Transport in Buckinghamshire
The county's growing industry (such as in Slough, now part of Berkshire) first brought canals to the area, then railways and then motorways.
[4] Air travel is the only major mode of transport not to have a presence in Buckinghamshire - although Heathrow Airport in Greater London is less than a mile from the border with Bucks.
In 1833, Robert Stephenson in 1833, planned to meet Joseph Locke's Grand Junction Railway at Birmingham, thus creating a north-south route.
[7] Construction of the L&BR began in November 1833 and the section from London Euston to Boxmoor in Hertfordshire opened in 1837.
The line to Denbigh Hall near Bletchley was completed by the summer of 1838; from there passengers took a stagecoach shuttle to Rugby where the railway continued north.
The section through Bucks had a third rail laid on 1 October 1861 allowing both standard and broad gauge trains to run.
[25] For a brief period between 1883 and 1885, the District Railway ran services between London and Windsor & Eton Central via Ealing Broadway over the GWR tracks from Slough.
Known initially as the Wooton Tramway, it was built primarily for the use of the Third Duke of Buckingham and extended to Brill in 1872, terminating quite a distance from the village itself.
On 1 January 1894, the Metropolitan Railway was extended over the A&BR to Verney Junction meeting the LNWR owned Varsity Line which had opened in 1850.
[34] The Metropolitan Railway (popularly called the 'Met') thus ran express services from central London to Verney Junction, in the middle of rural Buckinghamshire- a testament to this being that the terminus was so rural that the station was named after the local landowner, Sir Harry Verney.
[35] The Met's final extension in Buckinghamshire was over the Brill Tramway which was absorbed on 1 December 1899, almost fifty miles out of central London.
[37] The MS&LR had been a modest company, until Sir Edward Watkin became general manager in 1854.
Both companies were of use to Watkin as they provided a clear route between Dover and the already existing MS&LR near Nottingham.
[38] The London Extension was planned to European standards and had virtually no sharp corners or steep inclines.
The M40 and M1 motorways both pass through the county on their routes from London to the Midlands and the north, serving High Wycombe and Milton Keynes respectively.
Similarly to Aylesbury, High Wycombe is a nexus of major roads in the southern part of the county.
Other main roads are the A509 to Wellingborough and Kettering, and the A421 and A422, both running west through Buckingham and to the M40 and east towards Bedford (the A421 also connects to the A1).
Additionally, the A428 has a very small section through Buckinghamshire, cutting through the villages of Lavendon and Cold Brayfield in the northern extremities of the Milton Keynes unitary authority area and meeting the A509 at a roundabout.
There are no major roads that run directly between the south and north of the county (e.g. between High Wycombe and Milton Keynes).
The Grand Union Canal runs through the county from Milton Keynes down to Marsworth, passing in and out of Bedfordshire on the way.
The Aylesbury branch remains active to this day, whilst the Wendover arm was closed over a century ago.
