Bourne End Railway station
The station was originally named Marlow Road station. In 1874 Marlow Road station was renamed Bourne End to obviate confusion with the newly opened Marlow station.
The station was opened in 1854 as part of the Wycombe Railway Company line between Maidenhead Boyne Hill station and High Wycombe. To reach Bourne End, a wooden viaduct was built across Cockmarsh and a wooden bridge was built across the River Thames. In 1873 a line linking Bourne End with Marlow was opened to the public, with 1700 tickets being sold in the first week. Originally the branch line was served by a third platform on the west side of the station.
Bourne End is a terminus but effectively acts as a through station, with the driver having to change ends to continue to the next station. During peak hours service frequency is increased by having two trains work the line, each using Bourne End as the terminus: one runs Marlow – Bourne End and one Maidenhead – Bourne End, with passengers changing trains at Bourne End. About 2–3 trains per day operate between Bourne End and Paddington in the morning peak and coming back in the evening peak.
History of the Line
The Wycombe railway was formed in 1845 and was successful in getting it's act in 1846. Construction was slow and the line opened between Maidenhead and High Wycombe in 1854. In 1873 the Marlow branch was added connecting the town to Bourne End.
The original station at Maidenhead was located on Castle hill but was closed when the present Maidenhead station opened in 1871. The line was 9.75 miles in length (excluding the Marlow branch) and, in distance from Maidenhead (original station) stations were opened at Cookham (3 miles), Bourne End (4.5 miles), Wooburn Green (5.75 miles), Loudwater (7.25 miles) and on to Wycombe station.
When the mainline from Wycombe to Marylebone opened in 1899, the company continued to run freight over the line with the main London bound passenger services running over the new line.
A snapshot of the line in 1937 shows there were 12 return trains a day between Maidenhead and Wycombe which were well used by the local population. The line flourished until the 1960's when competition from the road gradually took all the freight and more people began using private cars more and more.
In 1970, British rail asked the Wycombe council for £60,000 to help keep the line open but no money was forthcoming and consequently the line closed to all traffic in the same year. The track and signalling were recovered and the stations left to crumble and a 116 years of local train services came to an end.
