The route was however altered in the face of opposition from the Duke of Buckingham who feared for the future of the town, and the line took a new course through Wolverton, opening in 1838.

The line was initially worked by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) which laid on a service of four trains each way daily.

[3] At Buckingham, a temporary rudimentary wooden station fronting on to Lenborough Road was used which initially suffered from poor access, being situated almost in the middle of a field along a footpath.

[6] A number of railway excursions were organised in the early years, taking passengers to destinations such as Crystal Palace via Euston.

Passengers could travel to London via Verney Junction and Bletchley in around 2.5 hours, the service then continuing on to Liverpool and Birmingham via Rugby.

The family seat at Stowe House was subsequently let to the Comte de Paris, the royalist pretender to the French throne.

His residence at Stowe House led the railway company to install bilingual signage at the station as an aid to his staff.

[12] A form of reprieve came in 1956 when British Rail attempted to reduce losses by introducing lightweight single unit diesel cars (9 up and down daily) in 1956 between Banbury and Buckingham as part of the 1955 Modernisation Plan.

[15] British Rail nonetheless announced the closure of the branch to Verney Junction as from 11 March 1966, with the line remaining open until 4 April for the purposes of a visit from the Queen.