On 28th June 1873 the Great Marlow Railway Company’s line opened for passenger traffic. At two miles and 61 chains long, it became the branch from Bourne End to Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Marlow station was then named Great Marlow and Bourne End was Marlow Road. Marlow Road became Bourne End in 1874 and Great Marlow stayed as such until 1899 when the “Great” was removed.

[snip]

Does anyone have a Western Region passenger timetable for, say, 1968 or '69?

Cue grahame? 

Soooo... the later of those two timetables, Marlow & High Wycombe's through services to Paddington have gone. High Wycombe to Maidenhead is now a mixture of through trains & others involving a minimum 15 minute wait at Bourne End.

The line of route has now got housing on it....

Not widely publicised but I believe the interavailability is still valid.

Any idea where that is documented?

It doesn't say that the ticket arrangement is in place.  Is it entirely informal ?

I was going to post the example on Geoffs website, but did not want to do so until I have absolute proof that I am not peddling myths.

700784 Manual

Holders of tickets from Kyle of Lochalsh to either Glasgow or Edinburgh, may join Scotrail only operated trains at Mallaig. They will need to make their own arrangements to travel between Kyle of Lochalsh and Mallaig, as railway tickets are not valid on bus and ferry connections between the two locations. This manual easement will not operate in online journey planning systems.

It is not in the routing guide easement list where I would have expected to find something similar to this example from elsewhere:

Thank you Graham. It was where I first went looking too.

Could someone with social media savvy (and that is definitely not me!) reach out to GWR and see if this well thought-out arrangement is still in place and if so, where it is documented. Good intentions are of no defence if one was to meet the autonomous "we-are-revenue-protection" brigade. I have sadly seen them in action.

It doesn't say that the ticket arrangement is in place.  Is it entirely informal ?

I was going to post the example on Geoffs website, but did not want to do so until I have absolute proof that I am not peddling myths.

... have just asked what is purportedly their Bluesky account. (A reply might not be forthcoming as allegedly many TOCs are awaiting an update to whatever software it is that they use to coordinate their various social media activities)

Alterations to services between Bourne End and Marlow
Due to a fault with the signalling system between Bourne End and Marlow the line is closed.
Train services running to and from these stations will be terminated at and started back from Bourne End. Disruption is expected until the end of the day on 24/08/25.
Customer Advice
We have taxis in place to operate between Bourne End and Marlow, connecting out of trains from Maidenhead. Taxis will also operate between Marlow and Bourne End approximately 10 minutes EARLIER than the train they are replacing with a view to connectig into trains from Bourne End to Maidenhead. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee connections with train services.
-
We're sorry for the delay to your journey.
-
We will update this message with more information when we have it.
Further Information
An update will follow within the next 2 hours.
Customers are requested to check the stations Onward Travel Information poster and wait for replacement road transport at the designated stop. Customers are advised that the replacement road transport may run later than the advertised train times owing to the additional time taken by road between stations and the time required for loading and unloading at each stop.
If you require further information please speak to our staff at the station or on the train, use the Customer Help Point, message us on X @GWRHelp or call National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484 950.

If you arrive at your destination 15 or more minutes late because your GWR train was delayed or cancelled, you can claim Delay Repay compensation. Please keep your ticket and visit GWR.com/DelayRepay
Last Updated:23/08/2025 07:00

I don't know the details of the "signalling issue" ... but I muse that modern technology adds to how long things take to fix when there's a problem. I also muse as to whether other modern constraints prevent a unit being locked on the branch-off-a-branch with one train in operation on it, stop and proceed at crossings if necessary, and passengers transferring around the platform end at Bourne End.

I don't know the details of the "signalling issue" ... but I muse that modern technology adds to how long things take to fix when there's a problem. I also muse as to whether other modern constraints prevent a unit being locked on the branch-off-a-branch with one train in operation on it, stop and proceed at crossings if necessary, and passengers transferring around the platform end at Bourne End.

They should contact the local heritage railways around them. They might have spare parts they need right away.

... and these days it would need to be a pilotperson.

The only job on the railway where they must leave the railway premises immediately that their shift finishes

In olden days, a work around may have been found by using a pilotman. Of course, we don't know what the problem is, and these days it would need to be a pilotperson.

...Don't suppose any could afford to live in Marlow! ...

Line reported open by GWR at 1531 on Twitter

Looking at Google Maps I see that the points at Bourne End are now sporting new electric point motors. Are these part of the problem, having replaced the Victorian aged (and quite reliable) mechanical ground frame?

Thank you for that ET. That is a most useful document that allows me to fully understand how it all works. I must say though that the concluding paragraph on page 6 might be somewhat prophetic.

Generally the service is very reliable even with the need for 2 units at each peak.  More often than not its the units that fail and not the lack of crew of lineside equipment.

The donkey's broken down, poor creature.

Mark