Thank God for HS2. The scandal of the ever-more expensive and ever-delayed rail line from London to Birmingham (and now no further) has taken the heat off another of Britain’s tortured rail projects: East West Rail, linking Oxford and Cambridge.

East-West rail has the distinction of being even older than HS2, having first been proposed in 2006. It shouldn’t have been that big a project, given that Oxford and Cambridge did once have a rail connection, which was closed in 1967. Much of the trackbed remained in place and parts of it have remained in use throughout. Yet still it is proving a little too much for Britain’s miserable infrastructure industry.

Where is the Oxford to Cambridge railway line on the 20th anniversary of its proposed reopening? Well, the stretch from Oxford to Bicester was reopened 10 years ago. The next portion, from Bicester to Bletchley has been rebuilt, with a new station at Winslow into the bargain. The trouble is, Chiltern Railways can’t start running trains along it because the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union won’t let it without........

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