Wolverton–Newport Pagnell line

Platform at the formerBradwell station. The trackbed is now ashared use path
Overview
Locale	England
Dates of operation	1866–1967
Successor	Abandoned
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Length	4 miles (6.4 km)

v t e Wolverton– Newport Pagnell line
Legend
Newport Pagnell Great Linford Bradwell Wolverton West Coast Main Line

TheWolverton–Newport Pagnell line was a railwaybranch line inBuckinghamshire, United Kingdom running fromWolverton on theLondon and North Western Railway (LNWR) (today'sWest Coast Main Line) toNewport Pagnell. The line fully opened to passengers in 1867. An extension toOlney was planned in 1865, but this scheme was abandoned after partial construction. Earthworks along the route of the extension still exist in Bury Field (Newport Pagnell), and plaques exist detailing the history of the failed project.

Competition from road traffic starting in the early twentieth century put pressure on the railway, and it was later a victim of theBeeching cuts. The line was seen as unprofitable, and it closed to passengers in 1964, and to goods traffic in 1967. Part of the trackbed today provides a section of theMilton Keynes redway system, a network ofshared paths that serves theMilton Keynes urban area.^[1]

TheNewport Pagnell Canal had opened in 1817 between theGrand Junction Canal atGreat Linford andNewport Pagnell.^[2] The canal carried a reasonable level of traffic but, in 1845, the LNWR attempted to buy the canal to use its route as a potential railway line. The offer was refused for two decades, until 1862, when the LNWR was able to purchase the canal for £9000.^[3] The canal closed in 1864. Despite this, the railway when built did not run on the line of the old canal.^[1]

Two earlier proposals had been made in 1845 and 1846 for a railway serving Newport Pagnell: both schemes failed to attract sufficient capital.^[1]

Newport Pagnell Railway Act 1863
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to incorporate a Company for making a Railway from the London and North-western Railway to Newport Pagnell, with Powers to purchase the Newport Pagnell Canal.
Citation	26 & 27 Vict. c. cx
Dates
Royal assent	29 June 1863
Text of statute as originally enacted

Permission to build the 4-mile (6.4 km) long single line branch railway was obtained on 16 June 1863 in theNewport Pagnell Railway Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. cx).^[4] The line opened for goods in 1866, with passenger services commencing on 2 September 1867.^[1][5] The line was officially absorbed by the LNWR by theNewport Pagnell Railway (Transfer and Dissolution) Act 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. cvi). The one engine that worked the single track branch was later nicknamedNewport Nobby.^[1][6]

In 1865, powers were granted to extend the line from Newport Pagnell toOlney and then on to meet theNorthampton and Peterborough Railway atWellingborough. Construction was underway, and a bridge had been completed when the extension was abandoned in 1871.^[1][6] Olney was later served by astation on theMidland Railway'sBedford–Northampton line from 1872: that line closed in 1962.^[7]

In 1900 a spur connecting the branch to theup slow line of theWest Coast Main Line was constructed.^[6] The water supply for locomotives at Wolverton was insufficient, so a water column was built at the intermediate station in Bradwell. Water came from the town's own source, with many houses losing their supply. On Mondays, housewives were known to shake their fists at engine drivers when their weekly wash was interrupted.^[8] Eventually drivers were forbidden from taking water from Bradwell on Mondays.^[9]

In 1898, the first motor bus service in Buckinghamshire began running between Newport Pagnell and Olney,^[1] followed by numerous other routes, which took traffic away from the railway line. Despite this, the LNWR considered electrification of the line in 1904, believing such a scheme would bring about considerable savings, but the idea never materialised.^[6]

The branch was included in theBeeching report of 1963 which concluded that, since 30% of the railway network carried less than 1% of the total passenger traffic, much of it should be closed.^[10] The residents of Newport Pagnell resisted the closure, demanding an enquiry which took place on 7 June 1964.^[9] Despite many objections, it was determined that the line would close. The last passenger service was the 5:34 pm train from Newport Pagnell on 5 September 1964, just under a century after the line opened to passengers.^[9] The mourning of the line was so great that a bucket of water was poured over a double dressed asRichard Beeching, the man commonly associated with the closure of over 4,000 miles of the British railway network. The crowd cheered as this happened, a mark of the public's feelings about the closure.^[1][9]

The line was finally closed to freight traffic in 1967, after which the tracks were lifted.^[11]

• Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway
• Rail trail – Railroad bed converted to a recreational trail

v t e Stations in and around Milton Keynes
Legend
West Coast Main Line towardsGlasgow Central Northampton loop toNorthampton Roade Cutting Roade Bedford–Northampton line towardsNorthampton Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway Salcey Forest Hanslope Junction Castlethorpe Olney Wolverton and Stony Stratford Tramway towardsBedford Deanshanger Old Stratford Wolverton–Newport Pagnell line Stony Stratford Newport Pagnell Wolverton Works Great Linford Wolverton Bradwell East West Rail / Marston Vale line toBedford Woburn Sands Milton Keynes Central Bow Brickhill Denbigh Hall Fenny Stratford Bletchley TMD Bletchley East West Rail / (formerVarsity Line) to Oxford Bletchley Flyover Leighton Buzzard West Coast Main Line towardsEuston

• Mutter, Sally (12 June 2023)."Video shows the once-thriving steam train line that was turned into a redway in Milton Keynes".Milton Keynes Citizen.

• Rail transport in Buckinghamshire
• Rail transport in Milton Keynes
• Wolverton
• Railway companies established in 1863
• Railway lines opened in 1866
• Railway companies disestablished in 1875
• Closed railway lines in South East England
• Railway lines closed in 1967
• 1863 establishments in England

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
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• Use dmy dates from March 2025
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