Marylebone Station Turns 125!

Marylebone Station celebrated its 125^th birthday on Friday 15 March with a day full of events and unveilings with local residents and industry stakeholders

To commemorate the rich history of the London terminus, in collaboration with the Baker Street Quarter Partnership and Chiltern Railways Community Investment Fund, new contemporary art installations have been unveiled at the Harewood Avenue entrance of the station, now available for all to see.

These displays tell the story of the station over time, with historical archive material and pictures documenting the construction of the station, the challenges it faced during WW2 and the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, before exploring the recent period of growth under Chiltern Railways. A newly commissioned narrative map celebrates Marylebone’s connection to local communities and the importance of the wider Chiltern Railways rail network.

A train-naming ceremony also took place where one of Chiltern’s Intercity (Class 168) trains has been named ‘Marylebone 125’ and an extra special ‘Master Cutler’ train tour transported enthusiasts on a journey to Banbury and back and a rare opportunity to sample a High Speed Train and InterCity125 carriages to and from London Marylebone. The train naming, unveiled by Managing Director Richard Allan, the Lord Mayor of Westminster Cllr Patricia McAllister, and Penny Alexander, CEO of Baker Street Quarter Partnership was complemented by a performance from the St Edwards Primary school choir.

Representatives from the local community were then welcomed to the Landmark Hotel for a reception. The Great Central Hotel (now the Landmark Hotel) was previously converted to offices and served as the headquarters of British Rail from 1948 to 1986.

The anniversary marks 125 years since the opening of Marylebone, as the London terminus of the Great Central Railway on 15 March 1899.  The station was designed by Henry William Braddock, a civil engineer working for the Great Central Railway. It was considered modest in design at the time due to budgetary constraints, but fast forward to the present day, is considered as one of the jewels in the crown of London’s rail offering.

The anniversary comes as Chiltern Railways continue work to deliver its Right Route 2030 vision of modernised customer facilities, additional capacity and a cleaner, greener fleet for its customers.