 The line was built as part of Edward Watkin 's scheme to turn his Metropolitan Railway ( MR ) into a direct rail route between London and Manchester , and it was envisaged that a station outside Chesham would be an intermediate stop on a through route running north to connect with the London and North Western Railway ( LNWR ) . Deteriorating relations between the MR and LNWR led to the MR instead expanding to the northwest via Aylesbury , and the scheme to connect with the LNWR was abandoned . By this time much of the land needed for the section of line as far as Chesham had been bought . As Chesham was at the time the only significant town near the MR 's new route , it was decided to build the route as far as Chesham , and to complete the connection with the LNWR at a future date if it proved desirable . Local residents were unhappy at the proposed station site outside Chesham , and a public subscription raised the necessary additional funds to extend the railway into the centre of the town . The Chesham branch opened in 1889 and Chesham became the terminus of the MR. 
