Alison Boulton digs beneath the city's dreaming spires

If you’ve ever been stranded at Paddington Station after a long day – and an even longer evening – you’ll recall that on arriving breathless and weary to find there’s no train to Oxford for another hour... well, it can ruin your day.

Nobody likes to be kept waiting. The gaps in the late night service between Paddington and Oxford are surprising – and dismaying. Even work on the line is not a particularly compelling excuse at 11pm.

A London theatre visit can result in a very late home return. Such a hiatus at Paddington must put off many people travelling to London with families and school and work commitments early the next morning. Many of the elderly must shudder, and stay at home. The temptation is to turn to the much more regular late night coach. Yet London is at its most glamorous and entertaining at night.

At last Oxford rail users are to be better served. Competition is often healthy, and while for so long we’ve had a scarcity of trains back from London in the evening, we now may risk a glut. I, for one, am delighted that Oxford Station’s expansion and Oxford Parkway’s construction will become a reality in the next five years. Chiltern Railway’s London Marylebone to Oxford line is set to open in spring 2016, at a cost of £130m.

It’s no wonder that Chiltern Railway’s director Graham Cross has characterised it as ‘the first new rail link between two major British cities for 100 years’. However, a colony of bats, acclimatised to roosting in Wolvercote Tunnel and the beauty and tranquillity of Oxford Meadows are both potential losers to undoubted travel improvements.

When the Great Western Railway Company was founded in 1844 only three or four trains ran daily from Oxford Station. Now three or four trains run each hour. Between 2003 and 2012 passenger numbers increased by 71 per cent. Currently over six million rail users pass through Oxford Station each year.

First Great Western managing director Mark Hopwood has worked in railways for almost 25 years, including a spell as station master at Oxford.

“The pleasure of living in Oxford and its surrounding area is made possible by reliable and swift rail travel to the capital, and major cities beyond. Oxford will hugely benefit from the improvements planned, but to get there some pain will inevitably be involved.

Running existing services while a major station is remodelled and expanded will be a significant challenge, but with passenger co-operation we will deliver future success,” Hopwood said.

More trains, shorter journey times and a more extensive high-speed network are promised. Keeping Oxford connected is vital for future prosperity.

It also opens up our capital city to the delights of nocturnal exploration. Commercial competition may be responsible for this flurry of activity, but increased choice is greatly to the benefit of rail travellers.