Campaigner calls for NAO probe into Botley Road project

Key Points

• Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran has referred the Botley Road project to the National Audit Office.
• The independent watchdog has been asked to investigate the delivery and management of the Oxford station upgrade.
• Botley Road closed at the railway bridge in April 2023 and reopened on Sunday, September 20, after about three and a half years.
• A gas leak discovered near the new railway bridge delayed the planned August 31 reopening.
• Community campaigner Julian Le Vay supports a formal investigation into the project.
• Mr Le Vay estimates the project could overrun by five years and £250m, while local businesses may have suffered losses of about £50m.
• He says more than 100 jobs were lost and that the closure harmed disabled people, residents and businesses.
• Traffic queues returned around Frideswide Square after the road reopened, according to the Oxford Mail report.
• Plans for a new western entrance to Oxford station and platform 5 remain without a confirmed timetable or budget.
• Network Rail was asked to comment.

Why has the Botley Road project been referred to the National Audit Office?

A community campaigner has backed a call for the National Audit Office to investigate the handling of Oxford’s Botley Road and railway station upgrade, describing the scheme as a major failure involving repeated delays, rising costs and serious disruption to local businesses and residents. As reported by the Oxford Mail, Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran referred the project to the National Audit Office after a public meeting earlier in September. The watchdog is an independent public spending body responsible for scrutinising government spending and holding the Government to account.

Ms Moran said the project had been “a complete shambles” and had repeatedly exceeded its budgets and reopening deadlines, according to the Oxford Mail’s report. She said lessons needed to be learned to prevent similar problems in future and criticised the way the work had been scoped, planned and managed.

“The Botley Road project has been a complete shambles and has repeatedly blown through budgets and deadlines for reopening,” Ms Moran said, as reported by the Oxford Mail.

“We must not make the same mistakes in future, and there is a lot that can be learnt from the gross incompetence of how this project was scoped, planned and managed.”

“I have therefore written to the National Audit Office and called for an investigation into the delivery of the project.”

What does the campaigner say about the Oxford station upgrade?

Julian Le Vay, a community campaigner who lives near Botley Road, welcomed the referral and said he supported a formal investigation requested by Ms Moran, Baroness Deech and others. His comments were reported by the Oxford Mail.

Mr Le Vay said the project could ultimately overrun by five years and £250m. He described that figure as his estimate, adding that Network Rail still did not know how long the work would take or what its final cost would be.

“I support the request by Layla Moran, Baroness Deech and others that the National Audit Office start a formal investigation into the mismanagement of the Oxford station project,” Mr Le Vay said, according to the Oxford Mail.

“The project is likely to overrun by five years and £250m, a record even by Network Rail’s standards – my estimate, because Network Rail still do not know how long it’ll take or what it’ll cost.”

The Oxford Mail also reported that Mr Le Vay estimated the three-and-a-half-year closure had caused about £50m of damage to businesses. He said the disruption had contributed to business closures and the loss of well over 100 jobs, as well as affecting individuals’ lives, particularly disabled people and those living close to Oxford station.

What are the campaigner’s concerns about accountability?

During the closure, Mr Le Vay spoke with local businesses about the effect of the works and published a document called Network Hell. He told the Oxford Mail that an independent inquiry was needed because responsibility had not been accepted and nobody had been held to account.

He said the reasons for the project’s problems were complex and extended beyond Network Rail’s publicly acknowledged decision to reduce preparatory work. The report attributed to Mr Le Vay a further criticism of what he described as the apparently disadvantageous use of “cost plus” contracts with Kier, the contractor working on the scheme.

“An independent inquiry is needed because nobody has admitted responsibility or been held to account, and because the root causes of this failure are very complex,” Mr Le Vay said, as reported by the Oxford Mail.

“They go well beyond the decision by Network Rail, publicly admitted by rail minister Lord Hendy, to skimp on preparatory work, and what appears to be disadvantageous use of ‘cost plus’ contracts with Kier.”

Mr Le Vay’s figures are estimates rather than confirmed totals. The Oxford Mail report said Network Rail had not yet confirmed the final timetable or budget for the remaining elements of the station upgrade.

When did Botley Road reopen?

Botley Road closed at the railway bridge in April 2023 to allow Network Rail to carry out work associated with a major upgrade of Oxford railway station. The road was initially scheduled to reopen on August 31, but that deadline was missed.

According to the Oxford Mail, a gas leak was discovered near the new railway bridge, which had been installed in February. The discovery led to a further postponement, and the road eventually reopened on Sunday, September 20.

Separate reporting cited in the coverage said the road had been closed for about 41 months. The reopened route is intended to restore access for motorists, buses, cyclists and pedestrians travelling beneath the railway bridge and between Botley Road and Frideswide Square.

What happened to traffic after the reopening?

The reopening ended a lengthy disruption for people travelling towards Oxford city centre, hospitals, GP surgeries and other destinations. However, the Oxford Mail reported that traffic tailbacks returned, particularly during the evening rush hour.

Sushila Dhall, chairwoman of the Oxford Pedestrians Association, said cars were again clogging Frideswide Square. She said the area had become more difficult for pedestrians to cross and more intimidating for cyclists.

“Now that Botley Road has reopened to traffic, cars once again clog Frideswide Square, which is now hard to cross as a pedestrian and more frightening to cycle along,” Ms Dhall said, according to the Oxford Mail.

“Botley Road, where birds could be heard for three years, is now full of the sounds and smells of motorised traffic.”

Ms Dhall acknowledged that reopening the road was useful for people who needed to reach hospitals, GP practices and other essential appointments. She also expressed regret that traffic bound for the Westgate shopping centre was again moving constantly into the city centre.

“It is good to see the route reopened to people who need to get to hospitals, GPs and other necessary appointments, but sad to see the Westgate shopping centre-bound traffic shunting constantly into the city centre once again,” Ms Dhall said, as reported by the Oxford Mail.

What remains to be decided about Oxford station?

The Botley Road works form part of a wider plan to improve Oxford railway station. The next stages include providing a new western entrance and building a new platform 5.

However, the Oxford Mail reported that neither the timetable nor the budget for those elements had been confirmed. That uncertainty has added to concerns about the final cost and completion date of the wider scheme.

Earlier coverage reported that the project cost had risen from an estimated £161m to £237m to date. The figures cited by Mr Le Vay for a possible additional £250m overrun and a five-year delay were presented as his own estimates, rather than confirmed Network Rail forecasts.

What has Network Rail said?

Network Rail was asked to comment on the call for a National Audit Office investigation, the reported cost concerns and the management of the project. The Oxford Mail said a response had not been included in its report.

Other coverage attributed to Network Rail a statement that delays and additional costs had resulted from unexpected engineering challenges, including a major water pipe above a Victorian sewer, a hidden Victorian arch beneath the railway and gas leaks discovered during excavation work. Network Rail said those issues had to be addressed safely before the project could be completed.

The company also said it understood the frustration caused by the prolonged closure and welcomed the reopening of Botley Road, which it said would improve movement around Oxford and support longer-term benefits for residents, businesses and visitors.

The National Audit Office’s referral does not itself establish that wrongdoing occurred. Any formal investigation would need to examine the project’s planning, contracts, risk assessment, costs, timetable and responsibility for the delays before reaching conclusions.