Chiltern Railways has built two new platforms at its London terminus, Marylebone.

The smallest of London’s termini, Marylebone has always felt more like a country station than the smaller sibling of Waterloo and Euston. Its creator, the Great Central Railway had grand ambitions that were never fulfilled.  Today, however, Chiltern Railways is presiding over a revival of a line that seemed doomed 20 years ago under Margaret Thatcher’s road-obsessed premiership.

Because British Rail sold off half the site 15 years ago, travellers have a four minute walk to the new platforms 5 and 6 and the remodelled platform 4. Chiltern underestimates the mobility of its passengers: the information ticker display in the ticket office tells people to allow 470 minutes to get there…