Calls for legal action to be taken against Network Rail due to the ongoing closure of Botley Road in Oxford have been dismissed.
The key road has been closed since April 2023 as part of a project to upgrade Oxford station, but its reopening has faced numerous delays. Despite this, Network Rail escapes legal action as the council declines to pursue further measures.
Rail Minister Lord Hendy announced Botley Road would continue to be closed until August 2026 in his visit to Oxford on Friday, 24 January.
Read more: Network Rail announces updated timeline for reopening of Botley Road in Oxford
Councillor Lois Muddiman submitted a written question to Susan Brown, leader of Oxford City Council, asking if she would consider taking legal action against Network Rail in order to gain compensation for those affected, particularly businesses in West Oxford, as well as the elderly and vulnerable.
In her written response, the leader of the council said she sympathised with local businesses and residents. But she added the city council is unable to take legal action against Network Rail on behalf of third parties.
This was brought up during the full city council meeting on Monday. Ms Muddiman added a supplementary question, stating: “I regret that the council is not able to take legal action against Network Rail on behalf of local businesses, and not even surprisingly on behalf of our residents.
“Given the lengthy delay to the reopening of Botley Road announced last week, will the leader of the council consider taking legal action against Network Rail in [the council’s] own right?”
Ms Brown responded that this was not something the city council could do. Ms Muddiman also put forward a motion calling for a public inquiry into the Network Rail project and for the city council to explore seeking legal action against Network Rail, but there was not enough time to debate the motion at the meeting.
Julian Le Vay, who leads the community group West Oxford Access and authored the report ‘Network Hell!’, addressed councillors later in the meeting in support of the calls for compensation.
He said: “For two years, some of us in West Oxford have suffered exclusion from our own city, unbearable intrusion of works and traffic, including piling work all night 40 metres from peoples’ bedrooms, and continuing uncertainty from one week to another, as the institutionally incompetent Network Rail constantly miss their own deadlines and change their plans.
“And no one has listened to us, no one has cared what is happening to us. Not Network Rail, Kier, Thames Water, British Gas, government, the county council or, I have to say, this council. We have been suffering for two years, something like an occupation by entities that are both incompetent and arrogant, which are completely unaccountable, yet we are not heard.”
Network Rail is promising improved access for pedestrians and cyclists will be introduced this summer
