Oxford Line

The railway from Princes Risborough to Oxford was authorized in 1861 and construction of the broad gauge line was started by the Wycombe Railway immediately. Thame was reached the following year and a direct service from Thame to Paddington via High Wycombe and Maidenhead was started immediately. Trains took nearly 3 hours, calling at all stations on route, including the new station at Bledlow and (by request) the halt at Towersey.

Construction onwards to Oxford too more time, not least because a 520 yard tunnel had to be constructed at Horspath. Nevertheless the line to Oxford was completed in October 1864, with new stations at Tiddington, Wheatley, Morris Cowley and Littlemore before reaching the GWR main line south of Oxford at Kennington Junction.

In 1867 the Wycombe Railway was absorbed into the Great Western Railway and three years later work started on converting the whole line to standard gauge, necessitating the closure of the whole line for just over a week.

The decline in traffic started in the 1930s and apart from a brief spell of increased activity during the Second World War, the gradual run down of the line continued through to the end of the 1950s. In January 1963 the final passenger train ran on the line and the central section of the track was lifted, end sections being retained for goods traffic to the oil depot at Thame and as a connection to the British Leyland car factory at Cowley.

However, the history of the line is not over. Chiltern Railways, have major plans to restore the line from Princes Risborough through to a new Parkway station at Oxford with regular survives from there through to Marylebone.