Botley Road Oxford Station works delay heavily criticised

Green deputy county council leader Dr Pete Sudbury is hitting out at Network Rail after it announced publicly on Thursday morning last week its work around Oxford Station in Botley Road would not be complete by October 2024.

The road has been closed to motorists since April 2023 as part of the redevelopment of Oxford station, a £116m project.

Dr Pete Sudbury. (Image: Other.)

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It was initially supposed to reopen temporarily from October 2023 to March 2024.

However complications and delays meant Network Rail later said it would remain shut through to October 2024.

Dr Sudbury said: "I knew about this as soon as anybody did – and I couldn’t believe it.

"They (Network Rail) were completely clueless.

"I don't care what their excuses were, they could have been on top of this.

"The works have been a real train wreck."

Botley Road works. (Image: Network Rail)

Dr Sudbury said he "couldn't believe" people could "carry on telling us they were definitely on time and then turn up saying actually we haven’t a clue".

He added: "It may well be that Network Rail's contractor failed them very badly."

The comments come as the council was informed formally about delay to the works on July 1 after being told in the second week of May it was "highly unlikely" Botley Road works would finish in November as planned.

Network Rail had said in its initial statement to the public they were working on an "outdated maze of pipes and cables spread out below the highway, in a severely constrained space, with poor ground conditions and significant water levels".

Dr Sudbury said: "It’s pretty clear that something went very badly wrong and at the time it wasn’t that we’d found a load of pipes.

"What on earth did you expect underneath a bridge in Oxford – an up to date maze?"

Oxford city Labour councillor for the Osney & St Thomas ward, Susanna Pressel, said many people have been "contemptuous of the excuses that Network Rail is giving".

Susanna Pressel. (Image: Oxford City Council.)

But she added she expected "some of the blame should be attached to some of the utilities" and went on to blame Thames Water.

Dr Sudbury said: "It is trendy to blame Thames Water but there is a sense of an organisation that has been completely blindsided.

"Something went wrong."

Green city councillor Lois Muddiman said she had been pushing for an "urgent meeting" with Network Rail next week to "find out what compensation they’re going to be offering to local businesses and residents who have lost money and been adversely affected by the delay and closure".

A Network Rail spokesman said: "We understand how frustrating this delay is to local businesses and residents, and understand their concerns.

Lois Muddiman. (Image: Oxford City Council.)

“We will continue to meet with businesses and have been running a campaign to support them, including producing a video series, to encourage people to shop locally."

The company went on to reference guidance which suggested "unless our negligence has caused personal injury or damage to property directly from our equipment, legislation does not give any legal obligation to compensate business owners for loss of trade when works are properly undertaken under our statutory powers".

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About the author

Noor is the Local Democracy Reporter for Oxfordshire who covers political stories from across the county. 

She began working as a journalist in Oxford in September 2023 having graduated from the University of Oxford.

Noor was trained at the News Associates journalism school and can be found on X through the handle @NoorJQurashi