Despite what General Melchett said about it, Oxford is one of England’s greatest cities, and if you disagree, I’ll come round to your house and stomp on your toys.

So it’s rather sad that for the best part of four years now, arriving in Oxford by train has felt like arriving in the middle of a building site run by contractors who don’t give a crap about appearances.

It was all supposed to finally be over in August, then some genius spotted that a gas main had lots of cracks in it. However, this time, they really seem to mean it when they say this coming Sunday is the day it all goes back to normal (see footnote).

I’m quite tempted to get up early and film myself driving/cycling/walking under there for the first time since ‘23, but I’m concerned there will be a traffic jam of influencers wanting to do the same thing.

Now all we need is a western entrance to the station.

Footnote

Some might say it isn’t going back to normal because the “traffic filters” are in place. I might say that ours is a medieval city with medieval roads and that it’s not fair on the one in three households without access to a vehicle that the busses move slower than, er, Network Rail’s Botley Bridge Project. So bring on the reduction in traffic and pollution.