Introductions 

by Layla Moran and Baroness Deech

The contributions in this book reflect the many conversations I have had with residents in my surgeries, the people and businesses I have met on visits, and the emails in my inbox over the last two years. Network Rail’s shambolic mismanagement of this project has caused profound disruption to the people and businesses of West Oxford and beyond, and I am so pleased this collection has drawn together their experiences. 

When Botley Road was first closed in April 2023 I, like so many people in our community, raised serious concerns. Local residents told me they were worried about safety, confused by the unclear signage, and concerned for those with limited mobility. Over a year and a half later, the road is still closed and many of those questions have gone unanswered. Moreover businesses have since folded, people have been cut off from vital services, and we still don’t have an end in sight. 

This project has laid bare the complete lack of accountability and transparency in many of our institutions. For too long residents’ worries and anger fell on deaf ears, with no access to the real decision makers at Network Rail or the Department for Transport. 

I hope this book will arrive on the desks of those decision makers so they can properly understand what residents and businesses have been asked to endure. It is up to Network Rail now to convince our community they have a credible plan to finally get this project finished. 
 

LAYLA MORAN 
Liberal Democrat member of parliament for Oxford West & Abingdon 

This important little report is not just a story about the disaster that has hit West Oxford and its residents. It is a message for the whole country and for the politicians, Ministers, rail organisations and construction companies to let them know that the decisions they take at their computers and behind their desks are mechanical, impersonal, incompetent, unfeeling, and just plain wrong in this case, because they do not heed the needs and daily lives of those affected. 

We see this in many areas of our national life, ranging from financial to educational to health matters. These damaging decisions are taken and carried out regardless, in part because those who take them have vested interests, but also because they do not walk the walk (literally, in the case of station-bound West Oxford residents!) and they do not come and see for themselves, and experience the results of the decisions they take on real people, whether they be disabled, or business people or people who live and love the city and find their lives and emotions utterly disrupted. ‘Nothing to do with me’ says one official or one department to another; 'not my responsibility', says one branch of government to another; ‘can’t help it’, they all say to the businesses that are ruined, the patients in pain, the friendly people whose social life is blocked by their actions. 

We are a democracy. The only way to make the decision-takers responsive is through the law courts and by showing our opinion at the next possible election. The revolt against ideological and remote official control has started in Europe and will gather pace here. This report is a valuable contribution to understanding how our country runs; it has given ordinary people a voice, and we must do all our best to put this account in the hands of those who run us. 
 

RUTH DEECH 
Baroness Deech