The Marlow branch line is a single track railway line in England, between Maidenhead station in Berkshire and Bourne End and Marlow stations in Buckinghamshire. It is in length. Passenger services are operated by Great Western Railway using Class 165 and Class 166 diesel trains. The line connects to the Great Western Main Line at Maidenhead; it uses a section of the former Wycombe Railway line to High Wycombe together with the former Great Marlow Railway.
The train that runs on the branch line is known as The Marlow Donkey although the exact derivation of the term is unclear. Karau and Turner say "the trains of pack horses, mules and donkeys carrying goods to the riverside prompted the local people to christen the train on the Great Marlow Railway, the 'Marlow Donkey', a name which survives to this day". However, Anthony Wethered, great-grandson of the first chairman of the company, suggests that it is the name of the line. A third tradition identifies a particular locomotive. A pub in Marlow is named after it.
Train services
The off-peak service is one train per hour in each direction between Maidenhead and Marlow. During morning and evening peak times a two trains per hour service is achieved by using two trains: one shuttling between Marlow and Bourne End, and another between Bourne End and Maidenhead. This is possible because Bourne End station has two platforms that may be used simultaneously.
All trains from Marlow must stop and reverse at Bourne End, as the line to Marlow has a trailing connection, and the driver must change ends for the second part of the route. As a result of the position at which the Marlow branch enters Bourne End station, the length of trains serving Marlow is limited to two coaches of class 165 rolling stock. Most off-peak trains on the line begin at Marlow and terminate at Maidenhead.
The following settlements are served by the branch line: Maidenhead Furze Platt Cookham Bourne End Marlow
History
Construction
In July 1846, The Wycombe Railway Company was incorporated by an Act of Parliament. The act authorised the construction of a single line from the original Great Western Railway (GWR) station at Maidenhead, to High Wycombe. Construction began in 1852, and the completed line to High Wycombe, was finally opened on 1 August 1854.
The line left the GWR main line at the site of the present Maidenhead station, the first stop of which was Maidenhead (Wycombe Junction), renamed in the 1860s, Boyne Hill. This station was closed on 1 November 1871 upon the opening of the present Maidenhead station. The Wycombe Railway Company was taken over by GWR on 1 February 1867.
In August 1867 the business men of Great Marlow met to discuss a connection with the GWR Wycombe branch line, at the station then called Marlow Road (now Bourne End). The Great Marlow Railway Act was given Royal Assent on 13 July 1868 with an authorised capital of £18,000. Only about one third of this was raised locally and the GWR supplied the remainder. The line opened on 27 June 1873, and Marlow Road was renamed Bourne End in 1874 to avoid confusion. The Marlow company maintained the line and supplied the station staff, whilst the GWR supplied and operated the rolling stock. The no. 522, GWR 517 Class 0-4-2 saddle tank locomotive (built at Wolverhampton in 1868), was affectionately known as the Marlow Donkey. No. 522 was rebuilt at Swindon Works in 1884 and similar Metro 2-4-0 class locomotives remained in service until 1935 when autotrains were introduced.
The GWR acquired the remainder of the capital and owned the line from 1897, thereby relieving the Marlow owners of the responsibility for ongoing maintenance of the line.
The maximum number of stops on the line were: Maidenhead (latterly renamed and effectively replaced by the current Maidenhead station), Cookham, Marlow Road (latterly renamed Bourne End), Wooburn Green, Loudwater, High Wycombe.
In 1937 Furze Platt station was added on the outskirts of Maidenhead (before Cookham station).