A GIANT mural depicting a steam train exiting the historic Brunel Sheds at High Wycombe train station has been unveiled this week.

The 18-metre trompe l’oeil mural showing Isambard Kingdom Brunel inspecting a train was created by artist Dan Wilson.

It is part of a joint project between the High Wycombe Business Improvement District Company, Chiltern Railways and Chiltern Rangers in a bid to make to create an attractive gateway to the town from the railway station.

Projects Manager for HWBIDCo, Gemma Field, said: “On the surface this looks like a fairly straightforward project.

“However, once you introduce a listed building, an uneven site, poor soil quality and the search for a new investor with access to a substantial renovation budget, things get slightly more complicated.

“The mural was only ever phase one. Phase two is about establishing a low maintenance floral lawn, complemented by raised beds of recycled railways sleepers and green climbers.

"Phase three is about finding an investor.”

The project has so far attracted grant funding from Grow Wild UK for the floral lawn and some native species which, it is hoped, will begin to grow on the site.

HWBIDCo is on the lookout for other investors in a bid to bring other empty listed buildings back in to operation.