New year new station: First pictures of Winslow’s railway building being constructed

As the new year started to take shape, so did the long-awaited new Winslow Station. An eagle-eyed reader took these pictures on New Year’s Day of the new railway station building being erected in Winslow.

The town’s previous station, in Station Road, was closed in 1967 as part of the Beeching cuts, aimed at increasing the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Britain.

Platform construction for Winslow’s new station began a year ago, with more than 500 pre-cast concrete platform units being lifted into position within the new railway cutting using a massive crane, before work could begin on the station building itself.

When up and running, Winslow Station will become a stop on the new East West Rail line between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed in his Autumn Statement last year that funding for East West Rail would go ahead as promised and the western section of the line is well under way, although there is still heated debate over the preferred route for the eastern section of the line from Bedford to Cambridge.

The aim is to have trains running between Oxford and Milton Keynes by 2025 and East West Rail Company CEO Beth West has said it is looking to go into operation across the full route in the early 2030s.

East West Rail is being delivered in three stages – Connection Stage One: Oxford to Bletchley and Milton Keynes; Connection Stage Two: Oxford to Bedford; and Connection Stage Three: Oxford to Cambridge.

A statement on the East West Rail website reads: “Delivering a reliable service for passengers is our top priority, and we are working with government to deliver the full Oxford to Milton Keynes train connection from day one. “We may though need to introduce the service to Bletchley first, and then extend to Milton Keynes as soon as we are satisfied it will be reliable for our customers.

“Upgrades to Bletchley station have already begun, and a brand-new station will be built for communities at Winslow.

“We are also working on a costed plan to run a reliable service from Aylesbury, so we can make the best possible case for Government to confirm that upgrade too.”