AUGUST 15 was a big day in the history of the Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway (C&PRR) as it saw the opening and first use of the new platform 4 at Princes Risborough station.
It also means the railway is publicly accessible from the national network for the first time in 61 years.
Hauling the first train was GWR ‘Prairie’ No. 5526 with Class 20 No. D8059.
Enjoy more Railway reading in the monthly magazine.
Click here to subscribe & save.
The cross-platform interchange has been constructed by the 100% volunteer-operated C&PRR, part funded by the UK Government – with a £75,000 grant from the Department for Transport, made in August 2016, a private major benefactor – plus hundreds of donations made over the last 25 years.
Volunteer labour has been estimated to have saved more than £750,000, with the opening phase of the project costed at about £350,000, demonstrating the value of volunteers.
Work has taken place in all weathers over three years to make the platform and connection.
Chiltern Railways and Network Rail have also been involved in the project, the latter permitting operation of the trains to and from Chinnor over track of the branch which was originally to Thame and was slewed in 2016 to connect to the Chinnor branch.
Read more in the September issue of The RM – on sale now!
