The Princes Risborough to Watlington line opened in 1872 costing The Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway Company £46,000 to construct. In July 1883, The Great Western Railway purchased it for £23,000 indicating a lack of an initial financial success.
The GWR relaid the track and added three wayside halts in an attempt to generate income. It is understood that between 1920 and 1940 the line at best broke even - then losses led to passenger services being withdrawn in 1957.
The Watlington station 'cash book' has been donated to the C&PRR by Winchester Antiquarian Books and it shows that in March 1952 the station at the end of the line was taking just two or three pounds a day. The rise of the motor car had defeated the line and the last scheduled passenger train ran on 29 June 1957.
The line remained in use for goods trains until January 1961 but was then cut back from Watlington to serve the Chinnor Cement Works. From March 1963 the line from there to Watlington was lifted and buildings demolished. This activity was based at Aston Rowant, the track was cut into 20-foot lengths by contractors and taken away by lorries.
Chinnor station was demolished a decade after Aston Rowant but some of Watlington station and its associated buildings still exist as part of a private residence.
The C&PRR’s Volunteers built a replica award winning station at Chinnor and tens of thousands of passengers a year now use the line - far more than the line ever did in its history! There is a more indepth description of the history of the Railway on this website: https://astonrowant.wordpress.com/watlington-railway/
And the volunteers are now planning to undo more history by extending the Railway from Chinnor to Aston Rowant, probably in two stages. The line already exists and is used for non-passenger trains for half a mile towards Aston Rowant. Beyond that lies Kingston Crossing and the trackbed to there is being assessed for an initial cost estimate.
This planning is being carried out by Volunteers so costs the Railway nothing. But before any thought can be had about relaying the track towards Aston Rowant, the C&PRR has to ensure its survival and generate income by running passenger trains before any of this can happen.