Heyday.2C decline and rationalisation Chiltern Main Line

ex-gwr king class locomotive 6008 king james ii hauling paddington birkenhead woodside express in 1950



class 52 hauling express paddington birkenhead woodside near seer green in 1962

during heyday of route, many prestigious trains ran paddington northwest of england via joint line, reaching wolverhampton, shrewsbury, wrexham general, chester , birkenhead woodside. various through services marylebone gcr network ran via joint line between london , ashendon junction.

at nationalisation in 1948, line passed western region of british railways, continued operate paddington – birmingham – wolverhampton - birkenhead fast trains through 1950s in competition london midland region s (lmr) euston via west coast main line (wcml).

the paddington – birmingham – wolverhampton - birkenhead fast service sharply increased in frequency 15 trains day each way 1959–60 timetable compensate withdrawal of lmr trains during electrification of wcml. same reason, chiltern line used many trains between paddington , birkenhead 1965.

all local trains diverted marylebone in 1963 , operated four-car class 115 dmus, , main-line platforms @ greenford on new north route between old oak common , northolt junction closed.

after gcr main line closed between calvert , rugby central in september 1966, trains south coast diverted north of banbury via route. these became forerunners of today s crosscountry services between birmingham , bournemouth.

class 115 dmus operated marylebone - banbury local services between 1960 , 1992

on 6 march 1967, after completion of wcml electrification, express trains paddington birmingham/wolverhampton/birkenhead discontinued under reshaping of british railways. route downgraded secondary status , subsequently single-tracked between princes risborough , aynho junction, remained flying junction, crossing loop @ bicester not used. through lines removed of stations had them, such beaconsfield , denham, , relief lines lifted between lapworth , tyseley. tunnel between birmingham moor street , snow hill closed on 2 march 1968. local services leamington , stratford terminated @ moor street, , remaining services paddington , south coast diverted new street. snow hill closed completely, along of line wolverhampton, on 4 march 1972.

although two-hourly locomotive-hauled semi-fast service paddington birmingham continued via high wycombe, princes risborough, bicester, banbury, leamington , solihull, in 1970s 1 daily peak-hour return journey diverted via reading , oxford, , later via coventry, , in 1980s truncated run banbury only. other passenger services operated dmus , marylebone, extended high wycombe banbury (for connections birmingham), on two-hourly frequency.

in 1977 parliamentary select committee on nationalised industries recommended considering electrification of more of rail network, , 1979 br presented range of options electrify numerous routes 2000. of these options included banbury — birmingham section of line, plus cherwell valley line , coventry leamington line. under 1979–90 conservative governments succeeded 1976–79 labour government proposals not implemented.

the route considered partial closure in 1980s. services have run paddington via new north route, , marylebone station , lines leading have been closed. services , aylesbury have run via princes risborough. however, marylebone formally reprieved in 1986 , closure proposals rescinded.

between 1988 , 1992 british rail carried out total route modernisation included resignalling marylebone aynho junction, , both marylebone aylesbury routes, new marylebone integrated control centre. combined track rationalisation removed of vestigial traces of main-line heritage line, downgrading purely commuter line minimal infrastructure. until then, of four-track section between northolt junction , west ruislip had survived, , high wycombe station had retained of original track layout, though other major stations on line had been downgraded through lines removed. @ same time, new north route between old oak common , northolt junction singled between old oak common , park royal , between greenford , northolt junction. in 1992, signal box @ aynho junction closed , replaced modern signalling controlled banbury south signal box; box demolished in 2002. part of these renovations, br installed advanced automatic train protection (atp) system, trial view rolling out nationwide. however, privatisation intervened, , great western main line other line equipped.