Brill railway station - Knowledge (XXG)

395: 38: 54: 210: 312:. The management of London Transport aimed to reduce goods services, and it was felt that there was little chance of the more distant parts of the former Metropolitan Railway ever becoming viable passenger routes. The line was closed on 30 November 1935, and all buildings and infrastructure at Brill associated with the line were sold at auction. Most of the infrastructure was subsequently demolished, though three station cottages survive. 573: 61: 524:, expanded the brickworks, which became the Brill Brick & Tile Works, using the Brill Tramway to deliver bricks to the main line at Quainton Road. With the connection to Oxford and the upgrading of the rail line abandoned, Brill Brick & Tile Works was unable to compete with the nearby brickworks at 647:

Although from 1899 services were operated by the Metropolitan Railway (the Metropolitan line of the London Underground from July 1933), the track and stations remained in the ownership of the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad Company, controlled by the Trustees of the late Earl Temple's Estate. The MR

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Although little-used by passengers, Brill station was valuable as a relatively rapid link between the dairy farms of Buckinghamshire and the markets of Aylesbury and London; around 30 carts per day would deliver milk to Brill station for the first train each morning. There was also a small amount of

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Upon the withdrawal of London Transport services the lease expired, and the railway and stations reverted to the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad Company. With no funds and no rolling stock of its own, the O&ATC was unable to operate the line, and on 2 April 1936 the entire infrastructure of the

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from 1928 and the Chief Executive of the LPTB, aimed to move the network away from freight services, and saw the lines beyond Aylesbury via Quainton Road to Brill and Verney Junction as having little future as financially viable passenger routes, concluding that over £2,000 (about £180,000 in 2024)

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From 1872 to 1894 the station was served by two passenger trains per day, and from 1895 to 1899 the number was increased to three per day. Following the 1899 transfer of services to the Metropolitan Railway, the station was served by four trains per day until its closure in 1935. Limited by

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main line from London to Manchester was built, running directly past the brickworks at Calvert. As a consequence it was far cheaper and faster for the industries of Lancashire and London to buy bricks from Calvert instead of Brill, despite the towns being less than seven miles (11km)

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The Metropolitan Railway following the MR takeover of services on the Brill Tramway. Brill (arrowed) is one of two northwestern termini. The image is skewed approximately 45° from north; the main MR line in reality ran almost directly northwest from its junction with the present day

487:, cheaply laid track which followed the contours of the hills, and with five intermediate stops to pick up and set down goods, passengers and livestock, trains ran very slowly; in 1887 trains needed 1 hour 45 minutes to travel the six miles from Brill to the 469:. Two cottages for station staff were built near the station in 1871. A third cottage across the road from the station was built in 1885, possibly to serve as an office. After the 1899 transfer of services to the Metropolitan Railway, the MR introduced a single 589:

in 2024). All buildings in Brill associated with the railway station have been demolished, with the exception of the station cottages, one of which is now called "Sleepers". The station site is now largely open fields, and the site of the brickworks is a light

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at Quainton Road. Improvements to the line carried out at the time of the transfer to the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad, and the use of the MR's better-quality rolling stock, reduced the journey time from Brill to Quainton Road to between 32 and 36 minutes.

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passenger carriage on the line; at this time, a small wooden hut was added to the station to serve as a ticket office and waiting room and a short section of platform was raised to conventional height to allow access to the higher doors on the new carriage.

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Serving a lightly populated area, and with trains travelling only marginally quicker than walking pace, Brill station saw relatively little use by passengers; in 1932, the last year of private operation, Brill station (and the nearby halt at

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of a mile (1.2 of a km) from Brill itself. Brill railway station was small, with a single low platform. At its opening there was one station building, which served as the freight depot, passenger terminal, and ticket office. Next to it was a

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Rail services from London to Oxford were very poor at this time; despite being an extremely roundabout route, had the connection from Quainton Road to Oxford been built it would have been the shortest route between Oxford and the City of

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would be saved by closing the Brill Tramway. As a consequence, the LPTB decided to withdraw all passenger services beyond Aylesbury. The Brill Tramway was closed on 1 December 1935; the last services ran on 30 November.

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Because the proposed line ran on land owned by the Duke of Buckingham and by the Winwood Charity Trust, who consented to its construction, the line did not need Parliamentary approval and construction could begin

286:. Although serving a lightly populated area and little-used by passengers, the station was a significant point for freight traffic, particularly as a carrier of milk from the dairy farms of Buckinghamshire to 348:(MR) reached Aylesbury, and shortly afterwards connected to the A&BR line, with local MR services running to Verney Junction from 1 April 1894. Through trains from the MR's London terminus at 1445: 1440: 684:

Although the Brill Tramway was closed completely following transfer to public ownership, the LPTB considered that the Verney Junction branch still had a use as a freight line and as a

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in London, shown at the bottom of the map. The blue bar marks the northern limit of London Underground operations after 1936, and the black bar the limit of LU operations after 1961.

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coal traffic to the station; Brill coal dealer George Green received three coal wagons per month. In addition, a storehouse at the station held beer supplied by the breweries of

1425: 358:, had long had an interest in railways, and had served as chairman of the London and North Western Railway from 1852 until 1861. In the early 1870s he decided to build a 565: 442:, but the extension beyond Brill was never built. The MR leased the Brill Tramway from 1 December 1899, although the line continued to be owned by the O&ATC. 371: 19:

This article is about the station on the Brill Tramway and the Metropolitan Railway. For the station on the Chiltern Main Line which served the same area, see

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Despite being a part of the London Underground network, Brill—in common with all Metropolitan line stations north of Aylesbury—was never shown on the

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were of poor quality, services were very slow, initially taking 1 hour 45 minutes to traverse the six miles (9.7 km) from Brill to the

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design, each with a top speed of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h), although a speed limit of 5 miles per hour (8 km/h) was enforced.

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Excluding the station houses at Westcott and Brill, which were sold separately, the auction raised £112 10s (about £9,660 in 2024).

603: 266:, the station was opened in March 1872 as the result of lobbying from local residents and businesses. As the line was cheaply built and 549: 400: 333: 321: 309: 156: 585:

at Brill sold for £7 10s (about £1,500 in 2024), and a railway-owned house attached to Brill station fetched £350 (about £

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each day ran in each direction. With the extension to Brill opened the line was renamed the Brill Tramway. The Duke bought two

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was also attached to the station, but it proved unable to compete with nearby rivals and closed within a few years of opening.

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In 1885 the Duke of Buckingham opened a modern brickworks near Brill station, with a dedicated siding, and in 1895 his heir

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for the introduction of passenger services on the line led to an extension from Wotton to a new terminus at the foot of

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set up the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad Company (O&ATC) with the intention of extending the line from Brill to

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Brill was a small town of 1,400 people when the line opened, and owing to the town's hilltop setting the station was

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Tramway Business Park, on the site of the Duke of Buckingham's brickworks, close to the site of Brill station

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On 1 July 1933 the Metropolitan Railway, along with London's other underground railways except for the small

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and Aylesbury. Bricks and tiles from the brick and tile factories of Brill were used in the construction of

214: 95: 1420: 408: 263: 85: 658: 500:) saw only 3,272 passenger journeys and raised only £191 (about £16,700 in 2024) in passenger receipts. 484: 325: 267: 1361: 345: 238: 145: 279: 995: 557: 529: 420: 242: 412: 305: 688:, and continued to maintain the line and to operate freight services until 6 September 1947. 488: 275: 591: 514: 424: 226: 552:(LPTB). Thus, despite it being 45 miles (72 km) and over two hours' travel from the 1166: 1006: 553: 246: 1414: 1366: 462: 367: 359: 230: 105: 435: 362:

to transport freight from his estates in Buckinghamshire to the A&BR's line at

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Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos

337: 245:, despite being 45 miles (72 km) and over two hours' travelling time from the 572: 1001: 533: 528:, and soon closed. The building was taken over by the Fenemore workshop, making 416: 1002:"The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)" 582: 561: 466: 383: 291: 271: 1154: 190: 177: 287: 37: 304:

In 1933 the Metropolitan Railway came under public control and became the

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had an option to purchase the line outright, but it was never taken up.

431: 685: 439: 298: 675:, though they did appear on maps issued by the Metropolitan Railway. 517:, near the eastern end of the Brill Tramway, between 1874 and 1889. 571: 393: 415:, north of the hilltop town of Brill itself, in March 1872. Two 548:, was taken into public ownership as part of the newly formed 1431:

Former Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Railway stations

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During the 1890s, plans were made to extend the tramway to

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William Temple-Gore-Langton, 4th Earl Temple of Stowe

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