trains are running. Platform two is bi-directional so that trains, and especially freights, can access the east spur to the north of the station towards Aylesbury. Our visit coincided with the arrival of two Class 66s, top and tailing aggregate wagons and taking that route. We also saw one of the push and pull Marylebone-bound expresses shoot through on the centre road behind Class 68 No. 68031. These locos, surely one of the best diesel designs of all time, look resplendent in their more recently applied Chiltern blue livery.