Waddesdon Road railway station

Waddesdon Road
Small wooden railway station with a single rail track
Waddesdon Road is located in Buckinghamshire
Waddesdon Road
Waddesdon Road
Location of Waddesdon Road in Buckinghamshire
LocationWaddesdon, Buckinghamshire
Local authorityBuckinghamshire
OwnerWotton Tramway
Number of platforms1
Key dates
1871Opened for freight, as Waddesdon Road Siding
1872Opened for passengers, renamed Waddesdon
1894Rebuilt
1899Public ownership (Metropolitan Railway)
1922Renamed Waddesdon Road
1935Closed by London Transport
Other information
Coordinates51°51′07″N 0°56′48″W / 51.8519°N 0.9468°W / 51.8519; -0.9468
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Waddesdon Road railway station, called Waddesdon railway station before 1922, was a small halt in open countryside in Buckinghamshire, England. It was opened in 1871 as part of a short horse-drawn tramway to assist with the transport of goods from and around the Duke of Buckingham's extensive estates in Buckinghamshire and to connect the Duke's estates to the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway at Quainton Road. In 1872 the line was expanded and converted for passenger use, becoming known as the Brill Tramway. In 1899 the operation of the line was taken over by the London-based Metropolitan Railway.

In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway was taken into public ownership to become the Metropolitan line of the London Underground, and despite its rural setting Waddesdon Road station became a part of the London Transport system. The new management could not see a future for the line as a financially viable passenger route, and Waddesdon Road, along with the rest of the former Brill Tramway, was closed in late 1935.

The station was heavily used for the transport of construction materials during the building of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild's estate at Waddesdon Manor in the 1870s and 1880s, but aside from that it saw little use. The station was inconveniently sited and served by few passenger trains, and other more frequently served stations were in easy walking distance. In 1932, the last full year of operations prior to the Metropolitan Railway being taken into public ownership, the station was used for only 281 passenger journeys and generated just £4 of passenger revenue.