On the National Rail network, it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern terminus of the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham.

Marylebone was the last of London's main line termini to be built and is one of the smallest, opening with half of the platforms originally planned.

By the 1980s, it was threatened with closure, but was reprieved (press announcement on 30 April 1986) because of commuter traffic on the London to Aylesbury Line (a remaining part of the GCML) and from High Wycombe.

Following the privatisation of British Rail, the station was expanded with two additional platforms in 2006 and improved services to Birmingham Snow Hill.

Marylebone is one of the squares on the British Monopoly board and is popular for filming because of its relative quietness compared to other London termini.

[6] Chiltern Railways operates all services at the station, accessing the Chiltern Main Line and London to Aylesbury Line routes; these serve High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa, Warwick, Solihull, Birmingham Moor Street, Birmingham Snow Hill, and (at peak hours) Stourbridge Junction.

When Sir Edward Watkin became chairman of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) in 1864, the line was not particularly lucrative as it had no direct connection to London.

Watkin promised that Lord's would not be disrupted by the railway construction and an act of Parliament to complete the line was passed on 28 March 1893.

[17] The Great Central Railway linked London to stations in High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Rugby, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester.

[20] It is a domestic version of the Wrenaissance revival style that fits in with the residential surroundings with Dutch gables, employing warm brick and cream-coloured stone.

[19] The original plan was for eight platforms, but half were designated as a "possible future extension"[21] and the cost of building the GCML was greater than expected.

The cost of the London Extension meant that the adjoining Great Central Hotel, designed by Sir Robert William Ellis, was built by a different company.

A locomotive servicing area, consisting of a turntable and coaling stage remained in use until the end of steam traction at the station in 1966.

[29] The GCR was unhappy about having to use part of the Metropolitan Railway's route to reach Marylebone and opened a new line to High Wycombe on 2 April 1906.

The additional suburban services generated traffic for the station, which had previously been so empty on occasion that the staff outnumbered passengers.

Trains ran from the north and East Midlands to the freight depot adjoining the station, which was marginally the largest in London.

[34] From 1949, all local services towards High Wycombe and Princes Risborough were routed into Marylebone, although the frequency of trains was reduced two years later.

[42] British Rail formally announced plans to close Marylebone on 15 March 1984, pending a statutory consultation process and closure notices were posted at the station.

The proposals proved controversial and faced strong opposition from local authorities and the public, leading to a legal battle which lasted for two years.

The introduction of the inter-modal and unlimited use Capitalcard (now known as the Travelcard) led to a sharp rise in commuters into London, absorbing the spare capacity at Paddington and Baker Street, eliminating the possibility of Marylebone's services being diverted.

[45] Marylebone was reprieved from the threat of closure on 30 April 1986,[45] and an £85 million modernisation and refurbishment programme of the station and its services was granted.

[50] The line was restored to double track the same year and Marylebone was expanded in 2006, with two extra platforms in Chiltern's Evergreen 2 project.

Arriva Trains Wales announced a consultation for two services a day, following the route of the WSMR connecting with the Cambrian line at Shrewsbury.

[62] In a study by Network Rail, it was said that any expansion of the station could cost up to £700 million, with Old Oak Common a more feasible alternative for capacity increase.

Until 2004, a wooden escalator led into the station, one of the last on the London Underground system that had not been replaced as a consequence of the King's Cross fire in 1987.

[74] Marylebone has direct connections with just a single Tube line, unlike many other London termini such as Euston and Paddington.

[73] The underground station was opened on 27 March 1907 by the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway under the name Great Central, following a change from its intended name Lisson Grove.

[31] The old building, designed by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's architect, Leslie Green, used lifts to access the platforms.

[81] The current Bakerloo Line service consists of: As one of the quietest London termini, Marylebone has been popular as a filming location.