It was important to Aylesbury, securing it a cheaper way of bringing in essentials and sending out its agricultural produce, as well as greatly improving passenger communication.

However other railways were built serving Aylesbury, and in time these offered easier communication: the inconvenience of passenger travel involving changing trains at Cheddington made the branch line unattractive.

In 1815 the town had ensured its connection to the canal network for the transport to market of its agricultural produce, and now wished to do the same with a railway.

[6] All seemed to be going well, until a local bank, William Medley, Son and Company, of Aylesbury, failed in January 1837.

After urgent reflection, the Aylesbury Railway Company decided to proceed with its branch line, but any ideas it may have harboured regarding an extension on to Oxford, were now dismissed.

The delay in starting was due to the banking crisis, but also to reconsideration as to the advisability of proceeding with a line to Oxford, and to the problem in negotiating a working arrangement with the London and Birmingham Railway.

[6]The London and Birmingham Railway undertook to lease the line from 15 January 1840[5] for £2,500 per annum, that is to say 5% on the estimated construction cost.

At the outset the L&BR had intended simply to own the track, and permit independent hauliers to operate on the line on a toll basis; however on reflection it was realised that this arrangement would hardly work for an intercity line like the L&BR, and the company decided to operate its own trains.

[10][5] It was stated at a celebratory dinner later that "Prior to the railway opening the only means of travelling to London had been by coach which left Aylesbury at 6 o'clock in the morning arriving in London at 10 o'clock in the evening, 14 hours travelling.

[15][4][5] The new passenger station did not have a run-round loop, and arriving passenger trains were generally run round by propelling them to the goods yard points to release the engine, and gravitating the coaches back to the platform under the control of the guard.

[17][4] Throughout the twentieth century, the line had gradually lost business to more convenient railway routes; London could be reached direct by either of two other routes, and northward journeys were convenient by the Great Central Railway.