 Following Watkin's retirement, relations between the Great Central Railway and the Metropolitan Railway deteriorated badly.The GCR route to London ran over MR lines from Quainton Road to London, and to reduce reliance on the shaky goodwill of the MR, GCR General Manager William Pollitt decided to create a link with the Great Western Railway to create a second route into London.In 1899 the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway began construction of a new line, commonly known as the Alternative Route, to link the GWR's existing station at Princes Risborough to the new Great Central line.