Railways in Buckinghamshire - History - Towards Nationalisation, Privatisation and HS2

Towards Nationalisation, Privatisation and HS2

The Big Four ran the railways for twenty-five years. The 1920s and 1930s saw for the first time competition from the motor car. High enemployment after the First World War had caused the government to give money to county councils to improve the road network. The cash inflow allowed a large increase in car ownership and road mileage. The railways were still popular however and in 1930, the Staines to Windsor Line, run by the SR became the first railway in Buckinghamshire to be electrified, on the 660V third rail system. During the Second World War, the railways suffered heavy damage due to bombing by the Luftwaffe. Little money was invested into the railways and maintenance was not carried out. At the end of the war in 1945, the new labour government realised that the private sector could no longer afford the railway system and so in 1947, the Transport Act 1947 was passed, which nationalised almost all forms of mass transit in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1948.

Nationalisation divided the railways into six state-owned regions, operated by British Rail. Those covering Buckinghamshire were:

• the Western region, which took over all GWR routes in the county
• the Southern region, which took over routes from SR
• the London Midland region which took over routes from the LMS.
• the Eastern region which took over routes from the LNER

The Beeching report saw closure of the former Great Central line north of Aylesbury (1966), and the Oxford-Bletchley 'Varsity Line' closed in 1967 (despite escaping listing by Beeching). Almost all other surviving stations and branch and connecting lines in the north of the county were also closed to passengers. But most lines in the south survived as busy London commuter routes, and new stations subsequently opened at Milton Keynes new town on the West Coast main line (1982); and at Haddenham & Thame Parkway (1987).

Privatisation in the 1990s placed most Bucks services under the Chiltern Railways franchise, one of the most innovative of the new companies. In 2010 Chiltern opened Aylesbury Vale Parkway 2 miles northwest of Aylesbury; and Chiltern announced that in 2013 they would start a fast Marylebone-Oxford service via Wycombe, Risborough and a new Bicester chord. In 2011 the government announced financial support for re-opening of Aylesbury and Oxford to Milton Keynes/Bedford services, with new stations at Winslow and perhaps Newton Longville, using parts of the former Varsity and Great Central lines. Controversial proposals for HS2, the new 230 mph high-speed line under the Chilterns and via the Great Central corridor, were announced by the Labour government in 2010, then enthusiastically taken up by the incoming Coalition despite strong opposition along parts of the route. The current plan is for opening in 2025, but without stations in Bucks.