Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station

Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station is a railway station serving villages northwest of Aylesbury, England. It will also serve the Berryfields and Weedon Hill housing developments north of the town when these are built. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Chiltern Railways.

Background
Aylesbury Vale Parkway is on the former Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Railway, which formed part of the Great Central Main Line route linking London and Aylesbury with the East Midlands and North.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced in April 2006 that it would provide £8.17 million for track and signalling improvements to the existing line, which then was only used to carry freight. A further £2.8 million was invested by Chiltern Railways' owners Laing Rail and £1 million by Buckinghamshire County Council.

Construction began in October 2007 and the rail works were completed by Carillion Rail. The station was originally not due to be completed until 2010 but it was opened ahead of schedule.

The station was opened on 14 December 2008 but the station building did not open until 1 June 2009. In the interim while the station buildings were being completed, tickets and facilities were provided from Portakabins.

Services and facilities
Aylesbury Vale Parkway has links to existing public transport bus services along the A41 corridor. A bus service from the station to several villages north of Aylesbury began on 15 December 2008. This service, route 16 run by Arriva, serves the station at times to meet London-bound commuter trains, and is free for passengers with a monthly or longer Chiltern Railways season ticket.

The station has a taxi rank, car park, a charging point for electric vehicles and parking bays for motorcycles and pedal cycles.

The off-peak train service is one departure per hour to Marylebone via Amersham. In peak periods there are up to three trains per hour to Marylebone. The journey time to Aylesbury is about four minutes.

Plans
East West Rail plans to extend passenger services northwards to Bletchley and Milton Keynes by 2017 using parts of the former Varsity Line. The platform has been built to accommodate a second track if ever implemented, which would create an island platform. At present trains (currently run only as specials on Bank Holidays) between Aylesbury and Quainton Road cannot serve Aylesbury Vale as there is no platform on the through route.

The track between Aylesbury and the new station was upgraded to continuous welded rail with a maximum line speed for DMU passenger trains of 60 mph. It is proposed that when services are extended to the north, trains will run via High Wycombe and not Amersham. Trains currently serving the station will thereafter terminate at Aylesbury.