Network Rail failed to plan properly for the revamp of Oxford station which led to the long-term closure of Botley Road, according to a former county councillor. The multi-million pound revamp of the rail station led to the closure of the busy route at the rail bridge early in 2023, and it is due to reopen in August 2026, says the Oxford Mail.
The scheme has been hit by numerous delays with the cost of the project to date rising from about £161m to £231m.
Major proposals including creating a new western entrance to the station, and providing a new platform to boost east west rail links will not commence until the Botley Road work have been completed.
John Howson, a former county councillor for many years, said lessons need to be learned from the mistakes that have been made.
A county council spokesman said:
“We agree with local people that this project has taken far too long to complete and we look forward to August 2026 when the job is promised to be complete.”
Mr Howson said:
“Why did it take three and half years to dig a hole?The Botley Road fiasco has shown how weak the railway system was at planning for unintended consequences. What was sold as a straightforward scheme to lower the Botley Road to allow full-size buses to use the road, as an adjunct to creating a new western entrance to the station and creating additional tracks across the Botley Road, became a calamity that has raised serious questions about how such schemes are planned.”
Mr Howson pointed out that Network Rail told a Public Inquiry when applying for a Transport and Works Order that they would only need to fully close the Botley Road for three days for the new bridge to be lowered into place.
Single file working would allow traffic to continue to flow in and out of the city, albeit with limitations while the road was lowered.
“Sadly, the county council, still Conservative-run at that time, agreed that it would be better to close the road completely for six months to speed up the project. Had that idea worked, we would now have been enjoying a completed scheme for more than two years,” Mr Howson added.
The former councillor said important questions include why were the challenges of realigning the utilities under the road, and the existence of a large-scale brick arch near the rail bridge not known about before the project was started.
He also questioned whether sufficient preparation was undertaken in advance.
“Should the whole scheme have been stopped in the summer of 2023, the Botley Road reopened, and a complete rethink have taken place?”, asked the former Lib Dem councillor. “As it is, after nearly three years, there is still no western entrance; no new platform at the station, and a further eight months before the Botley Road reopens.
“The cost of the scheme has far exceeded the original estimates, and local residents have had to put up with years of misery.
“The failure to attend to details such as effective bus stops on the south side of the Botley Road and even, in the early days, sufficient lighting, in what became known as ‘the tunnel of doom’ along with poor communication with residents makes this scheme a textbook example of everything that can go wrong with a project, and how not to manage the scheme when it falls apart.”
(Picture: Network Rail)
